The DMZ

Last weekend, I had the chance to join a tour of the DMZ. I didn't get to go to Panmunjon, which is the place with the blue buildings that people usually think of when they think of the DMZ. There are only a few, government approved, tour agencies that go there, and they are quite expensive. However, I did get to see quite a few places along the DMZ, and we got off the usual tourist track, which was nice. 

Imjingak was our first stop. It was the most touristy of all the places we went. It has a famous observation deck and the freedom bridge. 

This was part of a war memorial next to the parking lot. 

A full shot of the memorial. 

There are several rice paddies that are inside the DMZ. The people who live and work in this area get special tax benefits, and their sons are exempt from the mandatory military service. These two guys are South Koreans, and they are still within the buffer area between the two countries. 

This was part of a pavilion with a peace bell inside. I think it's supposed to represent the tears of the nation. 

They had this really cool memorial with different stones from all over the world. Each stone was labeled with the country it had come from, and the dates and names of the various wars that had been fought in those countries. It was all behind glass, so it was hard to photograph, but you should click on the picture and try your best to read it!

There were a surprising number of DMZ signs that had floral motifs on them. It was all very cheerful. 

One of the barbed wire fences had been covered with ribbons. I think that most of these messages are either for families who were split up, or they were messages of hope for reunification. 

Barbed wire and blue sky.....

This is the Freedom Bridge. It was used to make solider exchanges once upon a time, thus it's name. 

This was another memorial/altar in Imjingak. 

Of course, no war memorial site is complete without a cutesy English slogan, and some fast food joints!

Photos from the war era. 

There was an observatory point where you can actually see into North Korea. This town is generally known to be a sham. The North Koreans call it the Peace Village, the South Koreans call it the propaganda village. The North Korean government says there are 200 people who live here, and there are schools and doctors and all sorts of wonderful things. When you look through the binoculars, you can see that the apartment buildings aren't finished on the inside, and there aren't even doors and windows. 

This flag pole is hundreds of feet tall, and the flag itself weighs about 600 pounds. 

The South Korean flag pole came first, but it is much shorter, and I believe the flag is only around 325 lbs. 

You'll have to click on this picture to zoom, but you can actually see both flags in this. We had to stand behind a certain line to take photos, and the only way to see anything was to hold your camera above your head and click away. I was so thankful to have a zoom lens with me!

After we were done at Imjingak, we went to the Dorosan Train Station, and took the obligatory picture with the Korean soliders. They were really nice about it. The guy on the left tried to be very business like. But the guy on the right kept smiling at us ;)

If this train station were actually open and connected through North Korea, I could take a train from Seoul to London. 

The doors to Pyeongyang. 

At this point, we went to the third tunnel that the North Koreans dug under the DMZ. We were able to walk about 300 meters down into it before it was blocked off again. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take any pictures at all down there. It looked much like you'd imagine any tunnel in sheer rock underground would look. It was fairly small. We had to wear this ridiculous yellow hard hats. However, I was quite glad to have one. I lost track of how many times I hit my head on the ceiling of the tunnel, even though I was hunched down. I'm not all that tall either. 

The North Koreans tried to say that the tunnels were coal mines when they were discovered, and you could see places where they'd tried to paint black splotches on the wall. What's ironic about this is that North Korea is a coal producing nation, and could have actually put coal into the tunnel instead of spray paint... But you know ;)

After the tunnel, we went to another place for lunch and to try to check out another tunnel. However, the DMZ marathon was happening at the same time, so we didn't get to go to the original tunnel. Instead, we went to another observatory point. This statue was close to the restaurant where we ate. There weren't any signs explaining what it was about, but I thought it was cool. He looks like one intense dude. 

There were also a bunch of tanks, planes and soldiers near the restaurant. I loved the expression on this guy's face. 

It's a doggy plane! I loved the paint job. 

This is a beast of a tank, even by tank standards. There were a few of them that we were allowed to climb up on, but we weren't allowed to touch this one. They said that all of the tanks were in good working order. 

There is mandatory military service for all men in South Korea. Currently, most people do two years of college, then do their military service, and then go back and finish college. That means that these soldiers are the exact age of a lot of my students. In fact, I've seen my students stand in similar ways many, many times around campus. They're all so young.... Either that, or I'm getting old. 

After looking at the heavy artillery, we went back up the mountain to the observatory point. This is looking into North Korea. At this point, it wasn't very touristy at all. There was nothing but the information building and a tiny, tiny parking lot. North Korea was desolate and beautiful. 

The dirt line you can see in that picture is the current location of the North's border fence. The North moved their fence closer to the line, then the South moved theirs as well. I think at the closest point, they are only 628 meters apart, which is well within shooting range. It's pretty crazy stuff. 

The mountains in the background are North Korea, and the guard shack is South Korea. All of the South Korean guard shacks can be clearly seen, but the North Korean ones are hidden in the mountains. 

More of North Korea. 

If you enlarge this picture, you'll see a tower structure in the middle. Those towers mark the actual boundary between North and South. 

The last stop on our tour was the memorial for the White Horse Hill battle. 

This was our tour guide. He spoke excellent English, so we asked him where he had learned. He said he studied abroad, and we asked him where he studied. He said it was in a small town in America called Bloomington, Indiana... When he found out I was from Purdue, we initially thought we couldn't be friends, but in the end, decided to put aside our differences since we were so far away from Indiana. He's currently a Junior at IU, and will finish his military service in six months so he can go back and finish his degree. 

These were memorials depicting famous scenes from the battle. The really cool thing about them is that they are made from used bullet casings from the actual battles at White Horse Hill. 

The towers are supposed to represent hands praying for peace. Inside of the hands are three horses that represent each of the three groups of soldiers that fought for the South. Finally, there are people who are dancing on the back, in anticipation of reunification. White Horse Hill is one of the Northernmost parts of South Korea. The hill actually sits in the DMZ zone, very very close to the actual border. 

It was a really long day, because we went to so many places. I was surprised that it took us less than an hour to arrive at Imjingak by bus. I knew I was close, but I hadn't realized I was quite that close. I somehow didn't expect the DMZ to be quite so commercialized. There was a roller coaster called "Super Viking" at Imjingak.  

I was also surprised at how breathtakingly beautiful North Korea was at the second observation deck. I don't know why, but I somehow expected the country to be stripped bare of any vegetation. Perhaps that is more true further inland, but it was lush and beautiful near the border. 

I'm glad that I went. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see the border and the division of the country. It has definitely helped put some perspective on the stories that I hear from my friends and students around here. But visiting the DMZ wasn't quite enjoyable. I think that the only way I'll go again is if someone comes to visit me and wants to check it out.