DMZ

Alright, so one thing that most people see when they come to Korea is the DMZ. So of course we had to as well. With tension a little high in the area lately we postponed going but finally decided to book a tour a few weeks ago with a few other friends, Stephen, Elizabeth, and Jennifer.

If you are unfamiliar with the DMZ or The Korean Demilitarized Zone (한반도 비무장지대) it is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle. It is 250 kilometers long, approximately 4 km wide and is the most heavily militarized border in the world. I know, a beautiful place to go.

We booked an afternoon tour through VIP Travel. They picked us up at the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon and it took around 40 minutes on the bus to get to the Civilian Control Line of the DMZ. Once at the DMZ we visited Imjingak Park and the Bridge of Freedom where POW's were released by the north and sent back to South Korea. The bridge had to be built since all other ways across the Imjin river were destroyed during the war.

DMZ apparel for children available at the gift shop...

We then made our way to Dorasan Station, a train station built with many donations and with a lot of support from Hyundai (whose founder is actually a North Korean escapee). South Korea and North Korea had come to an agreement which would allow first freight trains and eventually passenger trains to pass into and through North Korea. This would have opened South Korea to be able to travel all the way to Europe by train. However after this very expensive and very nice train station was built the North reneged on their agreement and the train station is now a tourist attraction. You can actually take a train to Dorasan Station from Seoul and back but that is all.

List of all the people who made donations with hopes that it would
reunite them with their family in the North.


Map of what the train system would look like with access through North Korea

Next we went to the Dora Observatory where you can look over the DMZ and see the North Korean side where they have the tallest flag pole in the world (160m or 525 feet), ouuuu. They kept building it taller when they realized that South Korea's was taller than theirs and it got a little out of hand. It was actually pretty cloudy and foggy that day and we couldn't see too much, but there isn't really much to see anyways. There is a village where the flag pole is, but no one knows if anyone actually lives there.

There were signs all along the road warning of mines.

Finally we visited the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel and DMZ Theater. In the 1970's South Korea discovered 4 tunnels dug by North Korea to gain entry to South Korea with plans of sending troops through to invade. We saw the 3rd Tunnel, we weren't allowed to bring our camera so there are no pictures. Is is a pretty small tunnel with most people having to duck to pass through, no more than 2 people walking next to each other could get through. It is pretty deep and the tunnel that South Korea created to get down to the one made by the north is pretty long and steep. It was not a fun trek back up. There is a train that takes people down but our tour didn't include that luxury.

Elizabeth and Stephen, Jennifer was on the other side with me.