North Korea

Last Saturday, Rie and I took a tour to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) - the border between North and South Korea. The tour started at 11 am at a bit hotel downtown. We drove about thirty minutes north and stopped for lunch. Along the way, the tour guide pointed out the big cement overpasses on the highway. If North Korean tanks ever start rolling down the South Korean highways, they can blow up the overpasses and block the roads.

After lunch, we drove a bit more and could see North Korea off to the left, across a big river. We stopped at a bridge about 2 miles from the border. That is as far as South Koreans are allowed to go. They had a wall where you could leave messages, a museum, and an amusement park.

Then, we went up to Camp Bonifas, right on the edge of the DMZ. We watched a slide show about the history of the border. In the middle of the border is the Joint Security Area (JSA). It is a small place with a few buildings where North and South Korean forces could formerly mingle without shooting each other. One day in 1976, some Americans went out to chop down a tree that was blocking their view. Some North Korean soldiers took offense, grabbed the axe, and killed two American Soldiers. This became known as the Axe Murder Incident. Today, each side sticks to their own portion - except in the meeting building.

The highlight of the tour was the chance to go into the blue meeting room that sits right on the border - half in the South and half in the North. Before we went near the border, our guide told us to be very careful. No sudden movements. No eye contact with North Korean guards. No raising your arms. No pointing. No loud talking. No taking souvenirs from the room. Stay in our group. These warnings may have been new for most of the the tour group, but I actually received the exact same warnings on another tour 14 years ago in Africa. On that occasion, I was hiking up the side of a volcano to spend some time with the mountain gorillas.

In the picture below, Rie and I are standing on the North Korean side of the meeting room. The guard beside us is their to make sure nobody heads for the door behind him. It leads to the North side. The South Korean guards are picked for their above-average height and they wear sun glasses to prevent "Eye Fighting" with their northern counter-parts.


In the second picture, you can see the North Korean border HQ in the background. On the left, you can see the blue meeting room we went into.


No tour would be complete without a visit to the gift shop. We had a chance to buy North Korean money, wine, and other products. They also sold bits of barbed wire from the border. We were thirsty and bought some regular OJ.

All in all, it was definitely a worthwhile visit to a very unique place.