A Saturday Visit to the DMZ and North Korea (Introduction)

Hello everyone.

One of the interesting and yet frightening things about living in South Korea is it's neighbor North Korea.

It's obviously interesting, because North Korea is so reclusive it's hard to get accurate, detailed information about it. Of course it's also frightening because well, we're still technically at war with North Korea and they have nukes.

So with that said I decided to take a trip to North Korea for a Saturday stroll. Actually, that's not exactly true. I went with my fellow Army Reservists, and some tourists for our annual field trip. 

My last time to North Korea was seven years ago, I really didn't expect much to change, but since this was Mandatory Fun Time I figured I should at least use this an opportunity to share this with anyone who's curious about what life is like here. So here are some things to consider about my account of North Korea and the DMZ.

First, because a single post would be too long for here, so I'll break this post up into several smaller installments. 

Second, This trip as alluded to before was a yearly field trip for us. It's usually done at the end of wach FY. We basically went as civilians with other civilians who went up as part of a USO tour.

Follow this link for more information on a USO DMZ tour. http://usodmz.com/

Third, because of security concerns we were limited on the photos we were allowed to take, so to be honest, there were some cool places I visited (again) that I couldn't photograph. Which is a bummer, because it would really had helped tell the DMZ story better. So look at it as motivation to visit the real thing yourself.

Fourth, keep in mind the DMZ runs from west to east of the North/South Korean border. The sights discussed below are those commonly seen by tourists.

Let's begin.

When going to the DMZ you must past through at least one check point several kilometers from the DMZ, so be sure to bring your ID card. A passport is acceptable. From the southern most check point you have several options. You can go to Infiltration Tunnel 3, Dorasan Observation Point, Dorasan Station, Camp Bonifas/JSA, and Panmunjom Village. 

Panmunjom Village is a restricted place so we couldn't go inside, but we could drive past it. Panmunjom Village is special because it's where the 1953 Armistice was signed. In addition it's a special habitation zone. The South Korean government has incentivized people to live there with tax exemptions along with exemptions for conscription in the armed forces (All males must serve in the armed forces. If they can't qualify for the armed forces than they go down to the next qualified job, which is often the police force.) But every coin has two sides, and with all the blessings come the sacrifices. The people of Panmunjom live under the threat of war  everyday. Besides the obvious fact they are little more than 1km from the demarcation line, they also be inside their homes by nightfall, and must be protected by a private security force. But they do make a killing at farming, with them making about $82,000 a year, according to our MP escort.

Since I have been here several times before, I already knew all this information, but it's still surreal to think about living under these conditions. So we passed by Panmunjom Village and made our way to my next post...North Korea.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction.  Check up soon for the next post in this series. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, and I look forward to your comments.