The DMZ
Saturday, October 30th, 2004
Living less than 75k from the Military Line of Demarcation is definitely a trip when you think about it. Less than a 45 minute drive from the last major communist superpower in the world. DAMN! Anyway, taking advantage of this rare opportunity Chinner, Pink and I headed up towards the unknown land for a looksie!
Our first stop was this town about 5k from the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone). It’s the last stop before you really get into the DMZ as a civilian. For those of you who don’t know what the DMZ is, it’s basically a 4k wide border that runs the entire East/West length of the penninsula. It has divided north and south korea since the war and is control on the south side by US and S.Korea Military. The first sight upon entering this town is a mini-amusement park. YES, odd – but as more and more tourist come through, I guess that’s what you have to do. A number of other attractions include:
/The Freedom Bridge, the bridge where the first North Korean defectors came across to South Korea after the war.
/ The Rock Exhibit, rocks from over 50 wars fought all over the world!
/ The Freedom Train, the original train that used to carry people and supplies all the way across the country before the division.
/ Thank You Exhibit to all the American Troops who aided South Korea during the war.
From there, we headed into the DMZ itself, crossing one of just a handful of bridges and roads that enters the zone, these paths are heavily guarded and filled with blockades of all sorts to avoid highspeed attacks. We past through checkpoints and past armed posts on our way. As we wound our way through the woods and fields of Korea we found ourselves amonst everything from churches to YES, landmines.
Our next stop was small exhibit town just 1k from the actual MDL (military demarcation line). What makes this area special is that it is where one of the 4 North Korean tunnels were discovered. All in all, their are believed to be 20 tunnels that North Korea began digging, all supposedly ending in Seoul. The one we go to travel through made it about 400 meters into South Korea (only 74k short of Seoul). It was about 72 meters deep (over 250 feet). It was dug at a rate of 1 meter per day, with an estimated finishing date of 25 years (1996) – now, that’s long term planning!
/ The entrance into the tunnels
/ Just 200 meters from the MDL
At just 1k from North Korea, the feeling is surreal and the view is peaceful and erie at the same time.
/ North Korea Observation Post… their military looking back at me!
A nutty trip and historic is so many way. I definitely want to get up there again learn some more. Enjoy!
