Sorry... this is long and a little on the serious side. The experience was pretty profound and I used writing to help me make sense of it.
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| Welcome to the DMZ - Disney World of the 38th parallel |
It’s complicated.
A tourist attraction in the middle of a war zone? Sounds
contradictory. But the South Korean (ROK) soldiers carry real weapons loaded
with live ammunition and fixed bayonets. Their expressions are grim and
determined, and they are bivouacking and marching in frigid weather and harsh
conditions. The minefields are live, separated from the road by a ditch and the
admonition of our charming South Korean tour guide not to leave the bus and
wander across the desolate countryside is tinged with deadly earnestness.
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| A tourist map of the DMZ |
She tells us about a large concrete structure bridging the
road with explosives planted to cause the structure to drop in case of an
attack. We have heard anecdotally that all 31 bridges in Seoul crossing the Han
River from north to south are mined as well, able to be destroyed should “it
become necessary.”
Should “what” become “necessary?”
In July of 1953 an armistice was signed to bring the Korean
Conflict (as it was known) to a halt.
U.S.
Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr.,
representing the
United Nations Command and
North
Korean General
Nam Il, representing the
North Korean People's Army and the
Chinese
People’s Volunteer Army signed. South Korea did not sign the
agreement. The agreement brought hostilities to an end and established the
Demilitarized Zone, tacitly establishing two Koreas. But the division occurred
to reflect political and ideological differences held by nations other than
Korea, and the Korean people, at least the South Koreans, see the status as unresolved.
Korean reunification is a tangible value in South Korea.
All of these issues take over the radar screen for these two
American visitors to the DMZ this sunny cold February day in 2013.
First, there is not much to see. We leave Seoul and follow
the Han River north to the confluence with the Imjingang River which, for a few
kilometers, serves as one section of the DMZ, its banks lined with barbed wire
and the national border running down the middle of the river. Across the river
the hillsides are barren, cleared of vegetation by the North Koreans seeking
firewood. South Korean towns dot the region to the east called Paju and like
all of South Korea, appear prosperous. None of this is very clear from the
fogged windows of the small tourist bus.
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| Instructions on how to ring the bell of peace - 10,000 Won = about $10 |
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Our first stop is Imjingak Tourist Park, a collection of
buildings including a group of amusement park rides. We learn this is a
“symbolic tourist park” representing the history of national division and the
Korean War. Symbolism is very important to South Koreans, especially when the
war is brought up. The attractions (other than the amusement park rides) include
the Bell of Peace, a 21-ton brass bell that visitors can ring if they pay a
small fee and the Bridge of Freedom, named after the 12,773 POWs who crossed to
freedom in the South in 1953. We climb to the top of an observation structure
and get our first unobstructed view of the DMZ. After a brief wait we join a
common bus and make our way to the Dorasan Train station. On the way we pass
through a ROKA checkpoint where a South Korean soldier walks through the bus
checking us out. We were told those without passports wouldn’t be allowed to
continue but one of our group had forgotten his and was given no trouble.
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| Pat standing by the tracks awaiting trains that do not come... |
The station is also symbolic. The manifestation of 50+ years
of efforts to open relations between the North and South Koreas, the station
sits empty, guarded by ROKA soldiers. President George W. Bush gave a
dedication speech at this station in 2003 anticipating growing commerce between
the two Koreas. Hyundai had invested heavily in a manufacturing facility
situated in North Korea and using North Korean workers, limited tourism between
the two Koreas was anticipated and, perhaps even more importantly, South Korea
was to have a land link to mainland Asia, relieving them of their “island”
status. Leadership changes in South Korea and cold feet in North Korea scotched
the project and now the station stands as a great, empty, well-maintained shell
of “what could have been….” Perhaps this is Korea's version of the "bridge to nowhere." By the way, North Korea took over the Hyundai
factories and the city is now the third largest in North Korea – no
compensation to Hyundai. South Koreans still fervently hope the station will
soon be bustling with international travelers and trade.
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| I got yelled at for snapping this picture |
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| Behind us is the DMZ and a view of North Korea |
Our next “15-minute” programmed stop was at the Dora
Observatory where tourists can watch a patriotic film in a 500-seat auditorium and
squint through ten-cent-a-minute telescopes at North Korea. Our day was pretty
clear and we got a glimpse of a giant statue of Kim Il-sung (one of 140+
scattered across North Korea), a North Korean flag, a South Korean flag, and
miles and miles of desolate de-everythingized countryside. Taking pictures in
front of a yellow line on the ground gets a severe rebuke from the uniformed
ROKA soldier.
The next stop – this time for an hour – was The Third Tunnel.
Discovered in 1978 through ingenious application of defector civil engineering
skills, this 1,635 meter tunnel -
the third of four known such viaducts discovered by the South Koreans –
would presumably allow 30,000 heavily armed North Korean combat soldiers per
hour to stream across the DMZ and on to the 52-km. distant Seoul. Talk about
righteous paranoia!
Visitors stream down the 300+ meter access tunnel to catch a
rather unsatisfying glimpse of the North Korean “big dig” before huffing and
puffing back up the steep incline to the bus. The whole experience is surreal.
It’s not unlike visiting the Spy Museum, the collection of cold war spy gear
in Washington, DC., but it is chillingly real.
The ride back to Seoul is quiet. The whole “tourist”
experience is profound and a little tiring, both emotionally and
psychologically. It takes time to sort out. The idea of a land war in this age
of drones seems out of synch. Why wouldn’t North Korea want to share in some of
the 21st century prosperity that bleeds from the entire southern end
of the Korean peninsula? Why are its people starved and conscripted into
10-year military service (7 years for women)? What will China’s experimental journey
into capitalism do to isolate Kim Jong-Il’s Democratic People's Republic of
Korea even further?
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| A sculpture depicting a globe split down the middle - North Korea is on one side, Sough Korea on the other. The people of the two nations are pushing the globe back together. |
It’s complicated.
And then the news tells us North Korean has set off its
third nuclear explosion and all the paranoia seems much less paranoid.
I guess, at the heart of it all, this is why we embrace travel
– to come nose to nose with the contradictions that make up our human world.
