The DMZ

... continued from our previous post.

The DMZ was something that we were interested in seeing before even coming to Korea. The political and social effects that the Korean war and perpetual "cease-fire" have had on Korea as a whole are massive. After the recent artillery incident between North and South Korea, the tensions were high and many people back home were surprised that we were going so "close to North Korea."

We were not nearly as concerned and upon arriving here, have felt no tension or concern regarding the relationship between North and South Korea. We hoped that going and exploring the DMZ and hearing more about the history of this half a century old "conflict" would give us a greater understanding of the current situation.

When we left on the tour bus from the center of Seoul, our guide had filled us in on the history of the Korean conflict on the drive from Seoul, and we had seen guard posts the entire way along the river the bus had followed. Our first stop was a small amusement park near one of the main bridges into the DMZ. We had a bathroom break, got some munchies, and snapped photos of some of the more interesting sites. The coolest thing was a large "peace bell" made from melted down weapons used during the Korean war.

After this, we crossed a checkpoint into the DMZ and headed for one of the North Korean tunnels that had been thwarted during the 70s. The tunnel we were able to see was tunnel 3. Before seeing the tunnel, we saw a short video in the "visitors" center that discussed the conflict, the tunnels, and how they had been found. To those of you that do not know, these tunnels were attempts by the North Koreans to burrow under the DMZ, and come up out of the ground somewhere near Seoul, enabling them to bring in troops and tanks behind the South Korean defences. The North Korean's have claimed that 20 tunnels were started, however the South Koreans have only found 4. Each of the four tunnels found have started from different points along the DMZ. One was within 50 km of Seoul, another was over 150 km from Seoul.

Here is a google link to an article if you want to know more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Tunnel_of_Aggression

We walked down into the tunnel, which was a 400 m walk down an incline (we went down about 22 stories), and then a 250 m walk down a low tunnel (we both had to crouch the whole time). At the end we were met with a large concrete wall, one of 3 that had small windows and a heavy steel door. Instead of completely filling the tunnels, South Koreans have decide to block them with barricades. It was confusing to us but hey, what can we say? There were no pictures allowed in the tunnel although a google search will reveal some from inside the tunnel.

http://www.google.co.kr/search?q=DMZ+tunnel+3&hl=ko&lr=&newwindow=1&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=b-6zTbnSJZHyvQPt99CJBw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAQQ_AUoAQ&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

After seeing the DMZ tunnel, we went to a large lookout on top of a hill. From this vantage point, we could see the DMZ, the river, the fences, and much of North Korea. We could also see the extremely large flag that North Korea had constructed. Apparently the North and South had had an ongoing contest to see who could construct the largest flag pole within site of eachother's borders. It had gone back and forth a number of times until South Korea built a 100m flag pole and North Korea decided to top that with a 160m flag pole. Apparently this had held a Guiness record for tallest flag pole in the world but it has since been broken we believe. We also found out that South Korea flag flutters in the wind regularly since it is large but weights only 30 or 40 kg, however the North Korean flag is almost continuously limp because it weights a staggering 250 kilograms. Interesting.

We weren't able to get great photos from this lookout because there was a "no photos" line about 15 feet back from the edge, however I did my best and we may post some.

After coming down off the hill, our bus headed for the last train station on the newly constructed rail line that connects North and South Korea. We learned that although no trains have yet passed along the line, there are massive warehouses, a complete station, and all the facilities required to support cross border traffic, in preparation for the opening of the rail line between North and South Korea. This was an expensive move by the South Koreans, but a very optimistic one! We were able to buy "souvenir" tickets and walk the passenger platforms along the rail line. Sadly all the train traffic signals were red. Perhaps some day we will see green signals on the track!

This rail line is intended to connect to the main chinese lines, and in to the trans-siberian rail line that connects East Asia to Europe. It would indeed be an historic day when the station becomes operational. South Korea would longer be a country that relies solely upon air and water transportation.

After these sights, our bus headed back to Seoul. They dropped us at a large Amethyst factory that was purely a tourist money trap and we opted to ignore the "tour" and skip the "buy these big purple stones" segment. There were more interesting things to see and better ways to spend our money.

We hooked up with our group (Lewis and his cohort) and the bus finally dropped us in Itaewon. We all decided that Thai food was the way to go and it was delicious, although not as fantastic as the Mexican we had the day before! I got a chicken green curry, my favourite, and Nicole got the Pad Thai. Delicious!

Finally, after dinner, we set off for the Seoul subway with Lewis and two of his friends. Two trains and 4 stops later we were at Seoul station. After being worried about actually getting a train back to Daejeon (they're often very busy on a Sunday evening), we walked up to an automated machine and attempted to get 3 tickets on the fast train (KTX) back to Daejeon. There were plenty of tickets available and we only paid 20 bucks each, which is a good price for the high speed train!

Note: The slow trains take about 2 hours, the high speed train less than 1. (about 300 km an hour on the highspeed) Slow trains run about 8 to 15 dollars, but are often standing room only coming back on a Sunday night. The KTX runs between 18 and 40 depending on backwards seat, standard seating, or first class, but there are most likely seats available.

We got back into Daejeon around 9 PM on Sunday and hopped on the tube back to Tanbangdong where we live. It was a wonderful, and exhausting weekend. We were able to see about 1% of Seoul, experience a Jimjilbang, see the DMZ, enjoy some delicious food, and celebrate Nicole's 26th in style!

Hope you enjoyed our update. More to come.

Cheers, lasting peace, and best wishes from the both of us.

Joe and Nicole