After working late Friday night, Katie and I caught the midnight bus to Seoul. Four hours later we arrived at the Jim Jil Bang (Korean Sauna), where we tried to catch a couple of hours of sleep on the floor with about 100 snoring Koreans.
Given the rough night, we were a bit relieved, not to mention bleary-eyed, when we arrived at USO headquarters at Camp Kim at 7:00AM. Camp Kim, as it turned out, was located just a short walk from our proper hotel which we had reserved for Saturday night.
The USO tour of the Korean Demilitarized Zone costs US$42, and requires you to reserve and pay in advance. We had been instructed to wear "appropriate" clothes, as we would be coming within view of North Korean soldiers. The soldiers, we were told, take photographs of western tourists for use in propaganda materials.
Two buses were employed to take our group into the DMZ. This was our initial guide, Young, whose English was excellent. He is a retired bank manager who works at the USO as an unpaid volunteer. As the result of an informal survey he did of our bus, we discovered that the group consisted overwhelmingly of Canadians (not surprisingly), a number of New Zealanders and Australians, Americans, and a handful of Europeans.
The bus ride to Camp Bonifas took about an hour and-a-half. Camp Bonifas is located just south of the the South Korean border of the DMZ. There, Lieutenant Schoenfeld of the U.S.Army (representing the United Nations Command Security Battalion) gave us a brief presentation in the conference room. A couple definitions are in order:
MDL (Military Demarcation Line): The actual border between North and South Korea. It is located inside the DMZ.
DMZ (Demilitarized Zone): A 4 kilometer wide demilitarized boundary that runs the full width of the Korean peninsula at the 38th parallel. The southern 2 km belong to the south, and the northern 2 km belong to the north. It is filled with land mines, booby traps, and surveillance equipment.
KPA (Korean People's Army): The North Korean army.
On the map, the red line represents the DMZ. Camp Bonifas is located just to the south.
JSA (Joint Security Area): Also called Panmunjeom, is located at the MDL and is surrounded on three sides by the North Korean side of the DMZ. This is the only place where the North and South actually meet, and negotiations and talks are held there.
At camp Bonifas we switched tour buses, and Lt. Schoenfeld traded places with Young as our guide. Our bus followed Old Hwy. 1 along the route marked by the blue and white dotted line on the map. We crossed the full breadth of the South Korean side of the DMZ along the road, flanked on either side by beautifully pristine forests. We were reminded, soberly, that these were in fact live mine fields. After passing a number of tank barriers, we arrived at the JSA.
We entered the "Freedom House", operated by the United Nations Command Battalion, and Lt. Schoenfeld gave us a quick overview of the rules. We were about to come into the direct line of sight of the KPA (Korean People's Army). We were not to wave, signal, or gesture in any way to the KPA soldiers. We were to listen carefully to Lt. Schoenfeld's instructions and follow them closely. We were permitted to take photographs, but were not to linger as the group moved along.
Upon exiting Freedom House, we were greeted by a sight that will forever remain ingrained in my memory.
Directly in front of us stood several small, blue UN buildings. At intervals, between the buildings, South Korean soldiers stood facing away from us. They were completely motionless, maintaining a rigid stance with both fists clenched. Directly in front of them a low concrete ridge represented the MDL, the physical boundary between North and South Korea. North Korea lay just a few dozen feet in front of us. The buildings were situated on the MDL, with equal area on both sides.
Beyond the soldiers, perhaps 200 yards away, stood the massive Panmon Hall. At the top of its enormous front staircase stood a solitary North Korean soldier. He seemed to stand at attention, facing us, but occasionally used a pair of binoculars to scan our tour group and the South Korean territory before him.
It was a chilling image to see the two Koreas literally standing face-to-face, with the border directly between them. As the first armed conflict of the the Cold War, the Korean War technically never ended since a formal peace treaty was never signed. The atmosphere was eerily quiet and strangely tense, though the same scene repeats itself on a daily basis.
This is a photo looking to the right, just as we exited Freedom House. The building in the foreground is the KPA Recreation Building, though we were informed that it is never used and is believed to be empty. The building beyond it is a KPA observation post.
After staring at the strange scene for several minutes, we were escorted into one of the UN buildings situated on the MDL. Inside, we were greeted by several large, wooden conference tables. In the center of the room was the largest of the tables, adorned by a UN flag.
As Katie and I shuffled to the far side of the room, I realized that we had crossed the MDL, and now stood on the north side of the boundary. That we now stood in North Korea was confirmed by Lt. Schoenfeld, who pointed out the South Korean soldier on the far end of the room.
The soldier physically blocked a door that exited into the North Korean side of the compound. It was a literal door into the "secret state". The soldier's job was to ensure that no one on the tour attempted to exit there.
Of course, Katie and I had to take our picture together on North Korean soil.
Lt. Schoenfeld explained that while the building was owned by the United Nations, the KPA was allowed to use it for their own tours. Neither the U.S. or South Korean soldiers, nor any other UN personnel are present during those tours, and this fact has enabled the North to engage in some of the surprisingly belligerent antics for which they are famous. For example, after North Koreans were found to have shined their shoes and blown their noses on the American and South Korean flags, the cloth flags had to be replaced by plastic ones protected by a plexiglass frame and screwed to the wall.
He also pointed out footprints on some of the tables on the South Korean side of the room. These were as the result of one North Korean party official who had walked around barefoot on the tables as a gesture of disrespect. For some reason, his feet had left permanent prints in the glossy surface of the table.
After spending some time on the North Korean side of the MDL, our group exited the area and re-entered our tour bus.
This building is called "Peace House", and is located on the opposite side of Freedom House. In 1984, the unremarkable looking open park in front of it was the scene of a bloody firefight between United Nations Command (composed of American and South Korean soldiers) and the KPA. A Soviet citizen, while on a North Korean tour of the DMZ, attempted to defect to the South by running across to the South Korean side of the compound.
Thirty KPA soldiers immediately chased him across the border and began shooting at him. A 40-minute firefight between the KPA and the United Nations Command ensued, and resulted in the death of one UN soldier. Several KPA soldiers were killed, and several more were taken prisoner. Some time after the fight, gun shots were heard on the North Korean side of the MDL. The KPA commander and one of his staff had been executed in consequence of their blunder. I guess there's no room for mistakes in the People's Republic.
After leaving the main part of the compound, we were taken to the Bridge of No Return. The bridge crosses the MDL, and was named at the end of the Korean War when it was used to exchange prisoners. Prisoners were given a choice: they could go to the North or to the South. Whichever choice they made was final; they could never return to the other side again.
Nearby we were shown a small monument. The monument honors the men who died in what is now known as the "Axe Murder Incident" in 1976.
At that time, the United Nations Command and the KPA shared the JSA compound, and were able to move freely about on both sides of the border. A large poplar tree blocked a clear view between the main United Nations Command checkpoint at the JSA and a small observation post near the bridge. After the KPA made a number of attempts to drag Americans and South Koreans across the bridge, aided by the cover of the tree, the UNC decided that a little tree trimming was in order.
As they began the work, a number of KPA soldiers gathered around the UNC entourage and idley watched them for several minutes. The KPA commander suddenly demanded that the work stop. After being ignored twice, the KPA viciously attacked the UN soldiers with clubs and axes. Captain Bonifas, for who Camp Kitty Hawk was later renamed, was killed and the KPA dragged several other UN personnel across the bridge into North Korea. Another American soldier died later from his wounds.
The incident was the catalyst to "Operation Paul Bunyan", wherein the UN cut down the entire poplar tree under cover of dozens of helicopters and B52 bombers.
After viewing the Axe Murder Incident monument and the Bridge of No Return, we were driven to another checkpoint in order to view the North Korean village of Gijeong-dong, known as "Propaganda Village" in the South.
The city is supposedly home to several hundred happy people. However, people are rarely seen there.
The village features the world's largest flagpole, topped by a colossal North Korean flag. Until recently, propaganda was broadcast over a massive loudspeaker system toward South Korea 24 hours per day. Now broadcasts are made only at night.
Katie poses with Propaganda Village in the background.
As we were still very near the MDL, a North Korean observation post stood near our location. We were reminded that we were still being closely watched by the KPA.
Of course, the UN Command is also keeping a close eye on North Korea. This massive surveillance array towered above the checkpoint and faced the DMZ.
Afterward we were taken to another area, outside the DMZ, where we were able to view the massive gulf between the north and south, and see dozens of kilometers into the forbidden north. We could see the fence running along the perimeter of the DMZ, and many checkpoints and guard towers. We were even shown an enormous radio signal jamming tower situated on one of the North Korean mountains, the purpose of which was to jam radio and television signals from the South so that North Korean citizens cannot learn anything about their neighbors.
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to photograph any of this. For 500 won we could use the nifty mounted binoculars to gaze at all these sights for a few moments if we chose. There was also a museum adjacent to the viewing area, but we were not able to see it due to the unexpected visit of the Canadian general pictured.
Next, were were taken to the "3rd Infiltration Tunnel", which was discovered in the late 70's. The tunnel was one of several attempts by the North to tunnel under the DMZ toward Seoul. This particular tunnel, if it had been completed, would have allowed 30,000 fully armed KPA soldiers to cross the DMZ and march into Seoul undetected.
We were allowed to descend into the tunnel and walk through it, with the DMZ and its mine fields hundreds of feet above us, up to the MDL. As the KPA retreated out of the tunnel upon discovery, they painted the walls black with coal, later claiming that the tunnel had been an attempt at coal mining. Nevermind that the presence of coal is geologically impossible in that area. I found that the "coal" rubbed off easily onto my fingers as I touched the wall. At the MDL, a large steel wall blocked the tunnel as it continued into the North. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to photograph any of this...
After the tunnel, we were taken back to the USO headquarters in Seoul, located at Camp Kim. On a scale of 1 to 10, the USO DMZ tour was a solid 10. We had a fantastic time, and the whole tour consitutes a unique experience that Katie and I will never forget.
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