"YOU SHOULD BE VERY TENSE"- Dazed at the DMZ

Bizarre is the only word I can use to describe my DMZ experience.  We drove about an hour north to the JSA (Joint Security Area), stopping at a few monuments along the way, including a very interesting one dedicated to journalists who lost their lives covering the Korean War and another to a war hero who sacrificed himself to save his troops.  Then we made a very surreal stop at Reunification Park, site of the "Freedom Bridge" which is where the last South Korean POWs to leave North Korea were able to make their way to freedom.  The bridge is at the site of a former railroad station - the last stop along the line that used to lead into North Korea.  The "train that wishes to travel" is still there on the track, punctured with hundreds of bullet holes from the war.

A monument to the Filipino soldiers who fought in the Korean War

Monument to journalists

This is the "train that wishes to travel" but it is stuck at the end of the line that divides the two Koreas.  Notice the bullet holes sustained during the war

Along the barbed wire fences in the area are thousands and thousands of ribbons that Koreans have placed in memory of loved ones on the "other side".  The Confucian tradition of ancestor worship dictates that family members visit the graves of the dearly departed on the anniversary of their deaths.  Since so many Koreans don't even know the fate of their father, brother, or other family member separated by the war, they go to the nearest place possible - this bridge - on the lunar New Year and other holidays to pray and offer devotion. The surreal part of this stop is the Disney-esque features which include fake locomotive sounds coming from the train, piped-in music, and an amusement park!  But as we learned more about the family nature of the site as relatives gather on holidays it made more sense - especially when we were told that the music (which sounded Greek and spirited) was actually Korean folk songs lamenting the separation of families.  Evidently the song lyrics croon, "♫Mother!  Mooooootheerrrrrr!  Where are you?♫"

Freedom Bridge - but not one has crossed it since the 1950s

Messages to long-lost relatives caught on the wrong side of the border

This as far as you can go on the Freedom Bridge - unless you want to defect

We left the Freedom Bridge site and continued along the Imgingak River, finally crossing it into the JSA.  It was totally different that I anticipated.  The JSA and DMZ are actually areas where people live... there is a village in the area and lots of agriculture.  There's even a school in the JSA.  One interesting story is that the American soldiers stationed at Fort Bonifas (where the U.S. and ROK soldiers secure the border) offer free English tutoring at the school in the zone.  At one point the school was on the point of closing as there were so few students, but the lure of free English lessons resulted in students now being bussed into the zone for school!  Fields of rice and ginseng were to be seen all the way up to the border - life goes on.

As we approached the border we saw the huge flag pole where the South Koreans hoisted their flag - 100 meters tall.  And there, waving over the trees on the other side, we saw the North Korean flag waving from its flag pole which the North Koreans had erected in response to the other one - at 160 meters!  The one-upsmanship between the two countries is made clear by this and another story we were told about the North Koreans blasting propaganda across the border with huge loudspeakers.  In response, the South Koreans put up their own loudspeakers - blasting K-Pop!!  Thus, the area was christened "Propaganda Village". Thankfully, the two sides discussed this and were able to agree to both cease the broadcasts.

We had to transfer to a joint security forces bus at the South Korean administrative building.  No purses or bags are allowed past this point, but - surprisingly - we were allowed to carry our cameras and to take photos at certain designated spots.  Even more surprising was the gift shop that is run inside the administrative building!  Again, this was a very bizarre day.  To be lined up in rows and marched around in file, to be told to wear closed shoes "in case you have to run", to be constantly told by the interpreter "you should be very tense" - as she related stories of border incidents such as the shooting in 1986 when a Soviet national ran through the Conference Room in order to defect into South Korea and the resulting gunfire ended in several deaths - was quite surreal.

Looking out the window of the Conference Building at North Korea

I'm standing in North Korea!  I'm holding my right arm in back of me because they warned us not to get too close to the guards.

The microphones divide North Korea (right side of table) from South Korea (left side)... but shouldn't the communists be on the left??? (har har)

The border

Communist guard standing in front of North Korean building

I am on the steps of the South Korean building and the North Korean building is behind me.  The blue building over my right shoulder is the Conference Room, which we have just marched out of

Zoomed in on Mr. North Korean Soldier

The Bridge of No Return - where prisoner exchanges took place

These two young men are U.S. soldiers protecting the border and freedom

Anyway, we followed instructions.  In double lines we marched into the blue Conference Building which was erected as a temporary strructure in the early 1950s during the war. Our interpreter ordered us, "Move to the back of the room!  Don't touch anything!  Don't point!"  The room had three South Korean guards standing in the 'modified tae kwan do stance' with sunglasses on 'to intimidate the North Koreans' (even though there were none in the room).  We were told the soldiers were there to protect us and that sometimes tourists come in from the North Korean side.  On these occasions, the South Koreans clear out of the room and the North Korean guards come in to 'protect' their tourists (such as the time the Soviet journalist defected).  As we were ushered into the far side of the room the interpreter drew our attention outside the small window to a strip of concrete on the tarmac outside.  This, she said, was the border.  The border runs right through the middle of the Conference Building.  We were standing in the north side of the building; thus, we were in North Korea!  Amazingly, we were allowed to take photos in the Conference Building - as long as we didn't get too close to the guards.  In the middle of the room is the conference table with microphones lined down the middle of the table, representing the north/south division.  If North Korea and South Korea need to speak, they sit at this table.

After a few minutes for photos, we were marched quickly back out of the conference room and onto the steps of the South Korean administrative building.  For whatever reason we were not allowed to take photos of the South Korean building, but we were able to line up on the stairs and take photos of the North Korean building - though we were not allowed to use big zooms.  One lone communist guard stood in front of the building while 39 Americans shot photos of him.  My little Canon camera has quite a good zoom on it that is still pretty unobtrusive, so I got a fairly decent photo of him.

Another surprise....we reboarded the DMZ bus which took us around the north side of the Conference Building - right into North Korean territory and right in front of their building and their guard.  Then we wound around an area of the DMZ where we could see the "Bridge of No Return" where prisoner exchanges took place in the 1950s (I kept thinking of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in "Die Another Day") and past the scene of the "Axe Murder Incident" where the North Koreans went ballistic on some American forces who were trimming a tree (I guess for better visibility).  The North Koreans swept down upon the soldiers who were doing the tree trimming, which evidently was quite routine, and murdered two of our guys.

 The DMZ bus returned to the South Korean administrative building. Then, in true capitalist fashion, we were marched into the gift shop where our group took about the whole inventory of barbed wire souvenirs and DMZ post cards and t-shirts.  Then we were reunited with our own bus and drove out of the zone and back to Seoul.  I'm still scratching my head over this experience.