DMZ

Bill and I have had a big day with our trip to the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas today. We left Suwon in light snow in the dark at 6.30, to meet our tour group at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul. The bus load was half Japanese and half English speaking, so we had 2 guides who generally took turns speaking but from time to time went at it together with two competing microphones which was a bit head-spinney.

It was about an hour's drive down the Reunification Highway to the edge of the DMZ, where we were taken to the Freedom Bridge (lots of things had very laudable names!), where prisoners were exchanged after the Korean War and the train now crosses the river.

Then to Dorasan Station, a huge modern station built to be the major crossing point into North Korea with big warehouses for all the goods to be shipped, but which has never been used except for tourist trains that run up to there and and then back a couple of times a day - the North Koreans have not let trains run into their section for some time.

We went from there to Dora Observatory up on a hill where we could look through binoculars into the DMZ and over to North Korea and see the nearest city. Quite chilling driving up there with all the edges of the road fenced off and signs aying "Mines" hanging on the fence at intervals. We could clearly see the fence on the South Korean side, a double fence with double and triple folls of barbed wire along the top, and manned guard posts. There is a similar one on the North side 4km away, and all the no man's land in between is the DMZ. They were at pains to tell us about how this undisturbed land is a paradise for the regeneraton of native plants and birds, but in the cold winter, with ice on the puddles and no leaves on the bushes, it didn't look too heavenly. There are 2 villages inside the DMZ, one South and one North. The South Korean village has carefuly controlled residents who farm with military guards, but the North Korean village is empty, and just has buildings, a few mainatenace staff, and a huge imposing tower flaunting the North Korean flag.

Next stop was the 3rd Tunnel, dug by the North Korean Army, presumably to invade or infiltrate the South, and discovered in 1978. The South Koreans have discovered 4 tunnels, the most recent in 1996, but there could be lots more.... We were able to go down into this one and walk along 73m underground to with about 100m of the Military Demarkation Line (the actual border, which runs more or less down the middle of the DMZ). It was a pretty big tunnel for them to have dug, much bigger than the ones in Vietnam, but even so it wouldn't have been much fun down there for long. Our guide pointed out the holes for dynamite, and the slope of the tunnel, which both indicated that it must have been dug from the north side. Walking back up the 73m wasn't so much fun!

We were taken for lunch to a Korean BBQ restaurant, where we sat with an older French couple who were very nice - rather them than some of the painful Americans!

After lunch we went to Panmunjeom, the Joint Security Area inside the DMZ where both North and South Korea have buildings and troops, and where they hold all the meetings and peace conferences. The troops used to mix in this area until the "tree chopping incident" when several on both sides were killed and injured - now they keep to their own sides of the area, blue buildings managed by South Korea, and grey by North. Visiting this part was quite an experience. The guide was very strict with us, and told us over and over that we must obey whatever the soldiers said, must stick together and walk in 2 lines, and not stop walking outside the buildings, or move away from the line for any reason. We were not to eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum, and not to point, make eye contact or smile at any North Koreans. We had to dress properly, no untidy jeans, and had to leave our bags, hats and gloves in the bus, and could only take photos in specific spots where the guide indicated, and not with zoom lenses. It was very subduing, and we were all models of good behaviour because we really could feel that there was a fair amount of tension in the air. The South Korean soldiers were vigilantly on guard, some of them half hiding behind buildings.

We were allowed into the conference room, a plain bright blue prefab building with the demarcation line marked down the middle of the table. We could move around inside the room, and actually step a metre or so over into North Korea!

On the way home we drove along beside the river. The late afternoon sun angling down through the clouds onto the water and the hills behind fading into shades of blue and grey were such a contrast to the rolls of barbed wire fence and camouflaged sentry posts on the shore. Hard to believe that they have maintained this state of animosity for over 50 years now. Now that I have been here I would really like to ask Dad more about his time here - I had not appreciated the harshness of the climate, or the mountainous and rocky land, and I think the soldiers must have had a pretty hard time even when they weren't being shot at.

I will add more to this post in the morning - bed time now. Love to all xxx