Return to the DMZ

This is how most people imagine the DMZ/JSA. Photo
taken at the museum just above briefing room in JSA.

It was almost 3 months ago that I first visited the DMZ.  There were 8 of us in the group, 7 EPIK teachers and 1 visiting friend.  I had been told from others that the DMZ should not be missed and while I knew I would probably be making the venture there when Kim arrived I somehow felt the need to visit sooner rather than later.  It seemed like an opportune time since Fall was beginning to fade and Seoul was hosting it's lantern festival.  This decision actually seemed to be a good idea since the first time I visited their Dear Leader Kim Jong Il was still alive and this time his son and great successor Kim Jong Un is large and in charge.  I began to wonder how the two trips would differ.  As it turned out, not as much as I thought it might.

Blue UN buildings in JSA... large building in background
is DPRK

Both of the visits to the DMZ were booked using the USO which after some research I was lead to believe is one of, if not the, best tour of the DMZ available and also reasonably priced.  These tours run about 70 USD or about 90,000 KRW (I still was never able to figure out the discrepancy in exchange rates which is why I usually just paid in USD to keep it simple.  They tried to explain it to me but to be honest I just stopped listening).  Since we booked with the same company we also wound up with the same tour guide, Honey.  It was quite nice since this was her last tour with the group as she was moving to Australia within the next week or so.  So same tour company and same tour guide, you can pretty much count on the same experience.  Is the DMZ worth the price of admission, twice? The answer yes.

North Korean Solider momentarily lowering
his binoculars. (photo by Angie Funk)

We began earlier in the morning this 2nd tour than we did the first time and we also headed straight to the Joint Security Area (JSA) which is truly the highlight of the tour.  Your passport gets checked approximately 3 times during this tour.  Once when you get to the USO, once on the bus before leaving the USO, and again when you reach the JSA.  When you travel to the DMZ you are sort of eased into the high security that surrounds the area as you move closer and closer.  First you simply see barbed wire along the river, then your transportation is checked when you cross a bridge and you are no longer able to drive straight but move in a smooth slalom course along the bridge.  The barbed wire increases.  Military presence increases and you are told photography is now at the discretion of your guide.  As you approach the JSA the military presence increases, the barbed wire increases and so do the signs that remind you that live mines are still planted just on the other side of that grassy knoll.

From inside MAC building 1st visit.
Sand is NK, gravel is SK.
(photo by Scottie Hoang)

After a quick "briefing" on the area, you change buses in the JSA to a military tour bus and you tour guide is now a US Army personnel.  You are escorted and told to stay in line, not to make any gestures toward the North Koreans and you are told when you may take photos.  Inside the JSA is one of the few places where you can actually step foot in North Korea or more formally known as DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).  In this area the South Korean soldiers, known as ROK soldiers (ROK = Republic of Korea but come on how cool is that!), along side the US, stand face to face with their DPRK counter parts. And while it is a myth that they stand all day in some surreal staring contest they are ever watching each other and you.  They definitely stress to you the severity of the situation even while they have a bit of fun with it... like when they tell you that there is a bounty on the DPRK flag in Gaeseong of $10 M for a 1 m X 1 m piece. You just have to cross the barbed wire, pass the mine fields, and snipers, climb the 160 m flag pole, cut a piece of the flag which weighs approximately 600 lbs and is reinforced with steel to keep it from tearing under it's own weight, and get back.

Me in North Korea next to badass
ROK soldier!

Now I'm not going to go into detail of the tour I'll let the photos speak for themselves but I'll share with you some of my reflections on the area and the situation as a whole.  When you are standing in the JSA and you see the DPRK soldier(s) watching your every move it is a bit unnerving and the reality of the situation slaps you in the face.  This isn't a movie.  This is real.  During the tour you are presented with some lighthearted commentary so that you don't want to crawl into a bottle at the end of the tour.  In some ways it seemed that with the death of Kim Jong Il and with the upcoming election here in South Korea a bit more cautious optimism is in the air toward the hope of reunification.  They are still not sure what sort of leader Kim Jong Un will choose to be, but they do hope that with these changes perhaps channels of communication can resume in the North.  There is hope but if you ask if they think it will really happen doubts seem to stay high. The fact is that the North Korean people are starving and are brutalized on a regular basis.  Korea was once known as the Hermit Kingdom and while the South is shedding that image the North is as hermit-like as they come.  The little information available comes from those people that have escaped to the South.  If you want to know what life in North Korea is like I highly recommend Kimjongilia - a documentary put together with testimonies of North Koreans who defected.  These testimonies don't get any more real especially after having been in the DMZ/JSA.

The Giant Flag in Gaeseong, DPRK. I think
they might be compensating for something.
(photo by Angie Funk)

Gaeseong or Propaganda Village in DPRK. It's basically
a large Hollywood set. No one lives here and none
of the buildings are finished... but it looks impressive.

From the first visit...Angie and I
sending our love to the PEOPLE
of North Korea.

My two trips to the DMZ reminded me just how precious and fragile peace is and how sometimes it is truly an illusion.  I was also reminded that we should NEVER judge a nation by their government.  While the South Koreans despise and loathe the North Korean government they send their love and sympathy for it's people which are it's victims and still in some cases members of their families.

A little more love from Angie, Me and Kim.