A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to travel to the DMZ. Its hard to believe that a country can be so isolated, secretive and oppressed in this day and age. Living just below the border in a tech crazy, fast paced, modern city its even harder to believe.
According to the BBC, "Aid agencies have estimated that up to two million people have died since the mid-1990s because of acute food shortages caused by natural disasters and economic mismanagement. The country relies on foreign aid to feed millions of its people.The totalitarian state also stands accused of systematic human rights abuses. Reports of torture, public executions, slave labour, and forced abortions and infanticides in prison camps have emerged. A US-based rights group has estimated that there are up to 200,000 political prisoners in North Korea."
Living in Seoul its easy to forget about what is happening up North. Sure there are political flare ups and threats from the North that sometimes set us all on edge, but then daily life takes over and its pushed to the back of our minds. My recent trip brought everything right up to the front of my mind, and it hasn't left.
Here are some highlights/ interesting things I learned from the DMZ tour:
The beginning of our tour. Lucy and I with our official USO tour badges.
The Joint Security Area is the location where all negotiations since 1953 have been held. The MDL (Military Demarcation Line) cuts through the center of the blue buildings. The large grey building is North Korea.
Where meetings between the Koreas and other countries are held.
ROK Guards stratigically stand so that half of thier body is conceled behind the buildings.
Inside the confrence building, this table is divided down the center by the MDL and the microphones running down the table indicate where the line is, they also record 24/7.
ROK Soliders stand in a Tae Kwan Do stance and wear dark sunglasses to avoid displaying any sort of emotion.
The door behind me leads to the North, I would not recomend opening it.
The white posts run along the middle of the DMZ and mark the MDL, military demarcation line. One of the things I found most interesting is that there are phones placed along the MDL. If someone successfully crosses the border they can call for help. The ROK or US military will be there in a matter of minutes to pick them up.
North Korea
At this exact point I am surrounded by the North on three sides, Brionna Pennisula, sorry bad joke!
South Korea donated a flag to a small village within the DMZ. The village is not technically North or South Korea. The North responded by building another, taller flag pole with a bigger flag. The South's flag pole was 323 feet tall and the flag weighs 287 pounds. The North's flag pole is 525 ft tall and and weighs in at 595 pounds. Lowering the flag requires at least 30 men and must be done every night and on windy days because it would tear under it's own weight.
These little red signs were pretty unsettling. They lined the edges of the roads and warned of land mines.
There were also a few interesting things that I didn't get any pictures of, or was not allowed to photograph. The first were the jamming towers used by the North, which block any incoming radio, TV, cellphone signals.
Next, the propaganda village is literally insane. The North refers to it as Peace Village, but it really isn't a village at all. The village has large brightly colored buildings, working electricity and a seemingly average standard of living. However closer inspection using modern telescopic lenses revealed that the buildings are just concrete shells with the building lights turning on and off at set times. Another illusion constructed by the North.
One of the last things we were able to see was the 3rd tunnel built by the North.
Since November, 1974, the South has discovered four tunnels crossing the DMZ. The tunnels are believed to have been created as a military invasion plan by the North. Each tunnel is large enough for of an entire infantry division to pass through in one hour. Four tunnels have been found, but it is believed that there are more. The third tunnel was discovered on October 17, 1978.
We started the tunnel tour at the top of a tunnel built adjacent to the third tunnel. Our tour guide gave us hard hats, which I thought were a complete joke. However after we walked down a very steep incline for about 15 mins, I could clearly see why we needed the helmets. The tunnel was wet, dark and cramped. We were able to walk deep into the tunnel, it was intense. To think that this was built in secret, so far below the earth's surface and as a plan to invade Seoul, its just crazy.
To end this on a positive note, one thing that is fascinating and beautiful about the DMZ is that it has become an unintentional nature preserve. Because it is so dangerous and uninhabitable for humans, many rare plant and animal species can be found within the heavily fortified border. Animals such as cranes, the extremely endangered Korean tiger, black bears and vampire deers can be found within the DMZ. I find it absolutely amazing that within such a dangerous and heavily militarized place, a place with such a tragic history, something so beautiful has been created.
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