Asia Trip: Visiting the DMZ

Sorry for the very slow recap of my trip, but trying to get caught up and hopefully graduate in the very near future severely limits the amount of time for blogging. I think that I will write this post and one more on the trip and that will be all.

Visiting the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea was the highlight of the trip for me. I was asked on the first day in Seoul if I wanted to visit it and at first I was indifferent, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to go. Choi (one of my adviser's former students that lives in S. Korea) arranged for the trip and got us tickets to enter the DMZ. Unfortunately S. Koreans aren't allowed to go to Panmunjom because they claim that S. Koreans may try to defect to N. Korea if they get that close...to this Choi just laughed at the thought of a S. Korean wanting to do that. Also a problem with recapping this visit is that we were only allowed to take pictures in very specific spots. However, thankfully people that have broken the rules and took video have posted many on YouTube...including the video below from the border through Panmunjom with N. Korean soldiers marching quickly to the border.

The first place we went was on the south border of the DMZ where there is a bridge that connects North and South Korea and was built to exchange prisoners after the Korean War...well actually the war is still going on. There is no formal peace deal between the two sides and there has just been an informal truce for the past 50 years. It is called Freedom Bridge because S. Korean prisoners screamed freedom when they crossed it. However, interestingly Choi told us that they refer to it as the Bridge of No Return because which ever way you were heading on it you weren't coming back (click here for video I took of area).

Me on the observation deck to view Freedom Bridge.

We then drove into the DMZ and visited the third infiltration tunnel that was dug from the N. Korean side to the South to try and attack them. This tunnel was dug 70 meters (230 ft) below ground and dug through granite! There was a fourth tunnel dug that was 140 meters deep, but you can't visit it because its very difficult to get breathable air down there. The tunnel we visited was painted black by the N. Koreans because after they were caught they claimed it was just a coal mine. It was in this tunnel that I got the closest to N. Korea (about 50 yards from their border). The tunnel is barred off with three separate barriers as can be seen in the video I found on YouTube by someone who took the same tour (click here to view...embedding is disabled on this video). At the end of that video is the observation point over Panmunjom where I took the pictures below.

Me at the observation point over Panmunjom.

It is super difficult to get any decent pictures (or video) of the area because you are only allowed to take pictures from behind this yellow line that is back away from the edge. Luckily I'm tall and they don't care if you stand on your tiptoes, hold the camera over your head, and snap pictures...nothing too great turned out from it but I got a good view of the landscape along the border.

The best picture I got from the DMZ.

There are a ton of stories about this place that makes it such a weird place to be. Bill Clinton once described it as the "scariest place on earth" and after hearing some of the stories you quickly realize why. It is the most heavily fortified border in the world with watchtowers, razor wire, landmines (lots of these), tank-traps, and heavy weaponry everywhere...ironic for a "demilitarized zone". Earlier this year on a tour that allowed S. Koreans on the N. Korean side a 53 year old woman was shot and killed because she was in a restricted zone. They claim that she was running away but they shot her first in the leg and then shot her in the chest.