DMZ

Sunday we had a quick trip up to the DMZ. We were picked up at our hotel and then went around town picking up others. After an hour we headed north to the demilitarized zone.
Seoul is not far at all from the DMZ, about 50-60km or 30-35 miles. Almost immediately after leaving the city, we started seeing barbed wire. There is a river that starts in North Korea and winds down through South Korea. The river is lined with barbed wire fence to keep out any infiltrators from the North. On the other side of the fence, we could see a beautiful river and mountains on the other side. At one point, the mountains went from full of trees to bare. That is when we knew we were looking at the North; they have stripped the trees for firewood. It was a short drive and we had fun chit-chatting with some men from San Fransisco. The guide was a young woman who tried to educate us about the situation in Korea. She was careful to call the DMZ the demarcation line, not a border. A border occurs between 2 countries and Korea is still one. She also explained the armistice as "a break." That the country is just taking a break from the war...for over 50 years. It is still one country. She also talked about the difference in attitude between generations. It has been so long now that the country has been divided, her generation feels no connection to the North. They do not want reunification because of the economic toll it would take on the South. The older generation, however, remembers and has connections to the North. They feel quite different.
It was definately a bizarre feeling. We never felt unsafe (not like it's Gaza) but the military presence is palpable. The barbed wire, the guardposts, the little signs telling you to stay on the roads becaues of landmines, the strict rules - you could feel the tension. What's odd is that our guide has grown up with this and to her, it is the norm. We were very disappointed that we 1) couldn't take pictures of so many things due to security reasons and 2) because our tour was on a Sunday, certain places weren't on the tour, specifically Panmunjon which is the building that straddles the two Koreas. But, Sunday was the only day we could go so at least we were able to do the tour.

Waiting for the others on the tour...wishing Ihad found a Starbucks.

The Freedom Bridge. The last govt-allowed exchange of people from the North to the South was along this bridge decades ago. The bridge leads into the DMZ but the other side is still South Korea. You are not looking at North Korea here.

Signs, pictures, children's art and ribbons posted along the Freedom Bridge in memory of those on the other side.

Jim dwarfing the freaky statue on the edge of the Freedom Bridge

Next, we went to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. 4 Tunnels have been discovered by the South Korean government leading from North Korea into South. The tunnels are about 2m tall and 2m wide and designed to move a large number of troops quickly to places where they could infiltrate and attack Seoul. They were found with the help of an engineer who defected to the South. The North denied building them, yet the blast holes from they dynamite are clearly pointed towards the South so you can see which way the tunnel was built. No pictures were allowed in the tunnel. We went down to the 3rd tunnel. You walk down a ramp to get to the tunnel (and unfortunately, you walk back up the ramp too). Imagine the steepest staircase ever and then make it a ramp. Now extend it for 400m downward. 400m doesn't sound like a lot but it was incredibly long when you are walking at an 11degree angle. The picture isn't too scale but it was the steepest incline I have ever walked; that includes Diamond Head and the Great Wall. You must wear a hard hat. A floor was put into the tunnel so people could walk easier. This changed the height from 2m (6feet) to 1.6m. In short, Jim hit his head about 5 times on the granite ceiling and I banged mine twice. The North first denied building the tunnel, then claimed it was for coal mining. However, the walls are obvious granite stone; there is no coal there. Now, the North realizes the South is making lots of money on those tunnels and has said they should be given a cut of the action as they built the tunnels in the first place. The tunnel was very scary. We were warned that you should not go down there if you have an issue with enclosed spaces. It was dark with water dripping on you, not unlike a tomb feeling. At the end is a barrier that the South Korean govt put in place to seal it from the North. There is a window in the steel door that allows you to look at the other, deeper barriers that they built. There are 3 barriers and the deepest ones have landmines embedded as well. Once you reach the end and are a little freaked out, you get to retrace your steps and climb back up to the top. Halfway there I told Jim I was done talking as I had to focus on breathing. We were the first ones to the top. I needed to be out of there.

Then we went to the observatory. This is the highest point at the DMZ. It is not an observatory for stars, I realized. It's sole purpose is to monitor the area. It is staffed by the South Korea army that have been trained by UN Troops. It is a platform that looks out over the DMZ. The DMZ is 4km wide; 2km to the north of the demarcation line and 2km to the south. Within the DMZ is one village in South Korea. The govt subsidizes it - those that live there live tax-free and do organic farming. Their sons are exempt from the mandatory military service requirement. About 450 people live in Unifcation Village. There is an elementary school, a church. Just across from it, on the other side of the demarcation line, is a village on the North Korea side. It is made of impressive buildings to show the South how good it is in the North. It is empty. Both villages have a huge flagspost waving their respective flags. The one on the Northern side is the biggest flagpost in the world. The platform at the observatory looks out over all of this. There was a yellow line that denonted where you could take pictures. To get a really good look at the edge of the platform, you crossed the yellow line. In short, where you could really see things is where you weren't allowed to take pictures. We wanted to take a picture with a South Korean guard but just as we were asking, a bus of Chinese tourist pulled up. He refused saying if the tourists saw that, then all of them would want to take pictures with him and he wasn't about to deal with that. Below is the guard, right on the yellow line, surrounded by the Chinese tourists.

Jim stood right at the edge of the yellow line and lifted the camera up way above his head. Using the zoom, he was able to get some decent pictures. Above the viewing scope on the right, you can see the flagpole on the North Korean side, surrounded by the faux village.

After this we went to Dorasan Station. AB-SO-LUTE-LY Bizarre!!! This is an empty, brand-new train station with cargo depots, inspection posts, ticket booths - everything. It is sitting,waiting, right at the edge of the DMZ. Waiting for reunification, should that occur. The South built it in 2002 when relations were a bit more hopeful with the North. They are anticipating the day when they can link by rail to China and via China, Russia and Europe. There are pictures of the then President of South Korea and President Bush who together "opened" the station. But no trains have yet to leave, obviously.

We then boarded the bus back to Seoul. Jim and I spent a few hours deciphering the map and managed to actually figure things out a little. But that's another post.