DMZ

A few weeks after we arrived in Korea to start our contract, North Korea tested some nukes. We kind of had that feeling like... what did we get ourselves into? Luckily, we've had a safe year dispite the crazy guy running the show up North. After those events, a visit to the National War Museum, and just a general curiousity about the North Korean way of life, we were really looking forward to our tour of the demiliterized zone (DMZ) along the border of the North and South.

We started our Saturday morning bright and early, meeting at Camp Kim in Seoul at 7am. Not being much for early mornings, Hannah, Shanda, Mel and I spent the night at a love motel near the base (after an awesome 9-course turkish meal in Itaewon the night before I have to add). There were two buses of tourists, filled mainly with Americans and it took about a 45 minutes to get to our destination. During the drive, every little detail about our route was covered by a cute little old Korean man who was determined not to let us snooze, lest we miss out on such landmarks as the old gas station to our left or the rice field to our right!

The tour was run by the USO and was very well done and structured. I felt like one of our students, being asked to stand in line or not to move too far in any one direction. Our first stop was an unasuming conference room where talks are sometimes held between delegates of the North and South. There were stern looking soldiers guarding the doors and we were warned not to pass behind them or they'd stop us with force. Like I said- structured! These guys were intense as they didn't move once, and stood there, fists clenched the whole time. The guards wore cool sunglasses that are meant to protect their identity, and they made for a good photo op (above).

The conference room was the blue building to the left in the picture above. It is half on South Korean land, and half on North Korean land. So, when we were in that building we were technically in North Korea. Check that off the list of places I have now seen! The big building in the back is on North Korean land, and there was a creepy North Korean soldier on the steps watching us with binoculars.

Next, we went to a lookout point where we were surrounded on three sides by the North. Ahhhhh- communism!!!! From that point we had a great view of the "propaganda village" of the North near the border. It is said that these buildings are for appearance only, and nobody lives there at all. The flag to the right in the photo is one of the largest in the world and weighs over 600 lbs. Sounds like somebody's compensating for something.

Our next stop was lunch in the village between Paju and the DMZ. The land in the village is not run by the Korean government, but by the UN, so the residents pay no taxes and the men are exempt from the manditory military service other Koreans must face. The land is so rich that the average farmer makes over $80,000 US a year from their crops. Pretty good deal, i'd say, aside from the location. Lunch was bulgogi, which was probably one of the more crowd-pleasing Korean foods you could offer a tourist. After lunch (and several gift shops), we went to another lookout point where you could use binoculars to see into the North. You weren't supposed to take photos, but somebody (I dunno who) took the pic above where you can see the border. Both sides look the same- can't we all just get along?

Our last stop was a tour of one of several underground tunnels dug by North Koreans into the South. The North had been digging this tunnel for 5 years before it was discovered. We only had access to the portion of the tunnel on the South, so we really only saw about 1/5 of it in all. The walk took about half an hour and absolutely no photos were allowed. Who took that picture above, then? It's illegal! The ceiling of the cave was really low, so we had to wear hard hats and walk in a nice hunch for the tour. It was pretty sneaky work on their behalf, I say, and we were greeted by a nice cement wall and some barbed wire at the end. With that, our tour was finishy, and we boarded our buses in a straight line and headed home more educated than before and ready for a good nap. Great tour, highly recommended!