On Saturday I took a trip to the DMZ – Korea’s somewhat scary “demilitarized zone”. The only stand-off left over from the Cold War, it’s basically a two mile-wide expanse of wilderness, lined with barricades and armed guards on either side.
Looking at North Korea
It was a fascinating day, involving drives through landmine-filled forest areas, glimpses of North Korea through binoculars, and a couple of run-ins with armed soldiers.
Yes, run-ins with armed soldiers. To enter one of the tour sites, everyone on the bus had to be approved by security. We sat in thrilled but nervous silence as guards wearing masks and carrying guns boarded the bus and marched from one end to the other, looking at us and our identity cards before giving us the all-clear to go through. At the spot with the best view into the mysterious north, guards circulated among us to make sure that no one was taking any photos of the Forbidden Land. If anyone did, they had their camera taken from them to have the photos deleted. The only way to get a picture of North Korea’s visible propaganda village was to stand behind the ‘no photos beyond this point’ line, hold your camera in the air, zoom in, and hope for the best.
This is the closest I came to getting a picture of the highest flagpole in the world. South Korea erected one that was 100mts tall. Not to be outdone, North Korea promptly erected one that was 160mts tall. (Kind of like being in primary school, only with landmines, machine guns, and the possibility of nuclear war.) Sadly, thanks to the photo rule, I failed to get the picture I wanted, of the two flags in the same shot.
They don’t do that in this next place, our native guide told us as the bus approached the next destination, so although it’s still forbidden to take photos, you can get away with it if you’re careful not to get caught.
The bus stopped at the military checkpoint, and there was some kind of kerfuffle at the front.
OK, said our guide nervously, they saw someone taking a picture. Who was it?
Terri slid down in her seat, looking decidedly terrified. It was me… I’m sorry…
They took her off the bus, and I began to worry that she was being arrested or something, but it turned out that they were just deleting the picture and looking through all her photos to make sure there were no more prohibited ones. Sheesh. It’s not your typical touristy day trip, I can tell you.
We walked across the Freedom bridge, where thousands of soldiers had returned from the captivity of the north at the end of the war. We read messages scribbled on yellow ribbons by South Koreans who have never again seen loved ones who were on the wrong side of the line when the division was made – our own guide told us that his father hasn’t seen or heard from his younger brother since the Koreas were divided. We went down into the tunnels dug by North Korea in an attempt to launch a surprise attack on Seoul. That was kind of scary. Seeing the holes from the dynamite used to blast through the rocks sent a definite chill down my spine, and the air became stuffy and hot the deeper underground we went. We also soon realised that our hard hats weren’t due to over-zealous health and safety regulations – North Korean soldiers must be extremely short, because I was bent almost double in places, and some of us took some very hard knocks to the head from the jutting rocks above us!
It was an amazing experience, and for someone who has studied the Korean War, it was like seeing another history lesson come to life and become real and human. And incidentally, I’ve just discovered that it’s possible to take trips to North Korea as long as you enter from China and you’re not South Korean. It’s difficult, and possibly slightly crazy, but it’s possible… hmmm….
Freedom Bridge
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NO NO NOOOO………NO!!!
Go on go on go on go on go on!
I don’t often do this, but… lol!!