It continues further…
On Thursday we travelled back to Seoul. We arose the next morning at the ungodly hour of 6am in order to be ready for the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) tour that left the USO (United Service Organizations) military base at 7:30 am. We had to be there early though so they could make sure our attire was appropriate. Apparently you can’t be slovenly dressed because North Korean soldiers might use footage of you as propaganda to prove that the rest of the world is poor…
The DMZ is a 240km-long border that separates North and South Korea. It is guarded on both sides by soldiers in a constant state of battle readiness, electrical fences, barbed wire and a feck load of landmines. It has been dubbed ‘one of the scariest places on earth’ and it is also, rather bizarrely, a popular tourist attraction.
The first part of our tour brought us to the JSA (Joint Security Area) where we watched an informative film about the history of the Korean War. Then we went to Panmunjom where peace conferences sometimes take place in the UN buildings. South Korean soldiers were standing outside and inside the main conference room in a taekwondo stance with their bodies tensed and their fists clenched. They were also sporting some rather fetching sunglasses and daper hard hats. North Korean soldiers were standing at a distance at the other side of the conference room. One guy was watching us through binoculars and another guy was filming us. The US army man who was serving as our guide encouraged us to take many photos of them as they were taking pictures of us. We were told that there aren’t usually many North Korean soldiers in sight but when we moved towards the conference room several of them came out of nowhere and surrounded the building. I think it was just a scare tactic to intimidate us tourists. The soldiers all moved in unison and it would have been quite unnerving to watch them if it were not for the fact that their perfectly choreographed moves made them resemble a West Side Story-esque musical gang. I think it was they way they swung their arms in a flamboyant sideways motion as they marched… Here are some pictures of the soldiers. The men in short sleeves and sunglasses are the South Korean soldiers and the men in olive coloured long-sleeved uniforms are the North Korean soldiers.
Luckily the JSA is the one place in South Korea where you can get so close to North Korean soldiers without being arrested or shot in the face so we were able to enter the conference room unmolested. The conference room straddles the ceasefire line so part of the room is technically North Korean ground. I have therefore spent about four and a half minutes standing on the grounds of Asia’s dark star.
After the JSA we were taken to a lookout post where we could see the two villages in the DMZ. On the South side is Daeseong-dong, a small village where South Korean citizens are given huge tax incentives by the government to live and work in such an inhospitable environment. They have an 11pm curfew and they are surrounded by soldiers at all times while they work in the fields. However, they are also given a tax-free income, modern housing and substantially bigger farms than most South Koreans.
On the North side of the line is the Gijeong-dong propaganda village. Our guide informed us that there is nobody living there; most of the buildings are empty and some are just facades. The lights in the village also rather suspiciously all come on and off at the same time. The village has a 160-m tower at its epicentre flying the North Korean flag. This tower is probably the daftest part of the whole set-up; it was only erected because the South Korean village originally had a bigger tower with a flag so the North Koreans felt that they had to respond by constructing an even bigger flag waving phallus.
Next, we went on a trip to the Third Infiltration Tunnel. The North Koreans have dug a number of tunnels leading into South Korea for the purpose of launching surprise attacks. The Third Tunnel was discovered in 1978 and others have been unearthed since. The tunnel is quite claustrophobic as the sides are narrow and the ceiling is low. Most people had to remain hunched-over the whole way but I could walk upright as I am a pocket-sized person. The tunnels most ‘unique’ feature was the soot smeared walls. Apparently, the North Koreans had hoped to disguise the tunnel as a coal mine by blackening the walls despite the fact that on closer inspection the rock is quite clearly revealed to be granite. I’m almost surprised that this tactic didn’t work; one thing I’ve learned since coming to Korea is that facades usually count for more than facts. I have no pictures of the tunnel as photography was forbidden at this point.
The Dora Observatory was next on the itinerary. Here you can peer through binoculars into North Korea. We were also shown Dorasan train station, a symbol of hope for the reunification of the two Koreas.
That concludes my tale of the DMZ. After walking around in such a palpably tense place we felt in need of more peaceful environs. We therefore travelled to Songnisan National Park. This is definitely one of my favourite places in Korea; lots of lush greenery, multi-coloured temples, a towering wooden pagoda and a colossal 33m-high gold-plated Buddha statue. It’s hard not to feel serene with a giant golden God watching over you as you potter about betwixt the temples. Feast your eyes upon his big happy face.
That is all my news. I am back in work on Thursday but I’ve had my fun now and that’s all that matters. :)
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