The Last Divided Country in the World

On Tuesday, April 29, I had the opportunity to experience something that no one else in my family or in my circle of friends (outside of Korea) may ever have the opportunity to do.

I toured the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Since the end of the Korean War (or the Conflict, as it is often called) in 1953, Korea has been divided at the famous 38th parallel, where the DMZ is. This is no ordinary border. It is the most heavily guarded border in the world, as Korea is the last divided country in the world.

It was incredibly historic, very scary, extremely humbling, and eye-opening all at the same time.

I went to the DMZ with a group of my coworkers. I had read a little bit about the DMZ before going--and had heard that it has become quite a tourist attraction.

I'll spare you the history lesson (though it is absolutely fascinating), you can look it up yourself. But I will share some of the highlights of the tour, as well as some pictures from the tour.

We took a taxi to the starting point for our tour. I literally live 20 minutes from the DMZ. I can say that definitively now. I knew I was close...but I didn't realize it is as close to me here as the beach was to me in California.

Interestingly, the place where the tours begin has a small amusement park and other non-DMZ related activities. There is a beautiful outdoor theater area, a place to play traditional Korean games, and even fly kites. I couldn't believe there were amusement park rides at the DMZ. But as I mentioned, it has become quite a tourist attraction.

Kites flying (these were tied together)--
The outdoor theater area--
A panoramic shot of the amusement area of the tourist center--
This large tourist center (and when I say tourist, it's not just for Westerners--there were mostly Korean tourists there) had several important and impressive historical markers.

There is this beautiful bell pavilion (though aren't they all pretty lovely?) called "The Peace Bell". It was dedicated on January 1, 2000 with this quote: "As we bid farewell to the 20th Century in which we witnessed the division of the Korean Peninsula, we welcome the 21st Century as a time of reunification and peace for all makind. It is here at the point that marks the division of North and South that the hopes and prayers of 9 million Kyonggi [the county's name] citizens come together in the erection of the Peace Bell Monument. The Peace Bell, which is [over 7 ft] in diameter, [over 12 ft] high and weighs 21 tons is made of bronze and tin in the traditional Korean style. The bell pavilion which is made of wood with a four-sided arched roof sits on an area of [231 square ft] and is [nearly 40 ft] high."

Closer shot of the Peace Bell--
Not only does the bell weigh 21 tons, it also stands on the top of 21 steps, and the area, while 231 square feet in our American minds, is 21 pyeong, a Korean form of measurement. All the 21's represent, as I'm sure you guessed, the importance of the 21st Century in the minds of many Koreans.

Also, there was a fascinating monument near the Peace Bell. It is called "The Stones of Peace Wall". As you can read from the sign below, the wall is made up of rocks from 86 different battlefields in 64 different countries. I thought that was incredibly powerful.

Number 51, as you can see, is a rock taken from a battle (in Massachusetts) during the Revolutionary War in 1775.
Also, there is a bridge called, "The Bridge of Freedom", so called because 12,773 prisoners of war returned to South Korea through this bridge in 1953. It's not a fancy bridge, but is incredibly historic. One end of the bridge is the literal freedom of South Korea, where I entered the bridge, but the other end is blocked by barbed wire and high fences...that's the North Korean side. It was very powerful to walk across that bridge.

Panoramic shot of the Bridge of Freedom & the Peace Bell--You can see a train coming from North Korea (I'm not sure where or what or when or why), and you can see a closer shot of the Bridge of Freedom--
Getting ready to cross the Bridge of Freedom--
The Bridge of Freedom--
Walking across the bridge; that's Candy in the picture--
Our tickets were 11,700 Won and we had to show our passports to get tickets. I had no idea what was in store for me. We boarded our bus (the 12:00 tour) FILLED with Koreans (all except for the 10 of us Westerners), and headed first to our first stop. Throughout our 2 1/2 hour tour, the very kind Korean driver spoke fluent KOREAN the entire time. It was very funny. Each time when we disembarked, he was able to tell us how long we had until we had to be back on the bus--that was helpful. I'd hate to be trapped in the DMZ.
The DMZ is 4 miles wide and 155 miles long--dividing Korea almost exactly in half. The picture below shows the checkpoint where we had to stop, and Korean soldiers with M-16's (or AK47's or the like) boarded the bus and looked at our passports. We were then allowed through.
My first real view of the DMZ--
Our first stop was Dorason Station. It is basically the last train station before North Korea. I did not know this--but it only started running again LAST December--when I was here! Meaning that since 1953, this train route, which used to connect North and South Korea has been useless. President Bush visited this station with the South Korean President in 2002. I do not believe anyone is allowed to take the train (besides, I suppose the conductor); but it takes goods back and forth. The hope is that in the future, this train station will once again be a connecting link between the North and South.
This sign (which may be hard to read/see) simply shows the connection the train makes into North Korea, and the capital city of Pyongyang.
You can see the train parked in the distance--
Inside the station--it shows exactly what it hopes to one day be able to connect, as the sign said--
Candy and I posing with two REAL South Korean soldiers inside the Dorasan Station--
Our next stop was the Dora Observatory. This is atop Mount Dora, and is the closest you can get to North Korea. All the way up to the top of the mountain, I saw these signs along the side of the road, behind the wire--it says, MINE; as in, land mine, not "Hey, that's not yours!". SCARY.
Dora Observatory (camera and all)--
In case you get lost, this shows you where the really important things are--
This observatory has those binoculars you'd see at any observatory or tall building. You put a quarter in (or in this case, a 500 Won coin), and you can see all the way across the DMZ and into North Korea...though there's not much to see over there. It was such a hazy day, I didn't bother to look through the binoculars. However, this point allowed the best visual of the actual DMZ. This is the part that is famous for its wildlife and plant life. Literally, NO HUMAN BEING has walked through most of this area in over 50 years; and it is thusly one of the most well-preserved natural pieces of land in the world. The hope is that if/when the countries unite, the DMZ will be kept as a preserve. No one is allowed to take pictures of this portion of the DMZ. I failed to notice a yellow line painted on the floor as I entered the deck of the observation area, and so I snapped one picture. Within a few moments, a very tall Korean soldier was reaching for my camera. I had no idea what I'd done. He said nothing. I quickly gathered what he was doing, but was afraid he was going to take my BRAND NEW camera. I said, "Are we not allowed to take pictures?" because I genuinely didn't know--and he said nothing. He was pressing buttons as if to delete the picture I took. I said, "I can delete the picture, if that's what you want me to do." He knew his way around the menus of my camera, and he brought up the picture and deleted it without saying a word. It was very scary. Only then did I notice the giant yellow line painted on the ground that clearly said, in English, "PHOTO LINE". Oops. It was absolutely not my goal to cause an international incident. "Idiotic American Dares to Take Picture at DMZ, His Body Missing" is how the headline would read.
I cheated a little bit. Once I stepped behind the PHOTO LINE, I lifted my hands, zoomed in, and just took one picture. You can see how hazy it was--but I did some work on the contrast and brightness of this picture so you can at least see some of what is out there.
Me at the Dora Observatory--
From there we headed to our last stop on the tour, The Third Tunnel Of Aggression. I didn't know too much about this, though I'd read a little bit of information on it months ago. This was by far the most amazing part of the entire tour.

South Korea has discovered 4 tunnels along the DMZ; tunnels dug by North Korea with the intention of invasion, though the North denies it all. Hmm. The third tunnel is the closest to Seoul, only 27 miles away. This tunnel was discovered in 1978. We could not take our cameras into the tunnel with us, so I have no pictures inside.

The tunnel is just over a mile in length, and 6.5 feet high and 6.5 feet wide. It is 239.5 feet underground. To reach the actual tunnel, we wore hard hats, sat in the scariest, most ramshackle roller coaster-like train, and made a very slow descent through a narrow tunnel.

The roller coaster-like train thing that took us underground to see the Third Tunnel--The entire tunnel is not open to tours, because of course, part of the tunnel is in North Korea. There are 3 separate blockades under ground to keep anyone from going through the entire tunnel.

The rock in the tunnel is granite, though when the tunnel was discovered, North Korea claimed they were merely mining coal there. They even painted black coal onto the walls of the cave to disguise it. Also counting against the North Koreans is the fact that the holes they were drilling for dynamite to blast more of the tunnel faced directly south. It proves they were heading south.

Because of the various netting, scaffolding, and protective flooring (there was water dripping from the walls), it wasn't really 6.5 feet tall, so I had to walk hunched over for most of the tunnel. It was very painful after a while.

I have to hand it to the North Koreans. They were super smart. The tunnel is built at a very slight angle, starting lower on the North and higher on the South. This allowed for water to drain out and not become stagnant.

It is said that this tunnel would have allowed an entire division (something between 10 and 20,000 soldiers!) and their weapons to go from the North to the South in ONE HOUR.
Though 2 tunnels had been discovered prior to this one, the South was able to find this one because of information from a North Korean engineer who defected.

After we walked the length of the tunnel and back, we again strapped ourselves in for the slow ride back to sea level.

Heading to the Third Tunnel of Aggression (notice the barbed wire on both sides of the narrow street)--

After seeing the tunnel, we looked around in the little museum they have at the Third Tunnel area. They have many artifacts, pictures, and diagrams detailing the Korean War (or Conflict). I found these helmets fascinating.
This was another fascinating monument. In one side of the globe is North Korea (the one you can see etched inside the globe), and on the other is South Korea. You see people attempting to push them together to unite them. This was also at the Third Tunnel area.
After all this, we got back on our bus and went back to the tourist center where we started.

Safety lies through that archway--
Heading to freedom--
Overall--the entire feeling and purpose of the DMZ is to promote peace and encourage unification, hence the amusement park rides, the Peace Bells, and the countless signs and attractions calling out for unity. Specifically people in the South desire to change the opinion of the DMZ. Rather than view the DMZ as a sign of division, they want it to be viewed as a sign of peace--and in the case of the wildlife and plant life contained within it--they want it to reflect the beauty that can come from something as bad as war.

The division of the two countries is very real, and is very personal for most Koreans. Visiting the DMZ showed, beyond any doubt, that war/aggression is still a very real possibility. It was a frighteningly real look into this society.

Though I never felt that my safety was threatened, it was by far the most frightening thing I've ever done. Keep in mind, I've driven in LA traffic many times...so that's saying something.

It was overwhelming.