DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and JSA (Joint Security Area), by Kate (and her mom)

We went to four different places for our summer vacation.  We went to Beijing, Seoul, Cebu, and Manila.  It was my first time that I had been to any of those places.  My favorite place was probably Seoul because the city was very nice and it had a mix of old and new, with archaeological ruins of things like an old well right next to a big new mall. One of my favorite places we went in Korea and Seoul was the DMZ  (Demilitarized Zone) and JSA (Joint Security Area). The DMZ and JSA were established at the end of the Korean War. The Demilitarized Zone is an area 2 kilometers north and 2 kilometers south of the Korean border, which acts as a 4 km buffer zone between the two countries. The JSA, which is inside the area of the DMZ, is where the armistice was signed to end the Korean War. It is also still used as a place for meetings between North and South Korea. The JSA is right in the middle of the border between North and South Korea.

The first place we went to on our tour was Dorasan Station.  It is a train station that will hopefully be used one day to connect North Korea and South Korea, "to connect the severed bloodline of the people".  It is the closest stop to North Korea. It is 56 km from Seoul and 205 km from Pyongyang (the capital of North Korea).  It is a train station that is completely ready to be used but is currently not in use. You could chose to go down to the tracks, but we stayed up just in the station.  There were some interesting things in the station.  There was a piano that symbolized the Korean people because it had barbed wire for the strings and the notes supposedly sounded horrible.  It is a symbol of the Korean peninsula division and the hope for the beautiful music of future reconciliation.  You could not play it because it was roped off, and the notes that were in reach (if we wanted to try it) did not make a sound because they had no strings, so we had to rely on what the description said.  Also, there were some ink stamps you could put on a piece of paper, sort of like the stamps that get put in your passport; one was about unification of North and South Korea.  The other one was about the station.  There were also some wheel-looking things that had different designs to them.  One had a nature theme, another had a sewing theme, while another one had a look of a wagon wheel, and there were others.

Kate standing by her favorite wheel at Dorasan Station.  Below are the rest of my family members in front of their favourite wheels

There could not be any logos on our shirt for this tour

We had to wear clothes that covered our knees and our shoulders

We had to wear closed toe shoes to go on the tour

Dorasan Train Station. Currently not used but it is hoped it can be used in the future as the train station to connect if the two Koreas ever unite. It would be the last stop in South Korea before going into North Korea

Piano with strings made from barbed wire, to represent the division between North and South Korea. We could not play the piano

After that we went to lunch.  There were two choices we could eat.  They was bulgogi or bibimbap.  We chose bibimbap because we were going to make bulgogi in our cooking class another day.  Also, we chose it because it was cheaper than bulgogi.  It was very good.  Instead of just having bibimbap it also had little snack items such as potatoes fried with some watery sauce. There were also cherry tomatoes and a salad with some dressing.  There was a lot to eat.  Also there were some cups that you could use.  They were metal cups and they were kept in a cabinet that was sterilized and there was a water dispenser that we could get water from.  

After hurrying up with lunch we then went to the Dora Observatory.  This is the nearest point  outside the DMZ of North Korea to South Korea.  It was on a hill and we could go and use binoculars, but the binoculars cost money and so I only got to use them for a short time because we shared them.  But you could still see a lot, and it was a partially clear day so you could see into North Korea.  You could see Propaganda Village where North Koreans play propaganda over loud speakers to try to reinforce that North Korea is a good country.  We were told that some of the buildings (eg apartment buildings) that we could see in a small North Korean city were actually just a facade to present a good look.  There was a huge flagpole there because the South Koreans built a big flagpole but the North Koreans wanted to beat the South so they built their flagpole even higher.

Looking into North Korea. The air quality was not that good but we could see the North Korean flag and also hear music and propaganda (in Korean) coming from the North Korean side

Garth posing with our tour guide and a South Korean soldier

Next we went to one of the places where North Korea tried to attack South Korea.  It was called the Third Infiltration Tunnel.  The North Koreans had tried to build a tunnel to South Korea but they could not finish it in time because it was discovered by the South Koreans (October, 1978).  We went in that tunnel with a safety helmet.  It was 73 meters below ground.  It was built for a surprise attack on Seoul.  The North Koreans had covered the sides with coal dust but when the South Koreans tested the area for coal they found out there was no coal in the area.  Then the North Koreans denied that they had built it and they put the blame on the South Koreans, but that does not make sense because there was not an entryway from South Korea but there was an entryway from the North Korean side.  But how were we able to access the tunnel if it was not finished?  The South Koreans discovered it because they were digging and some water came gushing out.  They dug down and they were able to find the tunnel and they opened it to the public.  Another thing that is sad is that there were holes for dynamite in the walls.  But this was not the first tunnel that the North Koreans had dug.  There have been at least 5 with more that have not yet been found.  This is the third tunnel that had been found.  If the North Koreans had finished any of them then they could have launched a surprise attack.

Family picture after we walked through the Third Tunnel

Garth trying to keep the two Koreas separated

Next we headed toward the JSA (which is inside the DMZ) where important meetings between North and South Korea are held starting in 1951.  The first place we went to on the way to the DMZ was Camp Bonifas which was just outside the DMZ.  It was named after a military captain who died in a tree cutting incident (August 18, 1976).  There are also other names for the incident.  It is also called the tree trimming incident and the ax murder incident.  There was a Poplar tree that was blocking the sight of one checkpoint to another near the Bridge of No Return.  The UN decided to cut the tree down and so they sent word to North Korea.  The UN work party started to cut it down.  Then some North Korean soldiers arrived on the scene and they watched the tree cutting.  But soon the North Korean soldiers ordered Captain Arthur Bonifas to stop cutting down the tree.  He refused and Captain Arthur Bonifas and his First Lieutenant, Mark Barrett, were killed with axes.  The rest of the UN soldiers escaped.  The UN still wanted the tree down so they sent the South Korean / UN army on call.  They sent the air force to circle the area and the navy to be on call so then they could cut down the tree.  It was a very big deal.  They were finally able to cut down the tree and now there is a plaque there in memorial of Captain Bonifas and his first lieutenant.  They also named the U.S. military camp after Captain Bonifas.  Camp Bonifas was the entrance to the DMZ.  After this incident it was agreed to separate the area in half, both outside and inside the buildings. Up to this time, both sides could walk freely through the JSA, either on the North or South Korean side. 

After seeing some areas outside Camp Bonifas we headed to the DMZ and then further in to the JSA. When we arrived at the JSA we went inside a building and into a room.  We were given a paper as we were going in.  We had to sign the bottom and it was like a permission form that we agreed that it was not the guide's fault if something bad happened to us and that in going to the JSA, we were putting ourselves at risk.  While we were reading it a UN (American) soldier came on the stage and after some technical difficulties he showed us a power point about the JSA and the DMZ.  After the power point ended and after we had signed the paper we switched buses and we went into the DMZ to go to the JSA.   We had to go on a different bus for security measures and we traveled to the JSA, through some booby trap areas.  The first booby trap (in case the North Koreans wanted to use that road to attack South Korea) was a chemical barrier that could be activated (but it was covered with black tarps so we couldn't see what was under the tarps).  The second booby trap, a little further down the road, was an electric fence.  The third booby trap were land mines.  My mom looked for some as we traveled along but didn't see any in the grass or forest area.  The JSA was declared in 1953 and it was where the armistice was signed.  We went to the different UN checkpoints and we were told to not take pictures of certain buildings on the South Korea side because then North Koreans could have access to valuable information.  

Family picture standing in North Korea

This table is half on the North Korean side and half on the South Korean side.

Looking towards North Korea. The border divides the blue buildings in half. This is the place where people would try to defect and run to the other side

Picture of North Korean soldier

Picture of the North Korean flag from one of the checkpoints

Close up of the North Korea flag

Bridge of No Return

One of my favorite places was a conference building in the Joint Security Area where there were meetings between North and South Korea.  The building was split in half along the border and we were allowed to go onto the North Korean side.  The meeting table was even split in half down the center.   There were some soldiers who were in the room and they were guarding us.  They were in a special pose with their fists down, ready to go.  The area around this building is only 800 square meters where neither the south nor the north has jurisdiction.  The UN and North Korea have 6 guard posts each and there are 35 guards that live in the JSA.  

Another one of my favorite places we went was the sight of the ax murder incident.  We were able to see the memorial plaque.  Also we were able to see the Bridge of No Return up close.  When former President Bill Clinton went to South Korea, he was able to go on the Bridge of No Return but a North Korean soldier got too close, so Bill Clinton was taken away from the bridge as a security precaution and no one has been allowed to go on the bridge since then. We did not get out of the bus when we went to see where the ax murder incident happened.

After that we went back to the USO (United Service Organization), located in Seoul, where we started our tour. On the way back to our hotel we stopped for dinner by having doughnuts at Krispy Kreme Donuts, and then we went to bed.