The most highly militarized border on earth -- the Korean DMZ

Likely the most intense, yet most interesting place to visit on the Korean peninsula is none other than Korea's demilitarized zone (DMZ).  This is the area that current separates the two countries of completely different economic structures and way of life.  A different economic structure may not be initially appear to be a very big deal, though the reality is that the two societies separated on this peninsula do not only have a different way of living -- but they nearly live in two different worlds entirely, as their perceptions of life are completely skewed from one another.

I will not go into information on North Korea in this post and how it differs from the South or really the history of Korea, as that is something that would take several posts to even begin to explain (and even then I would be off because few outside do know the the entire truth of the north).  However, I will say that there are many documentaries that are very informative on the topic.

Symbol of Earth as a whole and unification of a nation

For this post, I will try to focus on only the DMZ itself.  For my tour I took the USO (United Service Organization) tour.  The cost for the tour (through Koridoor) was $77 USD or 92 KRW.  The USO tour is the only tour available where you can actually visit the Joint Security Area (JSA) where you can see North Korean soldiers and walk into the meeting room.  Other tours that are available that are non-USO only take you to the train station, third tunnel and other areas with the JSA excluded.  The tour lasted from 9 AM to about 4:30-5 PM so it was a full work day of just tours.  Thousands of people tour the DMZ every year.  I did see many Koreans touring areas of the DMZ (from little kids to the elderly), however, I only saw foreigners touring the JSA.  Either they may not be allowed to or many simply choose not to because it is not something they like to be reminded of.   If you mention the DMZ or North Korea to a South Korean I noticed you get one of the two reactions: 1.  They don't want to talk about it because they do not want to be reminded of the bad history and separation of families or 2. They are apathetic about North Korea and do not fear them at all.

The tunnels

The first place that we visited on our tour was the 3rd tunnel.  This tunnel is one of 4 tunnels that the North Korean soldiers have dug under the DMZ in hopes to achieve a surprise attack on Seoul, the capital of South Korea and 2nd largest city in the world.  The tunnel was discovered in 1978 and is located 52 km from Seoul.  It is 1.7 km in length, 2 m wide, and 2 m in height.  It is so large that 30,000 fully-armed North Korean soldiers and their vehicles and weapons could pass through the tunnel in an hour.  Walking through the tunnel was shallow in height, so we had to wear hard hats to watch to not hit our head.  We walked all the way down to the first blockade of 3-4 that was set up by South Korea after they discovered the tunnel.  It is suspected that it took over 800 days for the tunnel to be dug.  North Korean soldiers created the tunnel entirely by hand, walking it and using dynamite, getting away, having an explosion, and going back and doing this again.  Imagine doing this for 800 days straight and how dedicated these soldiers would have to be just to get an opportunity to attack Seoul.

Propaganda Village

The second place we visited was the Dorasan Observatory, which is the northernmost observatory in the South where you can see North Korea's Propaganda Village and farmland.  This is only one of two places where there is human inhabitants on the DMZ.  The other is South Korea's Freedom Village.  Propaganda Village is merely a village in a caretaker status.  It is referred to as "propaganda village" because they have an extensive loud speaker system that broadcasts to anyone and everyone in the area the praises of Kim Il Sung, the "great leader" of North Korea.  These announcements are made 6 to 12 hours a day, mostly at night.  The other odd part about the village is that it has no citizens.  Although there are 15 to 20 workers present each day, they merely maintain the facilities and raise and lower the flag.  The people that live in Freedom Village (also known as Daeseong-dong) is adjacent to the military demarcation line (the official line that separates).  The residents of this village are there because they requested to live in their ancestral homes rather than relocated to a safer area.  The citizens are required to live under restricted conditions, as they must be out of their fields and in their village by dark every day and must be in their homes with windows secured at 11 PM every night.  Women of the village are free to leave and wed outside of the village, but the men are not so many times women are brought in to the village.   The South Korean flag that stands at Freedom Village is 100 km tall and, in order to "trump" south korea, the North Korean flat at Propaganda Village stands 160 km tall.

The third place we visited was the Dorasan Station, which is the train station that is currently built that would connect North and South Korea.  It would allow people to transport from Seoul, the south's capitol, to Pyongyang, the north's capitol.  The railway was in use for one year from 2007 to 2008 to ship goods, though it currently remains closed.  You can walk through the train station and receive a ticket that cannot yet be used and then walk out to the train tracks.  The idea is that once reunification occurs, South Korea could then be connected easily to China and to the Trans-Siberian Railway that crosses through all of Russia and into Europe.  Until then, South Koreans must either travel by air or a ferry to get to these locations.

The final and most popular location of our tour was the Joint Security Area (JSA).  If you google DMZ this is often the location that comes up because this is the spot where meetings occur.

The most influential incident of the DMZ was the 1976 Axe Murder incident, which was heavily covered during this section of the tour.  Prior to this incident, North and South Korean soldiers were allowed to have stations on both sides of the military demarcation line.  The situation occurred when UNC (United Nations) workforce decided to prune a tree that was blocking view.  The KPA (north soldiers) told them to leave the tree alone, but they did not log a protest since they would be typical custom in this situation.  The UNC soldiers then continued to cut down the tree, but within minutes KPA soldiers arrived.  The confrontation began without an incident, though the two disagreed on the situation and two American officers were pounced upon immediately and killed.  Four US enlisted men were injured and four ROK (South Korea) were injured.  Deaths of the KPA are still unknown.

Since that incident, the soldiers of each side are not allowed to cross the line and the area between Freedom House (on the south side) and Panmungak (on the north).  The area is being watched all day every day.  The USO was very particular about tourists in this area.  We had to follow a dress code, have our passports checked, and sign a release form.  We had to stand in two single file lines and not point at anything or express any communication (verbal or non-verbal) to any North Korean soldier.  We could take pictures of the north side, but none of the south because the UN does not want pictures of their facilities spread that could potentially be found by the north.

The same tour of the DMZ is offered by North Korea and they have about 9,000 tourists annually.  However, the US military tour guide we had said that the tour to go cost $5,000, though I have heard from others different prices.  Initially everyone except for US and South Korean citizens could visit, but it is currently open for US citizens as well.  South Koreans are still unable to visit.  Visitors are unable to get there through South Korea, as they have to travel to China first.  The tour guide told us that when North Korea gives the tour, when they go into the meeting room at the JSA, tourists are asked to take off their shoes and put their bare foots on the table on the south side of the room.  If you looked at an angle, you could see all of the prints left on the table.  The room is monitored 24/7 so military can hear everything being said.