More than 13,000 people visited Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, over a 10-day period, to catch a rare glimpse of a North Korean self-propelled howitzer visible from the observatory. Despite the heightened tensions between the two Koreas, a total of 13,243 people visited the park from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4, up 7.5 percent from 12,321 during the same period last year, according to Gimpo city, Sunday. The increase came after images published by local media showing a North Korean self-propelled howitzer stationed along the North Korean coast, about 1.5 kilometers from the observatory, went viral. Weekday visits rose sharply, with daily number of visitors reaching 1,000 to 1,200, up as much as 35 percent from a year earlier. Weekend attendance, however, fell nearly 10 percent to 4,200 due to entry restrictions, as the park is currently limiting the number of visitors on-site to 500 at a time for safety reasons. The artillery is close enough to be seen through binoculars and telescopes from the observatory. However, North Korean troops recently covered the weapon with camouflag