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| DMZ tour |
Before moving to South Korea I knew little about the Korean war and The DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) was something I heard about but didn't know the full history behind it. Living here and being able to read and learn more about South Korea really sparked my interest to go visit this historical sight. This past Saturday morning Dennis and I went on the USO's tour of the DMZ. For those of you that might not know much about the DMZ here is a little brief synopsis I got off of wikipedia.
The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Hangul: 한반도 비무장지대; Hanja: 韓半島非武裝地帶) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long,[1] approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide and is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
Our first stop on the tour was the third tunnel. The third tunnel was one of the tunnels built by the North (there are four total) that the South Koreans discovered over the past 50 years. The North Koreans built these tunnels secretly in order to try and infiltrate the south. Before we went down in the tunnel we had to put hard hats which seemed silly at the time but after I bumped my head on the very low ceiling once or twice I was very thankful for that helmet. Sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures while down in the tunnel but there really wasn't much to see. It was just a normal tunnel and once you get to the end there is some barb wire and some heavy metal doors with locks on them. It is said that there are only four tunnels but the South Koreans and Americans think there are probably more that have not been discovered. After the tunnel we went to an observation deck where we got to see our first view of North Korea. This observation deck was interesting because there was a yellow line that you could not cross to take pictures. It seemed silly, especially later on when you were allowed to take pictures of the same view at even a closer range. But rules are rules and the South Korean soldiers that are monitoring the place take them very seriously.
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| No photos past the yellow line |
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| North Korea in the background |
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| Says to Pyongyang |
After the observation deck we headed to a train station which is the last stop of the line that runs in South Korea to the north. The whole point of visiting there was to emphasize the importance of a re-unification someday. With this re-unification they could have a trans-continental railroad that would run from South Korea all the way to Portugal. The only hold up is obviously North Korea.
Our last stop was the JSA (Joint Security Area) which included Camp Bonifas and the Panmunjom the village inside the DMZ. This is where we got a close up glimpse of North Korea. While in Camp Bonifas everyone is under very strict orders not to take pictures while on the bus on base. We were taken into a room where we shown a brief video on the history of the DMZ and the Do's and Dont's while on this part of the tour. The big don't is not to take pictures when you're not suppose to and also do not to point. The North Korean's could use this pointing as propaganda. After this brief you are taken to Panmunjom where you are literally inside the DMZ and surrounded on 3 sides by North Korea. Sadly, we did not get to go into meeting room where you actually get to step over the line into North Korea. The "floors" were being redone. Not sure if that is the whole truth but that's what they told us. It was still interesting to get a close-up glimpse of North Korea we even got to see one of the soldiers who was looking at us through his binoculars.
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| View to North Korea's side |
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| One North Korean soldier standing guard |
Next we headed to one of the observatory parts of the DMZ where we got a better view of the north and "Propaganda" village. In the past there used to be a huge speaker system on the North Korean side that used to blast propoganda most of the hours of the day trying to get South Koreans to cross over. No one lives in the village, it's all show, and people are only there once in a while for maintenance reasons. In this village there stands the third largest flag pole in the world with a huge North Korean flag adorning it. The flag is said to weigh 600lbs and it takes about 12 men to take it down when there is inclimate weather. It will tear under it's own weight if it gets wet and very heavy winds are needed in order for it to even flap in the wind.
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| Propaganda Village |
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| The bridge of no return |
We boarded the buses again and also got to see the sight and monument of the 1976 axe murder incident where two American soldiers were killed while cutting down a tree obstructing there view. If you want to read more on this tragic story
click here. We then continued on the bus and drove past the bridge of no return. Literally if you cross it there is no returning back. We were told that in the 1960s two US soldiers defected to the North and were never seen again.
Each location we went to had a gift shop with some touristy things to buy. In fact, they even sold North Korean wine. Dennis and I did not buy the wine but many people on our tour did. I think if you could taste Communism that wine would be it.
On happier note I leave South Korea this week and will be home on the sixth to visit my family, Kendall Jackson, and friends. Dennis will follow me shortly and meet me in Texas to see two of our good friends, Meredith and Brian, get married!!! Yay!! Then I will head to New Orleans for a little bit to visit with Dennis' family and then back home for Christmas in Florida. I can't wait to see everyone soon! Love you all!
