The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) winds 241Kms across the Korean Peninsula from East to West. It forms a buffer around the Military Demarcation Line, which is an invisible line agreed upon at the ceasefire agreement on July 27th, 1953. The Southern side of the DMZ is marked by barbed wire and a fence running the width of the peninsula. Every few feet or so there are white stones pushed through the fence, which will be dislodged should northern agents try to cut or climb it. This low tech radar seemed a bit odd to me given that the North has built three tunnels to facilitate infiltration, one of which discovered in October 1978 and was 1,635 Kms long, 1.95 kilometers high, 2.1 meters wide and penetrates 435 meters into the South. Running 73 meters beneath the bedrock, it was capable of moving a full division and hour.
Rocks in a fence?
To get to the DMZ you need to take a special tour costing around $60. The day before you submit your passport and are given strict instructions regarding dress code (no jeans, shirts without collars, flipflops etc). Apparently the North takes pictures of sloppy tourists and posts them for internal propaganda.
"Look at the poor degenerates from the west etc.".
South Koreans require a 1 month wait to get approval for a visit.
Its a bit weird to realise how close the North is to Seoul. The trip should take about an hour but the tour makes a couple of stops made along the way.
The first stop is a bizarre lunch break. It was just outside the city and the restaurant was up 3 flights of stairs and consisted of a cafeteria style buffet. Outside was a go-cart track and a series of drive-in "Love Hotels"
Not very "Cold War-y"
The next stop is a bit more to the point. Its at the last stop of a train line running South to North and represents the farthest North Southerners can go freely. As you can see its heavily fortified, but the rules seem to be laxly enforced.
At this stop I visited Imjingak (Freedom Bridge) which was the spot where the two sides exchanged prisoners of war. Its blocked now and has become a place of pilgrimage for many southerners who leave messages and come to pray for unification.
The peace bell below is rung here everyday at 10 am. If you give them 24 hours notice, and pay for the priviledge, you can do the ringing.
When you get back on the bus, the rules kick in. The guide stresses again and again that no one can point at anything, nor take any pictures unless specific permission is given, otherwise the tour could be cancelled immediately.
The next stop, Camp Boniface is named after an American soldier killed with an axe by the North Koreans in the "Joint Security Area" at Panumunjom on August 18th 1976. The Americans were trying to trim a tree obscuring the sightlines of one of their check points when the other side attacked them and killed the lieutenant.
My visit was on the 19th a day after the 30th anniversary. 
For the full story of this horrifying event, go here:
http://members.terracom.net/~vfwpost/opn-PB.html
The Americans later cut down the tree, backed up by tanks, fighter bombers and a division of assault troops on stand by. The action was called "Operation Paul Bunyan"
We were issued passes, given a briefing and asked to sign a declaration waiving any claims and promising to do as we were told.
Some of the instructions on the declaration were as follows:
- The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action.... Although incidents are not anticipated, the United Nations Command, the United states of America, and the Republic of Korea cannot guarantee the safety of visitors and may not be held accountable in the event of a hostile enemy act.
- UNC military personnel will wear appropriate military uniform perceived by their service for off duty wear. Other visitors will be dressed in appropriate civilian attire so as to maintain the dignity of the United Nations Command
- Fraternization, including speaking or any association with personnel from the People's Army/Chinese People's Volunteers (KPA/CPV) side is strictly prohibited.
- The area and buildings (tan colored) under the military control of the communist side will not be entered for any reason. Permission of the tour guide must be obtained prior to entry into UNC buildings (blue colored) in the JSA
- If any incidents should occur, remain calm and follow instructions issued by security personnel
I took a picture of the declaration, but it came out too faintly to be posted. I've go it (they give it back to you on the bus home) and it makes for a cool souvenir.
The Joint Security Area is divided as follows:
From Camp Boniface, we got on a military bus and were driven into the DMC proper, and then into the Joint Security Area (JSA). Off the bus, and into a big reception building, spotless marble and empty ( no pictures allowed). It's just a showpiece building and its only real purpose is to face its communist counterpart .
Between the two buildings, are prefab looking structures in which the two sides meet from time to time. A low concrete slab runs along the demarcation line and cuts through the buildings. Here's a map of the area I poached off another site:
You could in theory, enter a building in the South, and exit the other end into the North. An unsmiling soldier stands firmly and menacingly in front of the door leading to the People's paradise.
An earlier post shows the inside of these rooms. They used to contain little flags from all of the participating countries, but these have been removed as Northern soldiers had a tendency to clean their boots with the American flag.
Outside soldiers stand aggressively staring half hidden, at their communists counterparts (10 meters away) . They adopt the "corner stare" in order to prevent being killed by a sniper (or so we were told)
So what was the target of all this fist clenched glaring?
One lone, bored looking Northern guy.
If I hadn't been looking closely, I would have missed him.
After our little stare down, it was back on the bus to another checkpoint and another look at the commies staring (or not) at us.
There are two functioning villages within the DMZ. The communist one has the worlds largest flagpole. Light winds meant that I couldn't give you a shot of what is supposed to be the world's biggest flag. 
The final stop was "The bridge of no return". We were not allowed off the bus so I snapped this picture through the window. 
The Bridge is the spot where prisoners of war were released at the end of hostilities. They were allowed to pick which direction they wanted to go (hence the name). Its also near the spot where the "axe murder" occurred. There was a little plaque marking the spot, but we weren't allowed off the bus , so I shot this lame picture from the window. 
The DMZ has some observation facilities from countries who didn't participate in the conflict. The Swiss are there as well as the Czechs and Poles. The latter two sit on the Northern side and were part of the grand socialist alliance ranged against the capitalist imperialists, helping uncle Kim keep an eye on things. Given the political changes in Eastern Europe, I wonder what role they play now?
Despite all this drama playing out everyday an hour north, people in Seoul love to play and drink. Boozing is expensive as this menu from my hotel bar shows.
860 Won=$1, so that bottle of Singleton 12 year old malt costs $523.
You get a fruit plate to go along with your tipple so I guess its worth it.
If you don't finish your bottle, your name goes on it and it sits in a little cupboard until you come back. The thing that struck me was there were plenty of women buying bottles watching the cheesy Filipino band murdering Radiohead covers and playing the standard disco hits.
For those of us on a more modest budget, the local firewater works at $10 a bottle.
Its a bit deadly so I stuck to $5 draft beer.
I'm in Beijing now and hope to go to the Great Wall tomorrow though the weather is pretty bad here.
I hope all of you are having a good end of summer.
T
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