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Visiting the DMZ.

An incredibly early start. It was raining 'Cats and Dogs' as some might say, but we eventually found our way to USO, which is a company run by the United Services. Brian had gone with them a few months back and said going with the army was definitely the best way to do it. The bus was incredibly hot but despite the rain we had a really interesting day.

When we arrived at 'Camp Bonifas' the first thing we did was we had our passports checked then we were able to board the bus with an incredibly quick speaking American soldier ( I could hardly understand a word).

Secondly we arrived at 'Ballinger Hall Visitor Briefing Center', where we basically got told all the rules, history and finally signed our lives away, knowing that we were going into a war zone and that the solders with us held no responsibility for our death. We got a visitor badge to wear.

We passed a statute that was there to honor those whose service and dedication has led to 30 years of freedom and peace.

The basic history of the North and South Korea divide is: After World War 2 the Korean peninsula was divided into a communist North and a democratic South, with a border at the 38th parallel. Then the Soviet-supported North invaded and after a few years of fighting the ‘front’ was roughly where it had began. The deal they struck to end the war stipulated that both sides should retreat 2km from the front, and so ever since (over 50 years) there is a 4km wide zone separating the 2 countries, and a million soldiers on either side just in case things turn nasty. On the Western side there is a unique place called the JSA (Joint Security Area), whereby the two Korea's can come and discuss matters. Meetings take place in one of three small blue buildings that are half in North Korea and half in South Korea. The table they sit at is also on the border. Both sides have guards at this point who never make eye contact or communicate.

Outside the room there was a huge North Korean building (called Panmun-Gak) with a North Korean guard standing outside. To the Americans and the South Koreans he was known as 'Bob'. We were able to enter the room that had North Korean guards just the other side of the door. There were two South Korean guards inside the building to 'Protect us', and stop any idiots from going through the door into North Korea and indeed to try to stop any North Koreans from coming into the room while we were there. Our Army officer told us a story about how when president bush came to visit the DMZ, while he was in the very room we were in, two armed North Koreans came in: and one blew his nose on the Korean flag an the other proceeded to clean his boots on the American flag. Obviously this is the utmost disrespectful thing to do, but no one could really do anything about it. Since then the material flags have been replaced with Plastic flags and they are encased in frames. When we came out of the building we were to wait on some steps for a few minutes while the other group went into the building. We were given strict instructions to wait quietly and not get off the steps etc. Suddenly I heard a bellowing shout, I jumped out of my skin as I heard..”Don't lie to me boy, I saw it in your hand” I realised that a stupid English boy had decided to get off the steps and have himself a cigarette, what an idiot. He had also been the one on the bus asking the solder stupid questions like “is your gun real” and “If I ran into North Korea would I get shot”. I couldn't believe someone would be so defiant, what an embarrassment to England he was. After that he was banned from leaving the bus. Ha!

After the JSA we had a look at North Korea from a hillside. We couldn't see much, mainly small controlled South Korea villages, However we did see a North Korean flagpole (of 160m) which they built after South Korea had built a very tall one. The far taller North Korean flagpole is the tallest in the world, which just demonstrates how effective their particular style of running the country is. We also visited a spot where there was a plaque, that stated:

“on July 27, 1953, in the small building approximately 1000 meters to the front of this marker, representatives of the United Nations Command, the Korean People's Army, and the Chinese Peoples Volunteers signed a Military Armistice that brought the Korean War to a halt. From the initiation of hostilities, on July 25, 1950, until the Armistice the war cost Korean people untold treasure, anguish and the lives of approximately 150,000 members of the Republic of Korea armed forces. United Nations Command forces suffered approximately 40,000 causalities in the fight for liberty. Thanks to these sacrifices the Republic of Korea is a Free and democratic country!”

There were 22 flags around the plaque. Of course England was one of them. North Korea looked far barer than South Korea, with hardly any trees and it was lined with pylons that stopped any information from the rest of the world getting in. It is strange to think that they don't see world news, or have Internet access or can even communicate with people from the rest of the world.

We saw a South Korean village, (called Kijong-dong) whereby the army guy told us that only 220 people live there. The residence also have to stay in the village for more than 280 days a year and there is a curfew whereby they have to be inside their houses with lights out, by nine pm. There is only one school in the village, where only 8 pupils attend and 12 teachers teach. Women can marry into the village but men can not come in. It was this village where the South Korean flag was flown, and the solider told us that just after the Seoul Olympics, the village actually changed the flag to that of a 'Olympic flag' to show the North Koreans that the Olympics did in fact take place. Despite the North Korean government telling its people that it had been canceled!

We all boarded back on the bus and then stopped at a monument that was paying respects to those who had died in the 1976 Axe Murder Incident. Our soldier informed us that in August 1976 two American soldiers were murdered as they tried to chop down a tree that was blocking their view and one of the observation points. The incident was said to have almost started world war three!

Through the bus window we also saw the 'Bridge of no return', which is basically a bridge that crosses the Sacheon river, which forms part of the boarder between the two Korea's, in the town of Panmunjom. It was about two car lanes in width, but there are barricades at each end so that no one can cross it. When the Korean war ended in 1953 prisoners from both sides could choose whether to cross the bridge into North Korea, or South Korea and where they wanted to live. The condition was, however, that once they had crossed over they could never return again to the country that they had left behind. Both sided of the bridge again had military patrols on their respective sides to stop any people trying to cross.

Finally we were taken to a viewing point where we could supposedly see right over North Korea and use the binoculars to even look into the little villages. However, because of the rain, couldn't see a thing but a white haze :(

Just before we left we visited a gift shop where we could even buy some of “the fence from the DMZ” basically a small bit of barbed wire on a plaque! People went wild for the 'I've been to the DMZ' t.shirts and all the other usual tacky souvenirs, I came away with nothing but my memories and stories.

We exited the DMZ territory, at the next stop we were given yellow-hard hats and followed a guide into one of the tunnels that the North Koreans had built. We in fact went into the “third tunnel” which was found on the 17^th of October 1978. An underwater gush during an explosion revealed its form. It was located just 4km South of the DMZ and only 52 km from Seoul. It was considered far more threatening than tunnels 1 and 2 (which we didn't enter) because it was about 2 meters in diameter all the way through and 1635m long with 5 exits in the Southern end and was designed so that 30,000 armed soldiers could go through it per hour. The walls had been amateurishly painted in coal dust so the North Koreans could claim that they were looking for coal but must had taken a wrong turn. If they were caught. However Korea is a land of very little coal so it was a little suspicious don't you think? It was only recently that they admitted building it and at the same time put in a formal demand for a share of the tourism receipts! It was wet in there but very impressive thinking of the work it must have taken these me. We could touch the walls and we got remains of the coal dust that they had used to discise the place. We were not allowed to take any pictures down there and when we got to the part that must have been North Korea we were met by more barbed wire, video cameras and more steal doors to stop people from trying to get in (like anyone in their right mind would want to)

When we made our way out we also stopped off at a museum where we were shown a video 'Panmunjeom of yesterday and today' that portrayed DMZ as a symbol of reunification and their hopes for the future as one Korea again. To be honest I though the video was ridiculous, it seemed to concentrate more on the wildlife that lived there more than anything else. We also looked around a small museum, which i found quite interesting and explained a few things. South Koreans really do indicate a strong desire to see the Korean peninsula united again, a vote for the future so to speak. It has been almost 50 years so when and how this happens are anyone’s guess, but you certainly get the impression that it’s kind of inevitable, eventually. I hope so, so many people lost family and it is sad to see a county with such strong family bonds and think of them being divided. Although I am still very intrigued to see the real North Korea in its current communist state.

• Posted by emily1183 on 31/05/2007.
• emily1183's site