Dan - DMZ

While my dad was here, we decided to book the tour of the DMZ (Since we were in Seoul anyway). This was something I've been wanting to do since I got here and it was an amazing experience.

For a brief history, at the end of the Korean War both sides pushed each other's armies to near the 38th Parallel, near where the original two countries split in the first place. An armistice agreement was signed, signifying to pull back all military operations two kilometers from the division line. The two countries are still technically at war. The DMZ is the 4 kilometer wide patch of land that runs (roughly) along the 38th Parallel. It is heavily militarized and supervised by the North Korean army (DPRK), South Korean army (ROK) and the United Nations.

For the tour selection, I went with the USO tour through Koridoor. It's been highly recommended by other tourists and I'm happy to say I would agree. Their website is here. We met at Camp Bonifas in Seoul at 8am and got on the bus that morning. There were about 20-30 members of our groups and many more tour groups in the area.

Our first stop on the tour was the third tunnel. A total of four tunnels have been found since the armistice agreement was signed, leading from North Korean into South Korea. US and ROK officials have speculated there could be as many as 20. The third tunnel could have roughly 30,000 soldiers pass through in an hour. When asked about these tunnels, the DPRK painted the walls black and explained that it was a coal mine. ROK officials obviously saw the paint and also realized the granite tunnels would not be a suitable place for a coal mine.

Sculpture outside the third tunnel.

Instructing us on the history of the tunnel and rules.

The diagram of the tunnel. ROK to the right, DPRK to the left.

Pictures were forbidden in the tunnel, but we were able to go inside. There's a 400 meter descent at a 30-40 degree angle (which was a pain getting back up). You walk for about 300 meters hunched over due to the low ceiling under you reach the Military Demarcation Line. This is where a cement wall and barbed wire is found. There was a museum nearby that we unfortunately did not have enough time for.

Next up was the Forward Observation Post. Here, we could actually look at North Korea for the first time. Situated on a hill, we were able to see the Kaesong complex (the only factory South and North Korean workers collaborate) and Panmunjom (Propoganda village). We were not allowed to take pictures past the yellow line, but there were binoculars we could look through.

North Korea.

Up until this point, things were interesting but the gravity of where I was didn't hit me. That all changed when we went to Dorasan Station. This train station is the last one leading into North Korea and the trains haven't run through there in decades. The station is still functional, with a information guide, a conductor, two armed ROK guards, a ticket seller and even a gift shop vendor. Everything was clean and spotless. There were so many empty chairs.

Train ticket to the DPRK

Empty waiting area.

Not the last station from the South, but the first towards the North.

Everyone except the soldiers on the right are our tour group.

Here is a photosphere I took of the platform.

I was able to buy a ticket to North Korea for 500 won ($0.50) and stand on the platform waiting for a train that would never come. This is when it really hit me; this was a really, really weird thing to be happening.

Finally, we went to the Joint Security Area (JSA). This is what most people think of when they hear DMZ. The ironic blue buildings serve as the division between the DPRK and ROK. This is where negotiations are held and quite possibly the only place you can see a North Korean from South Korea soil. We were escorted by a US soldier with many more US and ROK soldiers in the complex (the exact number was classified).

We were debriefed and had to sign a few forms acknowledging that we were entering a combat zone and the rules that came with it. A short bus ride later and we were in the JSA.

From where I was standing in the above pictures, North Korea is directly ahead. The stone building is owned by the DPRK and the concrete barrier inbetween the blue buildings is the border. There was one North Korean soldier outside (you can barely see him above the blue building with the open door). There was one other DPRK soldier standing inside, directly behind him. The ROK soldiers stood halfway in cover in a Taekwondo ready stance. They did not acknowledge us at all. We were not allowed to take any pictures behind us, or to even point.

After a short wait from the other tour group, we managed to to into the second building (with the open door). This was a big deal, as we could freely roam the room. There was a flag and two microphone wires that signified the border between the two countries. So technically, I was standing on North Korean soil. This room has two ROK soldiers and is monitored at all times. The US soldier informed us that both the DPRK and ROK share the same room for their own purposes. There is no set schedule, the ROK simply does not go inside when the DPRK is using the room.

This table is in the center of the room. That flag and microphones are technically the border between the two countries. I'm standing in North Korea in this photo.

 North Korea is through that door.

A DPRK soldier poked his head inside through the window. This shot was a little too slow to get a shot of him. North Korea here.

I could go on for days about what I know about the JSA area. Some of it was very interesting. The DPRK blocks all cell phone signals through a jamming tower on their soil. There's a building to the right of the blue buildings dubbed "the monkey house", in which used to be a recreation room for both sides but after the axe murder incident became a North Korean-only room. The DPRK soldiers used to flip soldiers off and make faces, hence the monkey part. At night you can hear propaganda from the North, encouraging benefactors to defect. In response, the South sometimes blares K-Pop. There's nothing else like this area on Earth.

The final part of the tour was another forward observation post. This is where the infamous axe murder incident occurred back in 1976. The Bridge of No Return is a bridge connecting the two countries in which the two sides exchanged prisoners during and after the war. POWs would be led to the bridge and given the choice of where to cross, knowing that they would not be able to cross back. 

In 1976, there was a tree blocking the view of the bridge from the nearest observation post. Captain Arthur Bonifas and several US and ROK soldiers went down unarmed to trim the tree (unarmed because of security declarations establishing a limit on how many soldiers could be armed at any given time). As they began cutting the tree with an ax, 15 DPRK soldiers led by Senior Lt. Pak Chul arrived across the bridge. They observed the tree cutting for several minutes before ordering them to stop trimming. The reasoning was because the tree was under Kim Il Sung's protection. Bonifas ignored the request and Pak sent a runner for reinforcements.

It ended up being roughly 35 DPRK soldiers verses only a few SK personnel. Bonifas and one other were killed with many more wounded. The entire incident was recorded. The DPRK said it was aggression on part of the ROK, when they had video proof otherwise. An operation named Operation Paul Bunyan eventually happened three days later, tearing down the entire tree with a 64-man escort and two 30-men security platoons. 

We were able to stand at the forward observation post and the bus did drive past the bridge of no return, plus the memorial for Bonifas in which the tree once stood.

 Bridge of No Return

North Korea. Propaganda Village in the center, along with their flag.

Memorial for Captain Bonifas. Where the tree once stood.

Outpost for the Bridge of No Return

Bridge of No Return.

Would I go on this again? Oh god yes. It was incredibly interesting and very surreal. The tour guides and military personnel were fantastic and had a great depth of knowledge to share with us. If you're thinking about it, book it. You won't regret it.