Seoul - Day 9

Our routine returned much like our first days with Scottie's folks except we had to get on the bus (literally) earlier today as we were due into Seoul by 8am for our Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone) and Panmunjom/Joint Security Area (JSA) tour through Seoul City Tour.

For those of you that don't know, the Korean DMZ is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea (as they are still technically at "war". The DMZ, 243km in length and 4km wide, cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle. The DMZ consists of a central buffer zone (no mans land) with a north and south military demarcation line (MDL).  Read more here.

The tour group met at the Lotte Hotel downtown Seoul, where we boarded a bus that drove us approximately 30 miles north towards the DMZ. Some Korean history facts I brushed up on as we made our way out of Seoul:

• The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. 
• Following the war, in 1945, at Yalta Conference, US, China, and GB agreed that Korea shall be split at the 38th parallel with Japanese troops surrendering to the US and Soviet Armies. 
• In August 15 1948, the Republic of Korea was born with Syngman Rhee. 
• The following month, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was founded by Kim Il-Song.
• By June 1950, both Soviet and US troops withdrew and 3 factors led to the Korean War: NK army was better equipped, there was a strong sentiment to unite the land, and US declared Korea out of the perimeter of US defense. 
• Within days Seoul fell, and troops pushed all the way to Busan Perimeter until September when UN troops (including many US troops) came to the aid of South Korea regaining most of the territory by November. 
• By Spring 1951, the war came to a stalemate at the 38th parallel. Negotiations in Panmunjom occurred until July 1953 when a cease-fire armistice was signed up the North Korea, Chinese, and UN. SK never signed. 

Once we made it out of the heart of soul, about 20 minutes into the trip, we started to pass areas with barbed wires and military command posts which meant that we weren't in Kansas anymore! But it really set in for me that these countries are very much still at war. Of course, our tour guide made it pretty clear that we couldn't take pictures while in the bus so unfortunately, most of my photos will have to be words. Our first stop of the day was at Imjingak located on the banks of the Imjin River in the city of Paju about 7km from the DMZ line.

Since we were running late from some sort of tour mix-up, our tour guide only gave us 15 minutes at this stop. Nice. Of course, people couldn't handle that and were late to get back to the buses. This was a no-no though because the next parts of the tour when we crossed into the DMZ are not really open to the public unless you get on one of these organized tours.

Imjingak was built in 1972 with the hope that someday unification would be possible, but for now is to help console friends and families from the division of Korea. At Imjingak, we saw the Korean Peace Bell and the Steam Locomotive at Jangdan Station of the Gyeongui Line which was destroyed during the Korean Conflict in 1950. This steam locomotive is a symbol of the tragic history of the division into North and South Korea, having been left in the DMZ since it got derailed by bombs during the Korean War. More than 1,020 bullet holes of the locomotive. In addition, we walked up as far as we could to the Freedom Bridge.

The Freedom Bridge is the only bridge crossing the Imjin River and the only bridge connected between South and North Korea. And the hope is that one day, this bridge can be opened up for access. It was the location where 12,773 prisoners of war returned from North Korea in 1953. At the end of the bridge, we saw letters and paraphernalia left by family members divided by the war and now the DMZ.

Later (after lunch), there was another odd mix-up in our tour since there were only 5 of us doing both the DMZ and Panmunjom tour. For the Panmunjom part of the tour, we joined another tour group on a different bus, which ended up starting their afternoon at Imjingak. Thus, since we had more time at Imjingak, we walked around the other side of Imjingak where we found a Korea War Monument to the U.S. Forces. It consists of a stele surrounded by four triangles, which symbolizes the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The connection of the four triangles at the top represent unity. The 50 flagpoles symbolize the 50 U.S. states and the monument symbolizes the desire of the Korean people that the American soldiers who died in battle will rest in peace. On July 5, 1950, the United States sent troops to Korea, becoming the first contingent of the U.N. forces to enter the Korean War. The United States also sent the largest number of troops of any nation.

Our next stop was at the Third Infiltration Tunnel (between North and South) within the DMZ discovered in October 1978. The South Korean military was informed of the third tunnel by a North Korean defector in September 1974. Thus, 107 PVC cylinder pipes 7.5cm in diameter, were then, filled with water and installed every 2 meters along the expected invasion route to the South. 3 years later, on June 10, 1978, one of the cylinder pipes exploded with water shooting up into the air. Hence, five more cylinder pipes were installed nearby and South Korea was finally able to penetrate their way into the tunnel that North Korea intended to use for military invasion. The Third Tunnel, lies 44km from Seoul, has a total length of 1,635 meters, lies 73 meters below the surface, and is 2 meters in height and width. This tunnel is capable of mobilizing 30,000 troops in one hour as well.

While in the tunnel, we saw the evidence that this tunnel was intended for invading the South. First, our guide mentioned the tunnel is sloped towards the North which causes water to be drained to the North. Secondly, the dynamite holes on the wall meant to explode base rock, face South. Lastly, although coal was never found in this area, traces were left upon the rock wall to disguise this tunnel as abandoned coal mine. After the walk through the tunnel, we spent some time in the DMZ Media Hall (offering the history of the divided country and flourishing ecosystem in the Demilitarized Zone), DMZ Exhibition Hall (displaying relics and documents related to the Demilitarized Zone), and by the sculptures outside.

After the tunnel, we stopped for lunch, switched tour buses (see my above comments), and returned to Imjingak. After Imjingak (part 2), our next stop was the Dora Observatory. Situated at the northernmost point of the MDL of the Western Front, the Dora Observatory allowed us to overlook North Korea, in particular, the propaganda village, Kijongdong.

The tour continued with a quick stop at the Dorasan Station, which is a railroad station situated on the Gyeongui Line, which once connected North and South Korea and has now been restored. The Dorasan train station hosts no trains or travelers, but was constructed in the hopes of a unified Korea and rail service.  Dorasan Station has become well known as a place in an aspiration for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula and world peace. Now this Dorasan Station is the first station toward the North, not the last station from the South.

The last part of our tour and probably the most bang for our buck was the visit to Panmunjom/Joint Security Area (JSA), located within the DMZ. This area is most notably known for the peace talks that were held here on October 25, 1951 and was designated as the JSA on July 27, 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. The JSA is the only portion of the Korean DMZ where South and North Korean forces stand face-to-face and leaders can technically sit across the table from each other.

Here you can see the division between North (on the left, sandy pavement) and South (pebble pavement)

Our first stop was at Camp Bonifas, a United Nations Command military post, whose primary mission is to monitor and enforce the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953 between North and South Korea. We received an official briefing on the JSA here before boarding another bus to enter the actual JSA. Our bus passed through a few checkpoints where we were able to see DMZ markers, Daeseong-dong (South Korea's Freedom Village), the world's highest flag tower flying the North Korean flag (at the entrance of their propaganda village, Gijeong-dong).

We stopped at the Freedom House where we were able to view the border between North and South Korea (a concrete slab), the main North Korean building, Panmungak, and the blue buildings used as conference rooms by the UN. We even observed a North Korean soldier watching us. The ROK and UN guards led us into one of the conference rooms where we could actually walk into North Korea, 

While our group was given 1 minute to take as many pictures outside as we wanted to while we were protected by the South Korean soldiers, this North Korean soldier watched us carefully. The U.N. soldiers stood at attention the whole time to protect us. They stood with their arms straight out to the side and hands in a fist so they would be ready for a fight. We were filed into this blue conference room building where the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953 between North and South Korea was signed. Halfway across the room we were welcomed to North Korea

The bus drove us by the "Bridge of No Return", which crosses the MDL and was used to exchange prisoners at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The name originates from the claim that many POWs captured by the United States did not wish to return home. They were given the option to cross back to North Korea; however, if they chose to cross the bridge, they would never be allowed to return.

The MDL in the JSA is marked with 126 1 meter-high white stakes, along the boundary line at 10-meter intervals. In the rest of the DMZ, the boundary is marked with MDL markers as you can see above

We took a quick detour to the mall on our way home, but not for what you would expect. Apparently, at the malls, there is an extensive grocery section including some vendors preparing food to-go like these dumplings. Scottie said that his Dad had to go all over Seoul to find the best dumplings for Scottie's Mom when she was sick and these were the winners. They were certainly tasty. I cannot deny.

After, we also took a spin through Namdaemun Market, where Mr. Lee helped me make some gift purchases! Namdaemun was area of town with streets and alleys filled with vendors selling food, souvenirs, ready-made clothing, shoes, accessories, handbags, luggage, etc. I had to do a double-take when I saw these.

For dinner, we headed back up to meet Mrs. Lee at a local spot for a meal similar to the Dak Galbi. For this dish though, I actually used my chopsticking skills to pull the chicken off the bones Korean-style. Post-chicken, we had some bokeum bap (Korean version of Fried Rice).

More pictures located here.  A map of our trip located here.