On the Flipside: A Korean Adventure: DMZ

On Saturday November 10^th Nadia and I toured the DMZ separating North and South Korea. We booked our tickets about a month prior to the tour and decided to go with the USO sponsored tour. This tour cost a little more money than some of the other tours, but it was worth it because it takes you to some places that other people don’t get to experience. We had to wake up really early and subway into Seoul in order to get on the tour bus in time. The bus left at 9am and took us to our first stop at the 3^rd tunnel of the DMZ. This tunnel is one of four tunnels along the DMZ that were dug by North Korea shortly following the Korean War. The South Koreans and the Americans have found four of these tunnels but they think that there are more that they still haven’t found. After arriving our tour guide took us into the tunnel and we walked down 200 metres underground. The tunnel took us under the border and into the DMZ. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures but it was a really cool experience. We had to wear hard hats when we were in the tunnel because it was such a small space. I was basically crouching the entire way through!

After going inside the tunnel we walked around the visitors centre and toured a small museum. Walking around was really interesting because we were able to get so close to the barbed wire fences along the DMZ. It was pretty alarming seeing sings that said “Mine” posted all along the fence.

After the tunnel we got back on the bus and drove to the Dora observatory along the DMZ. When we got there we went inside the observatory and watched a short video that pointed out certain sites and cities within the DMZ and on the North Korean side near the border. Behind the TV screen was a giant glass window so that you could look out onto the DMZ and North Korea and see the different places that were being pointed out in the video. After, we walked out onto the outdoor platform of the observatory to get a better look into North Korea. It was really cool to see the DMZ and North Korea from this point of view. In North Korea we could see Gaeseong City, which is a big industrial city that is home to most of the manufacturing in North Korea. It is also a city that has been used to trade goods with the south in the past. Apparently, up until a few years ago, some South Korean businessmen owned factories in Gaeseong which employed North Koreans to help them earn more money. We were also able to look through binoculars and see the city at a closer range. It was too far to see any people; however, I did manage to see some North Korean guards standing in guard towers within the DMZ. We were only allowed to take pictures from a distant range (we had to stand behind a yellow line that was a little far back on the platform), so the pictures below only show a very distant view of Gaeseong City and some surrounding villages.

After the observatory we got back on the bus and drove to Dorasan station. This is a train station that was built in 2007 in order to transport goods to and from Gaeseong City. It is also a train that was used by the South Korean businessmen to get to the industrial city. During the tour you could tell that the train station is a real point of pride for the South Koreans as it is an example of a progressive relationship with the North. The station was even visited by George Bush when he was president and his signature is in a glass frame in the station (we kind of sniggered when they said how proud they were to have Bush’s signature). Unfortunately, the train running to and from Gaeseong (and the business relationship along with it) ended in late 2008 when South Korean President Lee Myung Bak took over. Apparently he is a really conservative and pro-American president who has taken a hard line against North Korea. Due to this, the North Koreans decided they had had enough with the business relationship and decided to end it. Now the station is only used for tourist purposes, but our tour guide said that they hope that one day it will run freely into North Korea when the two countries are unified (they continuously stressed in the tour that they can’t wait until the Korean peninsula is finally unified). The station was a little bit of a touristy gimmick but it was still really interesting to see.

After the train station we went for lunch. We went to a traditional Korean restaurant along the DMZ for a short meal and then jumped back on the bus for the last and best part of the tour.

For the last part of the tour we went to the JSA (UN Joint Security Area) along the DMZ. This was definitely the best and most interesting part of the tour. First we arrived at Camp Bonifas (the American and South Korean military base at the DMZ). We waited in the parking lot until an American soldier came on our bus to check our passports. He then took over as our tour guide and gave us a run down of the tour before letting us off the bus. The security was really intense at this part of the tour and we weren’t allowed to take any pictures when we got off the bus and entered Camp Bonifas. After getting off the bus we went into the main building of the JSA. Then we went inside a briefing room and had to sign a waver (basically agreeing to not cause any trouble and to acknowledge that technically we were taking a risk by getting so close to “the enemy,” etc). Then we were shown a slideshow and were given a quick summary of the Korean War and events that have occurred along the DMZ and within the JSA in the last 50-60 years. This part was really interesting and we got to hear some stories about North Koreans defecting over the border and how there have been quite a few small attacks along the DMZ since the Korean War ended.

After the slideshow we walked through the JSA building and outside onto the end that overlooks the border and the North Korean side. This was definitely the highlight of the tour. It was a really cool experience to see North Korea from such a close range. We could clearly see a North Korean guard on the other side looking at us through his binoculars. We weren’t allowed to wave or yell at him but we were allowed to take all the pictures we wanted. Our guide told us we could take a million photos of the North Korean side, just not any of the South Korean side. He even joked: “they’re definitely taking pictures of you, so why not return the favour!” After that we had to form in a line and we were led into the small conference room that sits right on top of the border (in the pictures below it is the small blue building in the middle running along the North/South line). We couldn’t take pictures as we were walking up to the building but once we were inside the conference room we were allowed to. I think this room is the reason that our tour cost a lot more than other tours because I’ve heard that other tours don’t take you into this conference room. This was a really cool experience. We listened to stories told by our tour guide while ROK (Republic of Korea – South Korea) soldiers stood absolutely still in the room; they looked pretty intimidating with their sunglasses on. In the room there is a big table in the middle, which is used for the talks between the North and the South. After crossing over past the table we were technically in North Korea, as we were on their side of the border; it was a pretty strange experience. Our guard told us interesting stories about how childish the North Korean guards are. Apparently in the past they have come into the conference room and used the South Korean flag to blow their nose and the American flag to wipe their boots. The conference meetings that they have in the room sound ridiculous and actually seem like the antics of little children fighting in a playground. Apparently in the past they’ve had meetings to address issues like: which side has a taller miniature flagpole on the conference table. Each side actually kept bringing in a flagpole that was bigger than the others, until finally neither side could fit their flags through the doors. You really got the feeling that the South doesn’t really view the North as any real danger, just kind of an annoyance at times. As an example of how ridiculous aspects of the conflict have been recently: when the South Koreans put up a giant flag in the DMZ, the North Koreans responded by building an even bigger flag.

After that we got back on the tour bus and drove down along the DMZ to some other interesting sites near the JSA. One of them was the site of the 1976 axe murder incident, where an American captain was ambushed by a bunch of North Korean troops and was axed to death. We also drove to another observatory looking out over into North Korea. This was really cool because we could see a North Korean village within the DMZ at a much closer range. This village is called the Propaganda Village and is actually a fake village that was built inside the DMZ. Apparently the buildings have no glass windows and no doors and are just hollow shells (this is also where the giant flagpole is). The village was dubbed the “Propaganda Village” by the South and the Americans because of the loud propaganda that was blasted from the speakers within the village, stating how amazing Kim Jong Il is, etc, etc). After this we got back on the bus and drove by the “Bridge of No Return.” The name sounds really ominous and cheesy, but the bridge is called this due to the fact that after the Korean War, citizens could decide whether they wanted to cross into North Korea or into South Korea. They were allowed to decide for themselves, but once they made their decision they couldn’t leave: thus the Bridge of No Return.

This marked the end of the tour. After we headed back to Camp Bonifas and toured around the museum and the gift shop. We even bought some North Korean blueberry wine! It looks really bad so I doubt we’ll actually drink it but it’s a pretty cool souvenir!

Apologies for the long rant; I know this was a big one, but you really can’t do it justice with only a few paragraphs.

About to enter the 3rd Tunnel.

A monument representing the unification of the Korean peninsula.

Yikes.

Good map to show you the whole DMZ. White flags are South Korea, red flags are North Korea.

The Dora observatory.

Gaeseong City, North Korea.

The camera line.

Dorasan Station.

Dorasan train station.

The briefing and slide show at the JSA.

Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un.

North Korea showing off with its bigger flag.

Up until the 1976 axe murder, the JSA used to be a free zone where North and South Korean soldiers walked around and stood guard amongst each other.

North Korean guards.

The JSA - the brown and white building in the back is the North Korean side. The blue building with the sign is the conference room that sits right on the border.