stumbling through south korea: Finally going to the DMZ

A few weeks ago, I didn’t have much to do, so I joined some friends who were going to visit the DMZ up near Seoul. They were booking a tour and they invited me along for the ride! Because they finish work so late, I was going to go to Seoul early and meet them the next morning outside the tour headquarters.

I started the morning off right....forgetting the time I was supposed to meet and showing up an hour early. I entertained myself by walking around and taking pictures until my friends arrived. The Korean War Memorial was nearby, so I was able to check that out for a bit.

Korea War Memorial

When everyone arrived, we went to the tour company to sign in. Before the trip, I didn’t know what the plan was...just that we were going to the DMZ. When we arrived, I discovered we were going to a few different places: The Third Infiltration Tunnel, Dora Observatory, a lookout point over the DMZ, Dorasan Train Station, lunch, and inside the dmz itself to the JSA (Joint Security Area)!

Third Infiltration Tunnel

Hanging out in the tunnel

The first we visited was an underground tunnel dug by North Korea. South Korea has discovered quite a few since the war was put on hold; this is just the third one they have found. Of course, the North Koreans denied that they were the ones to build it...but it was pretty obvious by the way the dynamite was stuck into the walls. Walking through it was really all there was to do...there’s not much else to do in a tunnel.

Dora Observatory

The Group - This is how far from them I was allowed to stand

The next location on the tour was Dora Observatory, the lookout point over the dmz. Here they had little binocular machines you could use to peer over the countryside. From this point you could see the North and South Korean towns inside the DMZ. South Korea’s town - freedom village, and North Korean town - Propaganda Village, named because they have a giant loudspeaker that blasts out propaganda at freedom village, in hopes that the South Koreans will hear and run over to live! Also, in each town there is a giant flagpole flying the nation’s flag. The North Korean flagpole started out tallest, until someone gifted South Korea with one a tiny bit bigger. Of course, childish North Korea didn’t like this so they got a new flag pole....because the truth of the matter is...whoever has the biggest flag pole will be the best country....or something like that.

As I said before, at the lookout point there were pay-as-you-go binoculars. These are very useful and quite a money-making opportunity, mainly because it’s so hard to get a picture there. Before we arrived our guide warned us that we must only take pictures from behind the yellow line. I thought this was a fair and just rule....until I saw the yellow line. It was a good way back from the railing, so that if you wanted a good picture, you were going to need some tall legs and a good zoom. Of course, I could have just snuck past the yellow line and taken some pictures – but the punishment was to harsh. One of our friends decided to push the envelope a bit, and was rewarded by having all his pictures erased by the guards standing watch.

I couldn't get a picture without a few heads or binoculars involved.

Dorasan Train Station

The train station we went to was very clean and sparkly….the reason being that it’s not actually in use anymore. It’s the last train stop before North Korea, but because you can’t go to North Korea, no trains actually go there. But it’s ready just in case N.K gives the go ahead. You can even purchase a souvenir railroad ticket for 50cents. This allows you to go through the door out onto the tracks and take as many pictures as you want. We were even told we could take pictures with the handsome soldiers standing around – that’s what they were for. So we did.

We could go to the tracks, but not to Pyeongyang

I could run that....no problem!

One of the handsome soldiers hanging around.

Lunch

Lunch was a normal Korean lunch, except we were able to buy a bottle of North Korean Beer for 10$. According to BBC News, Taedonggang Beer Factory has been making the brew since buying a British brewery and shipping it lock, stock and barrel from the UK in 2002. Way to go North Korea – you get what you want!

North Korean Beer

Camp BONIFAS/ JSA

The last stop was the most exciting and most important stop – inside the DMZ! We were switched buses and a few American soldiers escorted us in. We were first briefed at the JSA visitor’s center, and then brought to Conference row. This was a place right at the boundary between the North and the South. We were brought inside one of the conference rooms, and there the US Soldier explained the situation. We were in a room used for talks between the two countries. Because the building was used by both sides, it spans the boundary, so that while in the building, you could actually be standing on North Korea territory.

Looking out at North Korea

We left the building and stood on the steps outside, looking over to the other side. We could see a few North Korea soldiers standing around, and right before we left we saw a few taking pictures of what was going on.
We were able to leave the bus one more time to take pictures, but after that we headed back to Seoul…our trip at the DMZ was over.

Protecting us inside the conference room, just in case someone tries to cause some trouble

He gets to stand one foot on each country, I guess that's the only perk to a job that makes to stand completely still wile people are walking around taking pictures of you