Today was cloudy and rainy, and unfortunately, we spent almost all of it outside. We went to the DMZ, which was a unique experience. On the weekend both foreigners and South Korean citizens can tour, so other people came onto our tour bus for the journey. Before the tour started, we got to walk around near the civilian-military line, which had a place for people whose family was separated by the division of north and south to do memorial services. There was also a large traditional bell, which is rung during important events to symbolize the hope for peace and unity.
Once we got on the bus, we traveled through the checkpoint to the 3rd tunnel site, where north Korea had been discovered to be digging underneath the DMZ to reach Seoul. It’s one of four discovered tunnels, but there could be many more undiscovered. The tunnel itself was 73 meters underground, which we reached with a second, sloping tunnel starting from the surface. Inside, we had to crouch to walk through the tunnel, with people occasionally hitting their hard hats on the support scaffolding. It was very claustrophobic, and though the 300-meter trek back to the surface was brutal, I was glad to be out.
The next stop on the tour was the top of an overlook, where we could see North Korea from. It was strange to see in reality- if the North Korean flag hadn’t been flying on the border, the landscape would have been indistinguishable from South Korea behind it. From the overlook, we could see the end of the DMZ and the factory where north and south Korea had previously collaborated before North Korea blew it up. There was also an upscale ‘village’ visible near the border, but nobody lived in it- it was only there for appearances. The only North Koreans the people who worked in the tour regularly saw were guards and farmers. There were a few guards visible on a guard house, but mostly it was empty.
Finally, we went to a village that lives inside of the DMZ, on the South Korean side. It’s a typical farming village, except that they have a curfew and are exempt from compulsory military service. If you didn’t know where you were you wouldn’t have any idea anything was out of the ordinary. I suppose you can get used to anything given the time.
Until next time!