Day 43: The DMZ

I woke up today to hear Brad stirring around the room - which, by the way, was *at least* 450 C! He groggily announced that it was 6:30am - only 40 minutes 'til departure time!!! Oh shit time to get ready!!! The 4 of us had the fastest showers ever and got our bags all packed up for a day outside of Seoul. This was my first time travelling outside the city since arriving and I was quite excited about it! We were all sooooo tired though when we got to the USO tour office just around the corner from our hotel - it was just after 7am and we all only had about 5 hours of sleep.

Our tour that day consisted of 2 busses of all foreigners (mostly Americans) and we headed out towards the DMZ caravan-style. Our tour guide was pretty cool but his English was a little hard to understand. The DMZ, it turns out, is A LOT closer to Seoul than I thought it was. It was only 45 minutes into our bus ride when our tour guide announced that North Korea was already in plain view. We were driving on the Freedom Highway (the highway that South Korea has built right up to the border of North Korea in the hopes that one day when unification happens it will become the principle artery connecting the two halves) and right across the river was the legendary North Korea. The North Koreans have stripped all the hills along the river of their trees and so the landscape in NoKo looks barren, forboding and lifeless - strangely appropriate for a poverty-stricken, occasionally-aggressive, Communist state. We were forbidden to take any photos from the bus at this time and were told that our cameras would be confiscated if we tried. Actually for most of the day we were in militarily-sensitive territory so we were not able to take photos very often.

Here's a brief explanation of what we were driving into. The DMZ is a 4 km-wide buffer zone in between the two Koreas, stretching all the way across from the West Sea to the East Sea. It was established at the end of the Korean War back in 1953 and is an area of 'neutral territory' where neither side is allowed to enter with military weapons or machines - it is a carefully-established and heavily-monitored Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with the hopes of minimizing conflict and violence between the two nations by placing a large pristine tract of wilderness inbetween two of the largest armies on Earth. It is maintained and monitored by the United Nations Command, but still the North Koreans stare out across towards the South Korean and American military forces....

Camp Bonifas is the American base right at the edge of the DMZ and it was here that we had to transfer to a UN bus. Before boarding this bus, however, we were given a 15-minute presentation on why the DMZ exists and what purpose it serves. It was very informative and slightly chilling actually, with its brief but gruesome summary of the horrors that took place during the Korean War. It also highlighted several of the small 'skirmishes' or occasinal outbreaks of violence that have broken out between the two nations since the border was established. What really brought it home for me was how after the presentation we all had to sign waivers which would effectively remove the UN from all liability for our lives if, by slim chance, North Korea happened to decide to invade at the moment our tour was right in the middle and we were all blown to kindgom come. LOVELY!!! Hey, at least we were given nifty "United Nations Guest" passes to wear which were super cool. (Our group of 7, who had the giggles for most of the day, often would walk around, point to our tags, and say "I'm with the UN!" - hey we all thought we were really cool anyways!!)

We then boarded the special UN bus and headed into the DMZ. Because the DMZ has been relatively untouched over the last 50 years it is a very beautiful area - plenty of grassy fields, thick forests, and lots of waterfowl and other animals inhabit the area. The road through the DMZ was full of anti-tank devices, and the bush on both sides of the road was full of minefields - I guess these forests aren't quite as pristine as I imagined! Numerous watch towers and guard posts throughout the DMZ watch over the area towards North Korea - constant careful monitoring in case the North becomes violent again. We went to a building complex that is situated RIGHT ON THE EDGE of the SoKo side of the DMZ where peace talks are occasionally held between the two sides. Soldiers from both sides stand on guard, cold and emotionless, staring each other down from their respective sides, only mere metres away....

What was really amazing was that we were actually allowed to enter the room where the actual peace talks are held and look around and take photos! This room sits *exactly* on the border - half is in South Korea, and half is in North Korea. In this room a ROK (Republic of Korea) guard stands in this special particularly-intimidating pose to thwart off any potential aggression from the North. He literally just stands perfectly still and looks almost like a mannequin! We were allowed to go up to him and take photos but could not touch him or interfere with his 'military stance.' At this point we were actually standing across the border, on the side belonging to the North...so yes, technically I can say that I have been to North Korea and I would not be lying!!! Eerily fascinating....

Near this area is a brand new highway and railway that leads right up to the border, and then just....disappears. SoKo is still waiting for NoKo to finish their half, and has even given them 5-billion Won worth of construction equipment to help them out, but NoKo has yet to even come close to connecting their half... And so this lonely, empty highway just sits and waits, waiting for the day when the two sides will overcome their differences and reunite. Progress has been made slowly in recent peace talks, but I still think that it's going to be a long time before this happens, sadly.

After this we went to another building up this hill that had a magnificent sweeping view of North Korea - barren hills and cities in the distance... What was right in front of us though, in plain view, was NoKo's Propaganda Village. It's actually called Gijong, but it's a town built on the border of North Korea where absolutely no one lives. All of the buildings are empty, and many in fact are simply wooden cutouts of structures. In the middle stands one of the tallest flag poles in the world with an absolutely massive NoKo flag. (side note: SoKo had built a flag pole first on their side, but then, in 'retaliation' NoKo had to build a flag pole almost twice as tall, just to 'one-up' SoKo.) Throughout this ghost town and the fields surrounding it are super giant loud speakers, which blast out propaganda at incredibly loud volumes 6-12 hours a day at the South Koreans. The propaganda praises NoKo's president and attempts to encourage South Koreans to defect to the North. Massive signs sit atop the hills, all facing towards SoKo, all with messages of praise for the North and its president. One sign, translated, even reads "Yankees Go Home." SoKo doesn't have the propaganda speakers, but it does have super giant electric signs on its hills with messages advertising the 'freedom' and 'prosperity' that can be found in the South. Seriously, it's right out of George Orwell's 1984 and is freaky when you think about it too much.

Panmunjoem is a South Korean village that has the misfortune of being the only settlement (well, inhabited one!) in the DMZ. About 200 farmers live here in subsidized, tax-free homes where they grow rice in massive fields surrounding the town. These villagers are financially well-off thanks to the government, but are supervised 24 hours a day by armed guards, even when they are out in their fields farming, and have an 11pm curfew that they are forbidden to break. Again, a very Orwellian-like village - quite creepy and the tension in the air surrounding this area is so thick and heavy. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in this village, so close to an enemy that so badly wants to destroy you.

If you think that is scary, you'll never believe what we saw after lunch!! After our not-so-yummy military buffet lunch, we took a bus to visit the Third Tunnel. Since the establishment of the DMZ, the South Koreans have discovered four tunnels that the North Koreans have built, under the DMZ, and right into South Korea!!! Some of these tunnels are large enough that tanks could drive through in the event of a sneak attack.... If these tunnels aren't evidence of North Korea's continuing aggression then I don't know what is! The most recent of these tunnels was discovered in 1990 and apparently experts think that there are probably at least another 20 tunnels or so under the border that have yet to be found... When asked about the tunnels, the North Koreans either claim that they don't know of their existence, or accuse South Korea of building them. Sometimes they've even come up with lame excuses, claiming that the tunnels are either 'natural cavities' under the Earth, or are 'abandoned coal mines'. They've even gone as far to paint the rock inside the tunnel black to make it look like coal when it's so clearly granite!!! SO FUCKING SCARY!!!

The Third Tunnel, discovered in 1978, has now been stabilized and cleared of all dynamite and mines. It's also been fortified and blockaded so that the North Koreans can't use it in the event of an attack. You can actually ride a small, rollercoaster-like train *down into the tunnel*! It was fun yet scary at the same time as the access train tunnel is BARELY wider than the train itself so you have to wear helmets cause in a few places the roof is extremely low. The train takes you 300 metres below the Earth's surface down to the Third Tunnel, where we could walk along for several hundred metres. The tunnel is dark and yet and is VERY LOW (I'd say no higher than 5'6") and I had to really duck for the entire time I was in there. This tunnel is definitely not the place to be if you're claustophobic!! We walked along right up to the blockade that separates us from the North Koreans - WOW!!! Apparently they have collapsed the portion of the tunnel on their side to try and cover up that they have built it though....

After the tunnel it was time to head back on our regular bus back to Seoul. It was a fascinating yet scary tour and one that I'll remember for always. To think that all of this hostility and aggression and tension exists only an hour away from the capital!! Wow! After we got back into the city, Amy, Emily, and Kelsey went back home while Steve, Andrea, Brad and I went and got ice cream from a nearby Baskin Robbins. After that Steve went home and the three of us decided that since we were still in the city we'd do some more sightseeing.

We took a taxi over to Yeouido Island to visit the 63 Building, where I had been walking around a few weeks ago. This time we actually went into Korea's tallest building, and took an elevator up to the observation deck up on the 60th floor. THE VIEW WAS ASTOUNDING!!! It was evening time when we were up there so the golden light of the sun was perfect for illuminating the whole city without being too blinding. We spent a good hour enjoying the breathtaking vistas of the sprawling megalopolis down below - giant freeways clogged full of traffic, the many bridges crossing the Han River, rows upon rows of identical high rise apartments, and mountains surrounding the city on several sides. So beautiful!!!

After that we went for a bit of a walk around the island just enjoying the sunny weather. We came across this outdoor ampitheatre where several hundred screaming teenage girls were gathered. Up on stage was some Korean pop boy band singing autographs, and these girls were going NUTS just waiting in line for their turn! It was quite funny! We then took a taxi back across the river and decided to grab some dinner at this really fabulous Indian buffet restaurant. (A day full of buffets, it seems!) We decided that none of us were ready to go home yet, and that we wanted to spend another night in the city. Brad suggested we get another hotel room and then go and check out Dondaemun Market - an all-night shopping centre!!!

We went and got another cheap hotel room (Wow! A night in a hotel room two nights in a row? I should be so lucky!!!) We had showers, watched To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (cheesy but very funny) and then headed out for some shopping around midnight or so. The shopping area of Dondaemun was just around the corner from our hotel and it was really amazing! Picture several giant department stores covered completely in neon - flashing colours ten-stories tall, dancing before your very eyes. And the streets are packed!!! It was like 1am and yet the streets were full of people out shopping - so cool!!! We spent a good 2 hours just wandering around, taking it all in. One thing note-worthy is that Korean sales people are EXTREMELY PUSHY! Seriously, if you even stop just to *look* a shirt (never mind pick it up) and they will honestly *run* over and be like "You want to buy? Good price! Shirt you like?" and be right in your face about it. It's quite intimidating actually and you learn quickly not to linger at any clothing stand for longer than half a second, and to NOT EVER make eye contact with one of the sales staff!!!

By 2am we were all really starting to crash (we had been up for almost 20 hours!) and so we headed back to the hotel room. We crashed and slept like the dead! After such a busy day it's no surprise though! WOW! ANOTHER REALLY AMAZING DAY IN KOREA!!! THIS COUNTRY ROCKS!!!! If Canadians knew how cool Korea really was, and what a great lifestyle you can lead over here on the income they give you, there'd be a line-up at the airport for potential teachers to come here. Moving to Seoul was one of the best decisions I ever made and today really illustrated that. It feels really great to be here - I'm lovin' it! (insert McDonald's theme song here, if it pleases you.)

:-)