Marcus Pieterse

We got up bright and early to catch our bus to the border with North Korea. Our tour guide, Kay, had been doing this for 10 years and really knew her stuff.

Stop 1
Imjingak Park
10km from the actual border the bus stopped for the guide to go and apply for permission to enter DMZ; the demilitarised zone. There was a 2.5hr wait at the park, so thankfully it had been kitted out with some sights. There was a cable car to camp Greaves, a former US military base turned war museum. An old rusty train with (purportedly) 1000 bullett holes from the war. There was also the famous statue of peace: two girls with an empty seat next to them. One of these was meant for North Korea, but is still in the south due to Covid first and then the new conservative government. They are a reminder of the sexual slavery under Japanese rule which is a trauma shared by the North and South, so let's hope this rapprochement continues in the future.

Stop 2
Third infiltration tunnel
In the 70s a North Korean defector told the South Korean government that the Kim regime was digging four tunnels to attack Seoul in a sneak attack. They were designed to let 30,000 soldiers to squeeze through in an hour and then march south. Sounds a bit strange to me to plan an invasion with only infantry, no artillery, cavalry or airforce. In the 70s, Southern Korea had an authoritarian military government that got its "emergency powers" from the threat from the north, so maybe the tunnel stuff was a little white lie by them? At any rate, taking pictures of the tunnel is strictly Verboten but you can walk down to them and in them up to just a few hundred meters from the North Korean border. All pictures from stop 2 is therefore from the unity monument and the DMZ sign.

Stop 3
The border
A few hundred meters up a hill from stop 2, we get to a tall observation deck kitted out with powerful binoculars. Through them you see North Korean civilians working the fields and the occasional cow. You also see a rather large town called Kaesong. Its centre is 15km to the north of the border which is just close enough to reach with powerful speakers playing K-pop. Thankfully, this propaganda effort was scrapped in 2018 as relations thawed. Kaesong is also the site of an industrial zone in which the south built factories, the south supplied electricity, the north supplied workers and the south bought all the output. Safe to say they're pretty serious about unifying or at least improving relations.

In the DMZ, there's also a small agricultural South Korean village of a few houndred inhabitants complete with a school with 42 pupils. Residents pay no taxes, but need to observe a strict curfew enforced by the military. The have a flag pole which is 100m tall. On the other side of the border, the North Koreans fly their flag off a 160m pole. Check mate.

Stop 4
The Seoul Easter parade
After leaving the border and returning to Seoul we just happened upon a large prosession lead by a big Christian broadcaster. Different organisations walked in it and showed off their singing/cheerleading/drumming skills. Pretty different from a western Easter celebration so it was cool to see.Read more