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!