On Saturday, July 18th, my program went on an excursion to visit the DMZ- which stands for the Demilitarized Zone. The Korean Demilitarized Zone is the 2.5 mile wide stretch of land that serves as a buffer between North and South Korea along the 38th parallel and surrounds the MDL, which is the Military Demarcation Line. Although the Armistice Agreement of 1953 enforced a cease-fire, a peace treaty has never been signed so both Koreas still maintain military bases on each side of the DMZ and patrol to make sure that fighting does not break out again. (Although there have been countless incidents over the years provoked by the North). But this has been going on for over 60 years...it's pretty sad, and really sobering to visit the DMZ and see firsthand that Korea is technically still at war. Both sides want unification, but neither side is ever going to give in, so it's hard to see unification ever becoming a reality. I don't want to make this post a history lesson, so I'll jump into what we did that day. (Can't believe it's been almost a month since I was at the DMZ!)
At the beginning of the day we visited a museum, which I think was The War Memorial of Korea (but I need to confirm that). We were given a briefing of the history of the Korean War and the history of the DMZ by Stephen Tharp, who is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and now works as the Chief of Strategic Outreach in the Public Affairs Office in the United Nations Command in Seoul. He was expert on both topics and his lecture was really interesting and informative. He was our guide for the rest of the day, helped by his intern Ahn. We then took a tour of the museum (which was super modern and really well done~ wish I hadn't been so tired during the tour) and then got on a bus to travel for about an hour and a half to the DMZ. On the way there Stephen Tharp gave us some more background on the area and pointed things out to us as we drove past. It was a weird feeling to be approaching North Korea.
At the beginning of the day we visited a museum, which I think was The War Memorial of Korea (but I need to confirm that). We were given a briefing of the history of the Korean War and the history of the DMZ by Stephen Tharp, who is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and now works as the Chief of Strategic Outreach in the Public Affairs Office in the United Nations Command in Seoul. He was expert on both topics and his lecture was really interesting and informative. He was our guide for the rest of the day, helped by his intern Ahn. We then took a tour of the museum (which was super modern and really well done~ wish I hadn't been so tired during the tour) and then got on a bus to travel for about an hour and a half to the DMZ. On the way there Stephen Tharp gave us some more background on the area and pointed things out to us as we drove past. It was a weird feeling to be approaching North Korea.
Outside of the Museum
Our Museum docent explaining competing powers
Replica of what it looked like when the South Korea flag was raised over Seoul
We had lunch before entering the area around the DMZ and then we got to visit the Third Tunnel. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside but here's a picture of a sculpture outside to prove that I was there haha. There are four North Korean infiltration tunnels that South Korea has discovered so far (there's most likely many more and South Korea regularly drills to try to locate them). These tunnels were created through dynamite blasts and cross under the MDL towards Seoul for the purpose of surprise attacks. When North Korea was confronted about them, they initially claimed to know nothing and then said that the tunnels must be abandoned coal mines...except the tunnels are blasted through granite with no evidence of coal...so that's awkward. The Third Tunnel was discovered based on information provided by a North Korean defector. Visitors can walk through the tunnel (although you have to crouch over a bit, so it gets kind of claustrophobic) all the way to the MDL which is heavily barricaded. The tunnel can apparently accommodate 30,000 men an hour with light weaponry, so that's terrifying. It was really cool to see the tunnel, but I wasn't a big fan of being that far under ground. You walk down this extremely long ramp and you have to wear hard hats, and when you get to the bottom things get smaller and even more claustrophobic...but it is interesting to see the evidence of the dynamite blasts, which are marked with yellow paint, throughout the tunnel.
Outside of the Third Tunnel (which is not tunnel looking the thing on the right)
We then heard a brief presentation given by Corporal Noh who would be our soldier-escort on our tour. His english was completely perfect, but he attends/or attended college in the U.S. so I guess that explains it. He did a really nice job, and a lot of us took pictures with him at the end (because we're creepy tourists).
Corporal Noh and Me
We visited the Dora Observatory next, which is located on Dorasan, or Mount Dora, and provides a great view of the DMZ. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside of the building, but it was set up like an amphitheater and we heard a short presentation by a soldier and got to see a really cool miniature model of the DMZ and MDL. The back of the Dora Observatory is all windows so you get an awesome view of the land and then you're allowed to go out on the observation deck and you can pay to use binoculars if you want, or you can just take pictures and ask the soldiers questions. During the presentation, the soldier pointed out that the flagpoles we could see in the distance, which marked both North and South Koreas' respective propaganda villages were so giant that the ball on the top of the flagpole could fit like 3 people inside of it. Crazy! You can see pictures of the villages below, but it's kind of hard to see the flagpoles because it was a really hazy day.
Outside of the Dora Observatory (도라 전망대)
The DMZ was really very beautiful.
Because the land is so rarely disturbed in most of the DMZ it has become a kind of nature preserve where lots of endangered animals live- pretty cool!
The flagpole you see on the left is in North Korea and the flagpole on the right is South Korea.
I met a particularly sweet soldier outside of the Dora Observatory who was happy to take some pictures with me. His name was Peter and we talked for a while, before I had to say goodbye, forever. haha Too bad- I think we could have been good friends. ;)
Peter and Me :)
Peter and Me again- aren't we too cute? haha
This was the observation area with binoculars.
Next, we got back on the bus and drove to the JSA- the Joint Security Area. There are multiple buildings on either side of the MDL and some buildings built directly on the MDL. These blue buildings are conference rooms called "Conference Row" and are used for negotiations between the North and the South. The MDL even divides the conference tables located inside the buildings. I actually got to go inside one of the blue buildings and step into the North Korean side- so technically I've been to North Korea! This was the most nerve-wracking part of the tour. I wasn't scared or anything, but at the same time, it's all very serious. The guards are completely straight faced and holding a modified taekwondo position and you aren't allowed to gesture in any way towards North Korea in order to avoid them thinking that you're insulting them. We had to walk to the blue conference building in two straight single file lines and it just all felt very official. The only reason we were allowed to visit these sites in the first place was the fact that we were part of the Student Security Education Program put on by the United Nations (which was organized through my program CIEE). You have to book visits to the DMZ pretty far in advance and it's fairly expensive, so I'm really glad I got to go with my program. It was such a neat experience. We were only allowed to take pictures facing straight ahead at the JSA, so, towards Panmun Hall in North Korea. We couldn't take pictures to the sides, or backwards. So in the photos, what's behind me is South Korea's Freedom Hall, and to the sides were just more buildings and soldiers patrolling, pretty much.
The JSA- Joint Security Area. The building in the back is Panmun Hall in North Korea.
This is where North and South meet to negotiate.
See the tiny North Korean soldier? On the top of the steps?
Stephen Tharp, Me, and Ahn the intern. This picture is hilarious- I'm not sure why our heads are so close, but I really had a lot of respect for Stephen Tharp.
After leaving the JSA by bus we saw a few more sights around the DMZ, including the "Bridge of No Return" where individuals were allowed to cross after the Korean War. They could choose a side, but then never cross over again. Many families are still separated between the North and the South to this day.
The Bridge of No Return
After some time at a gift shop, we headed back to Yonsei University. Visiting the DMZ was honestly one of the coolest parts of my trip to Korea and I'll never forget it. It was especially interesting as I learned more about the war and the conflicts between the North and the South in my Korean Studies class and was able to connect things back to my trip to the DMZ.
I'm official.
