Camp Humphreys could become the front line in a war with North Korea - here's what life is like on the US' largest overseas base

Andrew Harnik/AP

President Donald Trump poses for a group photo at the Eighth Army Operational Command Center at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017.

• Despite heightened tension between the US and North Korea over the latter's nuclear weapons program, life in America's largest overseas military base continues as usual.
• Camp Humphreys, an $11 billion US Army garrison located in South Korea, is expanding. There could be 42,000 American soldiers and civilians living there by 2020.
• The camp resembles a typical small American city with a shopping mall, churches, a golf course, and even high school football.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump visited Camp Humphreys, an $11 billion US Army garrison that is now America's largest overseas military base.

The camp is located just 40 miles south of Seoul and about 60 miles from the Demilitarized Zone bordering North Korea. Life on the camp resembles that of a small American city, even though it is situated in a far-off area of the Korean countryside once populated by rice paddies and rural farmers.

"We built an entire city from scratch," Col. Scott Mueller, the camp's commander, told The Washington Post.

Camp Humphreys was years in the making and faced many obstacles along the way.

Lee Jae Won/Reuters

South Korean police use shields and clubs to stop protesters trying to enter the U.S. army's Camp Humphreys in Pyongtaek, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Seoul, August 8, 2005.

After World War II, the US seized control of the area, but it wasn't until 2003 that US officials would decide to relocate military headquarters to Camp Humphreys "to improve the force posture and operational efficiency" of troops stationed in the country.

Camp Humphreys' continuing expansion comes as fears mount over what many perceive to be an out-of-control "war of words" between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The threat of a nuclear conflict has many on edge. But for the thousands of American soldiers and civilians living inside the US military's newest headquarters, life goes on: