The DMZ tour was one of the most unique things I have ever done. It was an incredibly rushed experience, but to be only feet away from North Korea felt surreal. The day started off with a stop at Freedom Park and then a tour of the third infiltration tunnel. So far they have discovered four, but assume there are more. The way the third tunnel was discovered (they are numbered in order of discovery) in 1978, was by a North Korean engineer who worked on the tunnel and then defected to South Korea. South Korean officials drilled very deep holes and then pumped water into them. One hole took an incredibly long time to fill and then the water came shooting up due to the difference in air pressure. They had discovered the 1,635 m long third infiltration tunnel just 52 km north of Seoul. The tunnel is 2m in width, 2m in height, and 73 m below ground. It is estimated that it would take only an hour for 30,000 North Korean soldiers to pass through it.
When the North Koreans realized that the South Koreans were discovering the infiltration tunnels, they wanted to make them look like coal mines. So the walls were smeared with coal dust and mining equipment was left behind. These were obviously not mines for many reasons one of the most important being that the walls are all granite. The lower we went the warmer and more humid it became. The ceiling continued to get lower and we were quite hunched over before turning back to ascend. It is believed that this tunnel took 3 years to dig. Defectors have claimed that the workers were forced to dig 14 hours a day. It is unknown for sure how many people were forced to toil away in these tunnels.
Next we headed to the Dora Observatory, the northernmost observatory in South Korea. From there we were able to see Propaganda Village. Apparently up until recently no one really lived there. It is just a bunch of buildings with loud speakers blaring communist rhetoric. It also has the world’s tallest flag pole standing at 160 m with a humungous North Korean flag. It stands in stark contrast to the South Korean flag just across the MDL (Military Demarcation Line). The North just couldn’t have their flag be lower.
I paid to use the binoculars and was able to see someone walking a dog and a large group of soldiers walking along the perimeters of their compound. I was also able to see farmland and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. This complex was built by a South Korean company and employs North Koreans at a much lower rate than their South Korean counterparts. It is the only reason a South Korean is allowed to cross into North Korea. The South Korean government doesn’t want its own citizens crossing over, after an incident in 2008 where a South Korean tourist was shot by a North Korean soldier. Even before that incident no one could freely visit North Korea, except with a North Korean organized tour. Our tour guide pointed out that there were no trees on the North Korean side of the MDL. I then looked around and realized all the hills on the South Korean side were covered with trees. She said that the North Koreans living near the MDL had cut down all the trees for fire wood. She also said that they live in absolute poverty making around 100 USD a month with a taxation rate of 50%. I was then accosted by a group of Mainland Chinese tourists and stood for a plethora of group pictures.
Our last stop with our morning tour group was the Dorasan Station. It is the northernmost international station in South Korea. It is only 700 meters from the southern boundary of the DMZ, 56 km north of Seoul and 205 km south of Pyeongyang (North Korea’s capital). It was built with hopes that someday it will be able to connect with the North Korean railway line. This would allow travelers to make the roughly ten day trip to Western Europe. As of now the station is simply symbolic.
At this point we had lunch and joined another tour group for a chance to visit the JSA, Joint Security Area. We met a very nice couple from Burlingame, California. They happened to be on their way to Taipei the next day and they too were vegetarian. This led to me having word vomit, as my best friend would say. I was so excited to share a long list of vegetarian restaurants with them. For any of you who love to eat, go to Taiwan. Sorry I have to put in a plug for Taiwan whenever the opportunity arises.
The JSA is an area within the DMZ where both North Korean soldiers and South Korean soldiers reside. There are conference rooms where the two sides can come together to meet. It used to be that the soldiers comingled and could move freely through the area. Then on August 18th, 1978 two US officers were brutally hacked to death by North Korean soldiers. Within the JSA each side had several observation check points. The view between two of the UN/South Korean check points was obscured by a tree’s branches. The two US officers wanted to trim the tree. This agitated the North Korean soldiers and led to them picking up the axes and killing the US officers. This incident led to the creation of the MDL right through the middle of the JSA and DMZ. The line is marked by posts. Between the conference rooms in the JSA there is one long concrete strip to clearly show the line which neither side can cross.
Before entering the JSA, we had to visit Camp Bonifas (named after one of the US officers who were killed in 1976) to sign a waiver and to be briefed on how to act within the JSA. You are not allowed to make eye contact with North Korean soldiers, make any gestures at them, nor touch anything that belongs to North Korea inside the conference rooms. We were ushered onto a military bus and driven very slowly into the JSA. Everyone was very quiet realizing that we were entering a very tense location. The picture you probably have in your mind of the DMZ is of North and South Korean soldiers standing right across the MDL with two blue buildings flanking them. This is called Conference Row. The two buildings are the conference rooms where the two countries can come to communicate. What I found interesting was that the South Korean soldiers held a very strong posture with their legs far apart and their arms slightly flexed. Unfortunately, that day there was only one North Korean soldier up on the stairs of the large concrete building just across the MDL on the North Korean side. Normally the North Korean soldiers stand straight like a pole looking at each other. Supposedly this is to prevent them from defecting to the South. Once inside the conference room, I was excited to get what I have always considered THE JUMPSHOT. Of course the South Korean guard had to hold his composure, but I jumped next to him and I was technically on the North Korean side of the MDL. We were only allowed to take photos facing the North and not the South. Perhaps that is so the North Koreans can’t have a closer look at the South’s side of the JSA. I don’t know.
On our way back to Camp Bonifas, we passed the famous Axe Murder site and the Bridge of No Return. This is where North Korea and South Korea swapped POW’s in 1953. The POW’s were given the choice to stay with their captors or to return to their own side. It was given its name because once across the soldier could not change his mind. The bus ride took us very close to Propaganda Village and I got a very clear view of the North Korean flag. It is bizarre to look at this place and realize how different life is for people living only a few hundred meters away. Once in the camp, I was lucky enough to meet two soldiers who were open to chatting and willing to do a jump shot with me.
In the end, I left feeling glad that the US played such a big role in the Korean War and that our two countries can have such close friendly relations. I know many South Koreans of our generation today don’t like that the US has such a strong military presence in their country, but the older generation has very warm and welcoming emotions towards Americans. Their greetings were unexpected and a pleasant surprise compared to what I have received in other parts of the world. As a militaristic nation we have made many mistakes over the past few decades, but we should be proud of our involvement in the Korean War and aspire to assisit our allies in a non-self glorifying manner in the future.
When the North Koreans realized that the South Koreans were discovering the infiltration tunnels, they wanted to make them look like coal mines. So the walls were smeared with coal dust and mining equipment was left behind. These were obviously not mines for many reasons one of the most important being that the walls are all granite. The lower we went the warmer and more humid it became. The ceiling continued to get lower and we were quite hunched over before turning back to ascend. It is believed that this tunnel took 3 years to dig. Defectors have claimed that the workers were forced to dig 14 hours a day. It is unknown for sure how many people were forced to toil away in these tunnels.
Next we headed to the Dora Observatory, the northernmost observatory in South Korea. From there we were able to see Propaganda Village. Apparently up until recently no one really lived there. It is just a bunch of buildings with loud speakers blaring communist rhetoric. It also has the world’s tallest flag pole standing at 160 m with a humungous North Korean flag. It stands in stark contrast to the South Korean flag just across the MDL (Military Demarcation Line). The North just couldn’t have their flag be lower.
I paid to use the binoculars and was able to see someone walking a dog and a large group of soldiers walking along the perimeters of their compound. I was also able to see farmland and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. This complex was built by a South Korean company and employs North Koreans at a much lower rate than their South Korean counterparts. It is the only reason a South Korean is allowed to cross into North Korea. The South Korean government doesn’t want its own citizens crossing over, after an incident in 2008 where a South Korean tourist was shot by a North Korean soldier. Even before that incident no one could freely visit North Korea, except with a North Korean organized tour. Our tour guide pointed out that there were no trees on the North Korean side of the MDL. I then looked around and realized all the hills on the South Korean side were covered with trees. She said that the North Koreans living near the MDL had cut down all the trees for fire wood. She also said that they live in absolute poverty making around 100 USD a month with a taxation rate of 50%. I was then accosted by a group of Mainland Chinese tourists and stood for a plethora of group pictures.
Our last stop with our morning tour group was the Dorasan Station. It is the northernmost international station in South Korea. It is only 700 meters from the southern boundary of the DMZ, 56 km north of Seoul and 205 km south of Pyeongyang (North Korea’s capital). It was built with hopes that someday it will be able to connect with the North Korean railway line. This would allow travelers to make the roughly ten day trip to Western Europe. As of now the station is simply symbolic.
At this point we had lunch and joined another tour group for a chance to visit the JSA, Joint Security Area. We met a very nice couple from Burlingame, California. They happened to be on their way to Taipei the next day and they too were vegetarian. This led to me having word vomit, as my best friend would say. I was so excited to share a long list of vegetarian restaurants with them. For any of you who love to eat, go to Taiwan. Sorry I have to put in a plug for Taiwan whenever the opportunity arises.
The JSA is an area within the DMZ where both North Korean soldiers and South Korean soldiers reside. There are conference rooms where the two sides can come together to meet. It used to be that the soldiers comingled and could move freely through the area. Then on August 18th, 1978 two US officers were brutally hacked to death by North Korean soldiers. Within the JSA each side had several observation check points. The view between two of the UN/South Korean check points was obscured by a tree’s branches. The two US officers wanted to trim the tree. This agitated the North Korean soldiers and led to them picking up the axes and killing the US officers. This incident led to the creation of the MDL right through the middle of the JSA and DMZ. The line is marked by posts. Between the conference rooms in the JSA there is one long concrete strip to clearly show the line which neither side can cross.
Before entering the JSA, we had to visit Camp Bonifas (named after one of the US officers who were killed in 1976) to sign a waiver and to be briefed on how to act within the JSA. You are not allowed to make eye contact with North Korean soldiers, make any gestures at them, nor touch anything that belongs to North Korea inside the conference rooms. We were ushered onto a military bus and driven very slowly into the JSA. Everyone was very quiet realizing that we were entering a very tense location. The picture you probably have in your mind of the DMZ is of North and South Korean soldiers standing right across the MDL with two blue buildings flanking them. This is called Conference Row. The two buildings are the conference rooms where the two countries can come to communicate. What I found interesting was that the South Korean soldiers held a very strong posture with their legs far apart and their arms slightly flexed. Unfortunately, that day there was only one North Korean soldier up on the stairs of the large concrete building just across the MDL on the North Korean side. Normally the North Korean soldiers stand straight like a pole looking at each other. Supposedly this is to prevent them from defecting to the South. Once inside the conference room, I was excited to get what I have always considered THE JUMPSHOT. Of course the South Korean guard had to hold his composure, but I jumped next to him and I was technically on the North Korean side of the MDL. We were only allowed to take photos facing the North and not the South. Perhaps that is so the North Koreans can’t have a closer look at the South’s side of the JSA. I don’t know.
On our way back to Camp Bonifas, we passed the famous Axe Murder site and the Bridge of No Return. This is where North Korea and South Korea swapped POW’s in 1953. The POW’s were given the choice to stay with their captors or to return to their own side. It was given its name because once across the soldier could not change his mind. The bus ride took us very close to Propaganda Village and I got a very clear view of the North Korean flag. It is bizarre to look at this place and realize how different life is for people living only a few hundred meters away. Once in the camp, I was lucky enough to meet two soldiers who were open to chatting and willing to do a jump shot with me.
In the end, I left feeling glad that the US played such a big role in the Korean War and that our two countries can have such close friendly relations. I know many South Koreans of our generation today don’t like that the US has such a strong military presence in their country, but the older generation has very warm and welcoming emotions towards Americans. Their greetings were unexpected and a pleasant surprise compared to what I have received in other parts of the world. As a militaristic nation we have made many mistakes over the past few decades, but we should be proud of our involvement in the Korean War and aspire to assisit our allies in a non-self glorifying manner in the future.
