Today was the long awaited trip to the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone), a 4 km thick border that runs roughly along the fabled 38th parallel. Contrary to its name, there are approximately one million troops stationed within this "de-militarized" zone, although they can only be there under the title of military police in order to not be in violation of the armistice. The North/South Korean border is indubitably the most heavily guarded border left in the world, and the feeling is one of somber tension. A mere 45 minute drive from the 11 million people in Seoul, its eerie just how much the atmosphere can change within the distance of a sitcom and a half.
There were many restrictions on photography, but I got what I was allowed. Within the DMZ itself there is no photography since it is in fact an operational military base and we are the guests of the NNSC (Neutral Nations Supervisory Committee), a subsidiary of the UN. In the heart of the DMZ however is the JSA (Joint Security Area), a bubble on the border which allows for negotiations, summits, family reunions between those separated by the MDL (Military Demarcation Line), and tourism from both sides. As the name suggests, the JSA is mutually controlled territory, although after certain incidents the MDL was reinforced within it. The highlight of the trip was indeed actually stepping into North Korea itself by means of the very room in which countless negotiations took place, the T-2 building which sits half on the North and half on the South (T actually stands for temporary, indicating that when the war is over it and other T class buildings like it will be taken back down).
From the border within the JSA I could see many actual North Korean soldiers, many of whom were peering at me with binoculars from building windows and guard posts. The Korean "military police" on site wore sunglasses, so that North Koreans couldn't see where they were looking, and stood half behind the buildings to 1)appear less threatening and 2)to make them smaller targets in the event of gunfire.
Within T-2 there were simply tables for negotiation and a corner on each end of the hut had a booth for translators. The corner of wall on the outside of the North Korean translator booth had most of the paint worn off in and here's why: Tours from both sides are conducted in this building but there are never North Koreans and South Koreans in the same place at the same time. Therefore, when a North Korean tour is in the building the door on the southern side of the border is locked and when the tour leaves, the North Korean soldiers unlock the door again. When the soldiers from the South come back in they lock the northern door and let the tour come in, then when the tour leaves again a soldier would go and re-unlock the northern door. Outside the north door there are two KPA (Korean People's Army) soldiers at all times. Once, twenty years ago, when the ROK (Republic of Korea) soldier went to re-unlock the north door after the tour, one of the KPA guards yanked the door open. Since the ROK soldiers hand was still on the knob, he was flung out of the building into North Korea. He was safely returned, as it was just a prank on the KPA's part, but ever since then the door locking policy has changed. One soldier will hold onto the corner of the translation box with one hand and the belt of a second soldier with the other. The second soldier, anchored now to the first, leans forward and unlocks the door. Despite countless repaintings, 20 years of this procedure many times a day keeps that corner's paint pretty worn down.
One of the most interesting jobs within the JSA was that of the JSO (Joint Security Officer). His office is a blue building just south of the MDL, and his job is simply relaying messages to the North. To explain, since the JSA is still technically controlled jointly, anything done within it by either side requires notification to the other, be bringing a diplomat or planting a tree. Before the North cut the line there was a direct phone. Now an ROK officer must deliver the message to the JSO, who then walks to the MDL and sounds a fog horn. Either the North Koreans come out and the message is relayed or they ignore the horn, in which case the JSO megaphones the message at them. I just think its so cool that his whole job is talking to North Korea when so few even get the opportunity.
Within the DMZ and on either side of the JSA there are two settlements. One is the North Korean KiChong Dong. This small city houses the tallest flag pole in the world (160 m) and the largest flag in the world (600 lbs). Though since 2004 it has housed workers for the nearby KaeSong Industrial Complex, it has stood empty almost its entire existence. Despite its population of zero, the North Koreans still blasted propaganda from speakers audible to the South for 6-12 hours a day. For having been constructed solely for the purposes of showing of the North's "prosperity" and to glorify the Great Leader, KiChong Dong has earned itself the nickname "Propaganda village." The other city within the JSA is the South Korean TaeSong Dong, so nobly dubbed "freedom village." Residency in this village, though dangerous, is much sought after by Koreans. The requirements are stringent but the benefits are good. Residents pay no taxes, male residents are exempt from the mandatory military service, and all housing is subsidized. The people who live there farm the land the government has provided and sown, making income guaranteed and substantial. Several residency requirements include a minimum number of years living in the surrounding province, a required 230 nights spent inside the village (or else residency is revoked), and no marriage into the village for men (to prevent draft dodging
en masse).
Another site to see was the ominously named Bridge of No Return over which POW's were exchanged after the signing of the armistice. Very near to the start of the bridge was the infamous Axe Murder incident. In 1976, when within the JSA complete mobility by both sides was still allowed, a poplar tree which was obstructing vision from the ROK's outpost 3 to outpost 4 (at the Bridge), a team was sent to trim the tree. When the 6 gardeners and 10 guard were circled by 30 KPA soldiers and asked to desist, the officers in charge refused. The North Koreans then reportedly murdered the two ranking United States officers with the very axes that were being used to trim this poplar. After a period of extreme tension, the JSA was divided down the middle once and for all, and the tree itself was cut down and made a memorial to the two officers, Capt. Bonifas (for whom the base at the southern entrance of the JSA is named) and Lt. Barrett.
In the late 70's the South also discovered 4 separate tunneling projects by the North. We were allowed to enter Tunnel three, though no photographs were allowed. After a 70 meter decent down a concrete tunnel, we reached a damp and poorly lit craggy rock tunnel. The bright yellow hard hats we were required to wear served two purposes. One was to keep my head dry from all the dripping water seeping out of the granite walls and ceilings, and the second (more important) was to protect my head from the ceiling which couldn't have been taller than 5 ft. I walked like a scoliosis patient carrying a piano on his back and I still bumped my head at least 7 times. At the end of the tunnel there was a door, blocked off by barbed wire, which led to the surface on the Northern side. Again I was standing in North Korea, only this time under their soul instead of on it.
Lastly we visited the nonoperational DoRaSan Station, a future stop on the Korail train line. Located just beneath the border, the tracks are built and functional as a sign to North Korea that the South is ready and willing to reunify and connect their nations. Inside the station the signs direct you to the train for PyongYang, and a large map shows all the railways from Siberia to Europe and the Middle East with which Korea will be connected after reunification (oddly enough, South Korea is the only country that isn't an island and yet you still must fly out of to get to any other country). The station was opened in 2002, at which time George Bush and then-sitting president of the South Kim DaeJung each signed a ceremonial segment of track reading "May this railroad unite Korean families" and "An era of peace and prosperity for the Korean Peninsula," respectively.
An incredible journey and truly a remarkable feeling. These are sights that will one day no longer exist, a tension which is the last vestige of the Cold War on earth, and a few hours of my life that I will never forget. I am truly glad that I waited until I had been in Korea for a long time, because it was more powerful for me now than if I went when I had first arrived. It was a solemn reminder of the condition of this peninsula and unforgettable as one of the last chapters in my time here.
holy crap what is all of this?!?!
