DMZ Tour: Part 2
Written by Bessie on Sunday, October 11, 2009 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' excited
Feelin' excited
Part 2 of the USO tour continued after an overpriced, lunch at the only restaurant near the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone separating North & South Korea).
It's hard to top the cool factor of stepping into North Korea in the JSA, but spying on Propoganda Village was good competition.
First, the 3rd Tunnel.
The North Koreans must have been planning one heck of an attack on the South because 4 tunnels were discovered in the 1970s from along the border leading toward Seoul. They assume there must be more tunnels, or at least plans for them, but no others have been found.
This 3rd tunnel was found when a defected North Korean told of the tunnel. South Koreans put a hundred PVC pipes pumping water into the area of the tunnel until the tunnel flooded and water burst up into the air. North Koreans claimed they were coal tunnels and spread some coal residue on the walls, but the walls are granite with no coal anywhere, so it was a crap cover-up. South Koreans estimate that 3,000 soldiers/ hour could have marched through the 3rd tunnel into Seoul. Not too shabby.
The tunnel is 2 meters wide and 2 meters deep, 78 meters below ground. In total, it's 1,635 meters long, but the tour only lets you into 265 meters that is safely on the South Korean side. You have to walk through with hard hats on and it drips water like a cave. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside the 3rd tunnel, but here's a photo of a model outside the visitor center.
Propaganda Village
North and South Korea both have villages inside the DMZ. The one in the south maintains a somewhat sizeable farming community that the government pays extremely generously (they make around US$120,000/ year according to our MP tour guide from the US Army), children can attend any school in the country, but the residents must spend atleast 8 months of the year there. They are guarded 24 hours a day by South Korean guards and have an 11pm curfew.
The village in the north is named Peace Village, but outside of North Korea, it's known as Progaganda Village. The village was built in the 1950s with large buildings wired with electricity to lure South Koreans into the country, at great expense to the country.
Up until 2004, the village blasted anti-Western, anti-Semitic, and anti-Christian speeches along with patriotic marching music nearly around the clock. It wasn't widely known back in the 1950s, but it very apparent now, that the buildings are hollow shells with no windows and hardly anyone lives there. There's a lot of spying of North Korea going on.
According to Wikipedia, "The official position of the North Korean government is that the village contains a 200-family collective farm, serviced by a childcare center, kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, and a hospital." However, it's obvious hardly anyone lives there, around 30 people according to our MP tour guide, which are enough to raise and lower the 600 lb (270 kilo) flag, that is the tallest in the world, at 525 ft (160 m) tall. A 600 pound flag! It's just absurd.
From the Dora Observatory, the mood was surprisingly light. For the most part, we were surrounded by South Koreans looking over at their moody neighbor, the other half of their country where some of them probably have relatives or lost friends.
South Korean guards will delete any photos or your entire memory card if you disobey the photo line. Beware!
We did take advantage of the opportunity to have our photos taken with North Korea.
The deadend Train Tracks.
Being someone that likes to get around, I was really hoping we'd stop by the Dorasan train station, where the South Korea railroad line literally stops, waiting patiently for the day that it can continue north into China and continue to Europe. Alas, no stop, but I got a photo from the window.
train station to North Korea
We can now check visiting the DMZ off our list of things to do in Korea. It'll definitely be one of the top highlights. Thanks, USO.
Comments on "DMZ Tour: Part 2"
Definitely true, and the tour information from US Army & South Koreans touched the causes and effects of the war as little as possible. They barely mentioned the millions of Korean casualties or 50,000+ Americans or twice as many soldiers that were wounded. They're very forward focused on peaceful reunification - South Korean society (and I'm sure US military's mission here) in general is very focused on this.
It looks like you had very nice weather for your visit. I'm glad the tunnel was discovered and filled with water so that Seoul would be safer from the lunatics in the North. We hope someday the country can be unified and people can be free to travel throughout Korea in PEACE! Thanks for sharing this important trip in two parts. Love to both of you!
Koreans are very nice people...My cousin fought in Korea (early 50's I think) & was wounded...He has told me stories many times of the hard times He went through in Korea...I would like think that people his age in Korea & my age just want to forget about it...Like My generation & me want to forget about Vietnam...Enjoy reading looking about your Pics...Rich
Glad that you had the experience and that it was a USO controlled "visit." The two American journalists, whose release recently was secured by Pres. Clinton, claim to have only crossed the line into the North for a couple of minutes before discovering their error as they were pulled further into North Korea by soldiers. I think that even with your sanitized visit, you got the uncomfortable essence of what that experience would have been like.
Nice place from which to come back and never return. Many Americans died for the freedom of the South. Very sobering place to see.
by Linda at October 21, 2009 10:03 PM