South Korea and the DMZ - 6th - 8th June

So way back in February 2013, Todd and I went to South Korea for a long weekend (see previous post). We had an amazing time, but felt that we hadn't quite accomplished everything we wanted to in South Korea - we weren't able to go to the DMZ.
A year and a bit on, with a flight sale in sight, we decided that it was now or never, and so booked ourselves some cheap flights over to South Korea for the S(e)oul (get it?!) purpose of taking a tour to the DMZ. We were to fly over and get to our hotel late Friday night, had booked ourselves on a tour on the Saturday and would be returning to Japan Sunday afternoon, so we really were going just for this tour.

The DMZ is the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea. The Military Demarcation  Line (MDL) is the line that roughly cuts Korea in half, and this line has a 2km buffer zone on either side making up the DMZ. 

Our American soldier guides with North Korea in the background

Getting to Korea with no problems, we were happy to find that our city passes had not expired and still had money left over on them. Using them, we took a train to our hotel from the airport and settled in for the night. The next day saw us up early and prepared to get to the meeting place by 7 o'clock. Because of this early start we had purposefully booked ourselves a hotel minutes from the meeting point and so casually meandered down the road just before 7 and checked in. 7:30 and the tour began with an hour long bus ride up to the DMZ. Our tour guide was very informative, not only telling us a bit of the history of the DMZ, but also explaining a little more about the surroundings, and South Korea/Seoul as a whole. Our first stop was the JSA (Joint Security Area) where we would be met and escorted through with an American soldier. The JSA is the meeting point where all negotiations since 1953 have been held. We were told on the tour however that the North has not been willing to have these meetings for the past few years now. There are buildings on both the North and South side of the MDL belonging to the respective countries and country allies. However, there are also a few buildings that straddle the MDL and it is in these buildings that meetings would take place. It was also in one of these buildings that we were being allowed to go.

To the left of my head, between the two buildings is the MDL

A lot of the experience was pretty unnerving. The first crazy part for me was when we were driving towards the MDL and our guide was telling us about all the measures put in place to keep out a North Korea attack. We drove through an area with walls of rock built up on either side and were told that there were explosives under the rocks that could be detonated at any time to bring down the rocks and block the road. We were also made well aware of the multiple mine fields across the perimeter with literally thousands of land mines! Scary stuff. Then, once we had gone through the Freedom House we were confronted with the view of a North Korean soldier watching us from their side. We were also made well aware of the buildings where North Koreans were in, apparently watching us and taking photos. We were expressly told not to gesture, point or wave and we could only take photos in certain directions. It felt like one false move, and that would be it!

Those girls in the North, I'm in the South

We were taken into one of the conference buildings and stationed around a table so that our soldier could introduce us to the building. It was here that he casually mentioned that those standing the other side of the table from the door we came through had unknowingly passed into North Korea! Just like that! It was fun to watch comprehension dawn on their faces (I was still in South Korea). There were a few microphones on top of the conference table, and it was here that the line between North and South was made clear as they were in line with it. There were two South Korean guards in the building with us, standing like statues in a jujitsu(?) pose wearing sunglasses so we couldn't see their eyes. They were definitely very intimidating, even more so when our soldier told us not to touch them as they were black belts and wouldn't hesitate to show us our place! When I went to stand by one on the North Korean side, my heart beat a little quicker and I've never been so aware of the space between me and another person!
Anyway, that was it! I can now say that I have been to North Korea (even if it was only in a building!).

The mics and flag show the MDL, the soldier is straddling both countries

This guy looked like a waxwork he was so still

Actually quite scared in case I accidentally touch him!

Our 'In North Korea' faces!

After that, we headed back on the bus to be shown a little more around the area. Including the Bridge of No Return, and a stone memorial in the place of the Axe Murder Incident in 1976, where the attempt to cut down a tree resulted in the deaths of American soldiers by axe-wielding North Koreans. Since that incident, the North and South Korean soldiers have not been allowed to freely cross over the MDL inside of the JSA.

The Bridge of No Return - the poles stand for the MDL

The memorial for the men who died when trying to cut down a tree (the circle represents the tree)

Huge flag in North Korea (it was something crazy like 30m long!)

Back at the Freedom House, it was time to say goodbye to our American host, but this wasn't the end of the tour for us. Our final stop before lunch was Dorasan Station - the last train station in South Korea, next stop - North. Unfortunately, since 2008, trains have not been able to progress past this station and onto the North, so for now you can see the tracks go further, but the last stop is Dorasan. It was interesting to see this station and know that in the past trains have been able to go from one country to another, which could technically connect South Korea with Russia and beyond via trains. There was a train at the station, but this train is used mainly by tourists coming up to see the area and goes from Dorasan to Seoul.

Next stop, North Korea

After the station we went for a lunch of bibimbap (fried vegetables) and bulgogi (grilled marinated beef). Both were yummy but the bulgogi was better in my opinion. That's probably because (according to Wikipedia) bibimbap is best served hot, and mine was anything but that. But lunch was nevertheless tasty, and just a taster for what we were planning for dinner.

After lunch we headed up to a viewing point that looked out over North Korea. This was fine but unfortunately the weather was a bit misty so you couldn't really see much. Also, you weren't allowed to take photos right at the lookout spot, but several metres back behind a yellow line. Combining the distance from the edge, the copious amount of people, and the fact that I'm pretty small, I didn't actually manage to take any photos. But as I said, there wasn't much to see anyway.
After this we went to our last stop on the tour which was the 3rd tunnel. So far, there has been four tunnels discovered running from North Korea to South under the DMZ. Despite the armistice the South believed that the North were creating these tunnels to stage a surprise attack on the South, the exit destination of these tunnels being Seoul. The North Koreans tried to be clever with this tunnel, painting the walls in black 'coal' to suggest that the tunnel was actually a coal mine. However, the South were not convinced as there was evidence of dynamite holes where the North had used explosives to create the tunnel. We were able to go down and walk through this tunnel but, because of the three concrete wall blockades, we obviously couldn't walk all the way through to North Korea. It was incredible to see that this tunnel had made it all the way to the South without detection though. As I said before, only four of these tunnels have been found, but there is believed to be at least twenty more yet undiscovered. Once again, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside this tunnel, but let me just say I was glad that I'm quite small at this point, and had a good chuckle counting how many times Todd hit his head (hard hats were provided!).

The hope of reconciliation between North and South

After coming up out of the tunnel and watching a short video of the history of the DMZ, that was it for the tour. It was time to get back on the bus and head back to Seoul. Todd and I both agreed that it was well worth coming back to South Korea so that we could come on this tour. It was really interesting and we learned a lot on it.

Our last thing we had to do before leaving Seoul for the last time was to go and get some proper Korean BBQ. We had heard many great things about this food through a lot of our friends who had had it before and we were keen to try it. We stumbled on a cute little place near our hotel and ordered some pork and beef. We were then inundated with various small dishes that we had no idea what to do with. It was pretty overwhelming. Luckily the owner took pity on us (or was just too exasperated by our stupidity) and came over at various points to help us through each stage - grilling the meat, cutting it up, and telling us how to eat it. Yes, it was embarrassing that we were so clueless, but I was very grateful to be shown what to do, and we had a great meal because of it.

Yummy pork, with so many dishes!! (the pork was eaten in the lettuce leaves!)

The owner showing the foreign idiots how it's done!

 Overall, it was another really successful trip back to South Korea. I'm really glad we made the time to go again and finish off the things we hadn't managed to do the first time. We're pretty sure that this is the last trip overseas together before we head our separate ways, which is pretty sad, but we're just glad we had all these chances to go to these different countries together.

Next trip planned? Back to Tokyo...