The DMZ

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.

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.

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.

Instructions on how to ring the bell of peace - 10,000 Won = about $10

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.

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.

I got yelled at for snapping this picture

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 21^st 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?

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.