DMZ

Today we went on a USO tour to the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the strip of land that separates North Korea and South Korea (officially called The Republic of Korea (ROK)), which are technically still at war. It is the most heavily armed border in the world.

We had an early start, meeting at a US army base in Seoul at 7am. Since we had adhered to the dress code (which included 'no oversize "gangster" clothes') they let us get on the bus. From there it took about an hour to get to Panjumon, in the DMZ, home of the Joint Security Area (JSA), which is the only place where the two Koreas connect. It is also home to the 'Bridge of No Return', the only bridge connecting the two sides. Today was the first time it dawned on me how close Seoul is to North Korea.

At various points we were allowed to take photos, although were told not to point (oops!) or make gestures towards the North as this could be used as propaganda by North Korea, who would be watching us. In the photo below you can see the concrete, horizontal line between the blue buildings which separates the two Koreas. We stood on the south side and could clearly see a North Korean man in the building in front of us, watching our group with his binoculars. If you look closely at the picture (below, right) you can also see a man poking his head out of the open window. I noticed both the North and South Korean buildings had many cameras pointing out towards each other. It felt pretty unnerving.


Talks can take place between both sides in the MAC Conference Room, which is positioned in the middle of the line separating the regions. So the right side of the table (large photo below) is in South Korea, and the left side is in North Korea. (photo below I have one foot in each country) The South Korean (ROK) soldier here may look like a mannequin, but believe me, he was real and had a gun!


Interestingly when the ROK soldiers walk they make a rattling noise. It turns out they have steel ball bearings in the hem of their trousers (see photo above left), so when they march it sounds like there are more people present than there actually are! They also wear dark shades all the time so they look more intimidating.

In the DMZ both Koreas have one village. South Korea's village, Daeseong-dong is inhabited by a small number of South Korean civilians. The land there is very fertile and in the gift shops one can buy rice and other goods grown in the DMZ! North Korea's village, Kijong-dong is a propaganda village, reportedly practically uninhabited except for the few soldiers who keep it "running", ensuring the lights are switched on and off at the same times to give the appearance of people living there. After extending the height of it's flag pole to compete with one in Daeseong-dong, Kijong-dong now has the largest flag pole in the world at 160m high. The flag is rarely seen fully as it is so heavy it requires a very strong wind to move it! Until 2004 loud speakers in the village blasted out North Korean propaganda, to which the South retaliated with loud pop music!
Kijong-dong, the North Korean propaganda village. It was very misty!


(Left) Here we were surrounded by North Korea on 3 sides (Right) The Bridge of No Return, the only bridge connecting the Koreas

In afternoon, after lunch, we went to a North Korean made tunnel under the DMZ. It is 1 of 4 tunnels found by South Korea, which North Koreans dug probably with the purpose of invading the country. It is estimated there could be as many as 20 North Korean made tunnels in total, and so North Korean and US soldiers repeatedly drill holes in the DMZ trying to find them.

We entered a portion of the third tunnel which was discovered. North Korea painted the walls of the tunnel with coal so they could pretend it was a coal mine! It was pretty claustrophobic down there. Water was dripping from the ceiling and one had to duck quite often to get through.

It is possible to travel into North Korea, although it is pretty restricted. I plan to do that sometime and will write more about North Korea then. The BBC have some have good articles about the country for those of you who are interested. Funnily enough North Korea also conduct their own DMZ tours. I bet they are rather different to the one I did today!

A long weekend...Saturday

Saturday 1 March was Independence Movement Day, a Korean national holiday, when Koreans commemorate the day in 1919 when one of the first displays of Korean independence movements against the Japanese occupation of Korea took place. The Declaration of Independence was read, and still is to this day at Tapgol Park, Seoul. The demonstrations that began March 1 1919 spread through Korea and over 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese during the demonstrations. The March 1 movement resulted in a major change in Japanese imperial policy towards Korea when more lenient policies were introduced.

We went to Tapgol park to see the events which included dancing, music and many displays of national pride. At one point, as the pounding drum reached a crescendo, a man angrily defaced a Japanese flag with paint. Next a long white sheet was split in half and the crowds walked through the centre, symbolising the separation of Korea into North and South.



In the afternoon I had a leisurely stroll around Seoul and took in some of the sites in the Jongno area.

This is the Central Temple of Cheondogyo near Insadong. Cheondoism is a Korean religion rooted in Shamanism and Buddhism.
I visited Unhyeongung (Palace) near Anguk station. It's a very small palace, but must have been one of the only quiet places to be found in central Seoul on a Saturday afternoon. It was great to wander round without tonnes of tourists.


I got to take some lovely photos of Gyeongbok Palace, which I went to the day before, from the road adjacent to the palace wall. These are different views of the East Gate. Notice the monkeys on the roof. This is a common feature on traditional korean buildings.


Here are some random statues I saw along said road. I have no idea what they are. Buddhist maybe?! On the left is a building at the junction on the palace road.


This is Bosingak, a big bell near Jonggak Station, which is where Chi He and I saw in the New Year.

Here is a really cool building, Jongno Tower, which has a restaurant and bar at the top. I'll have to go there some time. I bet the views are amazing.
And that's it for the pics. The only other thing worth mentioning is my first bad experience with a Korean person. I was in a book shop on my way back home and got pestered by a Korean guy. He seemed a bit aggressive so I politely told him I was a bit busy and tried to edge away, at which point he said to "Go back to your country, or I'll kill you!" He then repeated shouted this at me, prodded me, picked up the books from my hand and followed me when I tried to leave. I ended up running away from him really scared. Thankfully everyone else in Korea has behaved in the opposite way - incredibly friendly and welcoming. Let's hope it's a one off, but be warned...

Namdaemun Destroyed

It is 2 weeks ago today since Namdaemun, South Korea's first national treasure, was damaged in a fire. Before the arson, the wooden structure at the top of the gate was Korea's oldest wooden structure.

The gate had survived for 610 years, which included wars and invasions and numerous restorations. Thankfully in 2005 blue prints were made of the gate as a contingency against any emergencies that may damage it. A restoration is already planned which will cost at least £10 million and take about 3 years.

A 69 year old man has now confessed to setting it alight because he was upset about not being paid in full for some land he sold to developers. This seems a ridiculous reason to destroy one of Korea's best loved architectural structures. In 2006 the man tried to destroy one of Seoul's palaces.

It's been reported that the administration and firemen couldn't decide on how aggressively they should fight the fire and their lack of cooperation and too weak approach meant the fire took a stronger hold of the gate.

Luckily they managed to rescue the wooden tablet from the gate with the inscription "Sungnyemun" (a less common name for Namdaemun gate) in Chinese characters. Here is a picture I took of it next to one taken since it was removed (courtesy of The Korean Times). To see the gate collapsing and the tablet precariously being removed watch this video.

I luckily got to see the gate in November and it looked absolutely beautiful. See my blog entry 'The world's largest church and more...' Here are various pictures I took in November as well as ones taken a couple of days after the fire, and one whilst it's on fire from The Korean Times.

The world's largest church and more...

On Sunday I visited the world's largest Christian congregation, Yoido Full Gospel Church. The church is on an island in the middle of the Han River, the river that runs though the centre of Seoul. Inside it was similiar to what (I'd imagine) a baseball stadium looks like. It was HUGE!! There were tonnes of TV screens around for people to watch the service and outside the church building the service is projected in many rooms.



From the church I took a taxi (all forms of transport are v cheap here) to Namdaemun Market and the view as we crossed the river was incredible. It was early evening and the city lights were twinkling and you could see the full moon peeping out between buildings. I can't wait to get a super duper camera which would give such sights justice.

At Namdaemun Market I had a leisurely wander round the many interesting shops and stalls. A highlight was Namdaemun gate, Koreas National Treasure No.1, which lived up to its promise of being partically beautiful at night. The gate has been described as 'Asia's most dangerous tourist attraction' due to it being surrounded by 8 lanes of busy traffic!