DMZ

On Saturday I visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea near the 38^th parallel.  In length the DMZ is 241km and in width extends 2km into both countries. It is one of the last living remnants of the Cold War.  Two coworkers and I attended a USO tour which transported us about 50 km from Seoul to four different locations in the DMZ.  Upon telling my mom that I was visiting the DMZ I left out the whole tour part, which may have caused some anxiety…

The first stop was a tunnel dug by the North Korea toward Seoul, discovered in the 1970s.  There are four known tunnels, but it is likely there are more yet undiscovered.  After a very steep decline to the tunnel, we were able to walk through the cold and wet granite tunnel and look through a peep hole into the North Korean side of the tunnel.

The second stop was to an observatory that looked out into North Korea.  Looking into North Korea was pretty incredible.  The view was beautiful, but more than that, it was sad to look into a country where many of its people are suffering and starving.  How simple it seems to just tell the governments how silly this whole thing is and that they should just get along.  From this vantage point we could see the both North and Seoul Korean flags flying.  When South Korea constructed a taller flagpole, North Korea had to top them, giving them what I believe is the third tallest flagpole in the world.  At the observatory there were many pay-to-use binoculars and a line from which you had to stand behind to take photographs.  However, no one seemed to follow this rule…

The third stop was to Dorasan Station, a train station that used to run to Pyongyang.  For a while it had been taking a daily load to North Korea but I believe the station is completely shut off now.  It is now more of a tourist destination, where for about $5 you can buy a ‘ticket’ to North Korea and get a ‘passport stamp’.  My passport may or may not have a stamp that says I went to North Korea…I hope that won’t be a problem!

After lunch, we made our fourth and final stop at the Joint Security Area (JSA), also called Panmunjom.  This was definitely the most serious part of the tour, as US Military officers checked our passports and debriefed us.  There was even a certain dress code.  The JSA straddles the demarcation line and is where, in theory, negotiations between the North and South take place.  Unfortunately, there has not been too much negotiating.  Two large buildings face each other, one on each country’s side, and in between are blue, barrack-type buildings where discussions take place.  We were monitored and instructed that we may only take pictures of the North Korean side.  In the JSA we saw about a dozen South Korean soldiers and one North Korean soldier at his post across the way.  We entered the blue building where negotiations take place, which is recorded 24 hours a day.  Since half of the building is on the North Korean side, I guess I can say that I have been to North Korea.

Since the DMZ is uninhabited, it has become quite the ecological preservation for animal and plant species alike.  There are even ecological tours of the DMZ.  Many hope that in the future the DMZ will become a peace zone and remain a safe-haven for various threatened species.

Overall, the trip to the DMZ was an interesting and information experience, and not at all scary.  To be honest, sometimes it didn’t even seem that serious.  The DMZ has actually become somewhat of a tourist destination.  In fact, in each of the four places we stopped, there was a gift shop.  DMZ t-shirts, coasters, key chains, postcards, you name it.

Reconciliation between North and South Korea is a question that always seems to linger.  Our tour guide generalized by telling us that the older generation tends to want reconciliation, as they have been disconnected from family members for many years, while the younger generation does not seem to care as much.  In fact, if reconciliation were to occur, South Koreans would take on an economic burden.

 An example of what I mean by touristy...

 Observatory view into North Korea, although the picture makes it look farther away 

than in actuality.  If you have eagle eyes, maybe you can spot their flag.

 At the JSA, the North Korean building across the way and 

blue building on the left is where negotiations should occur

 South Korean soldier, technically in North Korea