Peace, Hope, Nature... DMZ?

by Jane

The border between North and South Korea lies roughly along the 38th parallel. The demilitarized zone – the DMZ – extends roughly 2km (1.2mi) both north and south of the actual border. I don’t know what the northern edge of the DMZ looks like, but the southern edge is fenced, heavily fortified, and dotted with barracks and bunkers.

While I haven’t yet been able to visit the northern side of the DMZ, I’ve now been to the southern side twice. In 2004 I visited Panmunjom; the second trip was last Sunday. This time, instead of visiting Panmunjon, I went to two different areas along the DMZ: Imjingak/Dorasan and Cheorwon.

(The only place we visited that I couldn't locate for certain with Google Earth was the Second Tunnel of Aggression. It's location is an estimate; all other locations are accurate.)

DMZ trips aren’t something you can just do on your own. Even if you’re in South Korea and have your own car, you can’t just decide to pop on up to the border. You can make it close, but to reach Panmunjom, the observation platforms at Dorasan and Cheorwon, or any of the tunnels dug under the DMZ by the north, you must have permission granted in advance. As such, the best way to go is part of a tour group. My trip last Sunday was coordinated by the Discover Korea / WINK group.

Our first destination was Imjingak, a bizarre and almost resort-like spot located two and a half miles from the southern edge of the DMZ, and roughly three miles from the actual border between North and South. (You can visit Imjingak easily from Seoul without being part of a tour group.) Unfortunately, when we arrived at Imjingak, it was pouring rain. We spent about 30 minutes there, getting completely drenched despite our umbrellas, and (as a result of the nasty weather) seeing very little of what Imjingak had to offer. I caught a glimpse of the Bridge of Freedom – the bridge across the Imjin River that POWs crossed when returning south in 1953 – as well as a war-era train, riddled with bullet holes. I also saw an amusement park and a sodden field full of tents and tour buses as a ginseng festival was held there last weekend. Imjingak is a strange place.

Our soggy group re-boarded the bus and set off for the Third Tunnel of Aggression. As be drove northward towards the tunnel, the clouds lifted, and by the time we arrived outside the tunnel, the day had blossomed into one that was quite beautiful. Next to the entrance to the tunnel is a small museum, where we were shown a video claiming that the DMZ was “a symbol of peace, hope, and nature.” Really? The most heavily fortified border in the world, the result of a war that technically has not yet ended? Really?

The clouds began to lift on our way to the tunnel...

By the time we arrived at the Third Tunnel, the day was gorgeous.
This small park sits atop the tunnel.

But on to the tunnel. The Third Tunnel of Aggression was discovered in 1978, and extends about one mile under the border and into the Southern half of the DMZ. It’s a little surreal, as you enter through a gift shop, then you don a hard-hat and descend into the nether regions of the DMZ, and are able to walk nearly all the way to the actual border. (There are a series of barricades at the underground border, so you can’t walk all the way to the actual border itself, although you can see it through a series of small windows in the barricades.) For the most part, the tunnel is barely over five feet, five inches in height, often dropping down to five feet. This proved to be quite a problem for many of the members of the group (who definitely got good use out of their hardhats!), whereas I only had to duck a handful of times. The planned North Korean invasion force must be pretty short.

Photography is forbidden inside the tunnel, although I’m really not too big on rules. While I had to leave my DSLR on the bus, my smartphone fit nicely inside my pocket…

After our underground trip to the border, we re-boarded the bus and set off for the nearby Dorasan Observatory. As a photographer, this was the most disappointing part of the trip. The day was clear, and from the observatory you can easily see both the Kaesong industrial complex and a North Korean city. What fantastic photographs could be made from that point… Unfortunately, you have to stand rather a great distance from the observation deck if you wish to take photos, and there are military guards there to make certain that no one sneaks their DSLR (or even their smartphone) over the yellow line.

Stupid yellow photo line :-(

However, if you have a good zoom lens – and if the hordes of Chinese tourists* will stay out of your way – you can get a shot of two of the north, albeit not the best.

Woohoo, zoom lens. Not the best shot, made from a distance between two tourists at telescopes.

*Oddly enough, most of the tourists in the Imjingak/Dorasan area were Chinese, and there were literally hundreds of them. Apparently this is a hugely popular destination for Chinese tourists, which seems rather odd to me, as there wouldn’t be a divided Korea had China not entered the war…

After leaving the Dorasan Observatory, we went to Dorasan Station – a modern Korean train station from which trains can depart headed for Pyeongyang. Notice I said they “can” not that they “do.” The station is also under military guard, although the guards here were very pro-camera, and seemed to quite enjoy posing for pictures themselves.

We left Dorasan Station, and drove approximately two hours east, to the Cheorwon area. We stopped for lunch about ten miles south of the border, at a beautiful area near the Hantan River.

After lunch, our next destination was the Second Tunnel of Aggression, discovered in 1975. This one is located in a much more remote area, and we were the only tourists. Again we donned hardhats and walked under the DMZ, nearly to the border. This tunnel was both wider and taller than the Third Tunnel, although the taller members of our group still had a tough go of it. And again, photography is forbidden inside the tunnel.

We left the Second Tunnel, and drove to the Cheorwon Peace Observatory. (Again with the ironic names! How can an observation platform designed to view the most heavily fortified border in the world be a “peace observatory”??) In theory, locations for photographs from the Cheorwon Peace Observatory are restricted in a similar manner to the Dorasan Observatory. However, while Dorasan contained numerous military guards who were quite vigilant in their efforts to prevent photos, no one at Cheorwon said anything to us – not even when we climbed the scaffolding to the rooftop for the best views of the DMZ and the North.

The DMZ and North Korea, as seen from atop the Cheorwon Peace Observatory.

The DMZ and North Korea, as seen from atop the Cheorwon Peace Observatory.

The DMZ and North Korea, as seen from atop the Cheorwon Peace Observatory.

After leaving the Cheorwon Observatory, our final stop of the day was the memorial to the Battle of White Horse Ridge. The ridge was strategically important for maintaining the Southern position; had it been lost, the border would no doubt be located further to the south. The ridge changed hands between Northern forces (mostly Chinese troops) and Southern forces (mostly Korean troops) 24 times in ten days. Due to the severe shelling of the ridge, following the battle it was completely devoid of vegetation, and apparently looked like a white horse. Thus the name.

Monument to the Battle of White Horse Ridge

Monument to the Battle of White Horse Ridge

At this point we re-boarded our bus to return to Seoul.

To view the complete set of nearly 200 photos from my trip along the border,
CLICK HERE.

Two More DesoLINKS!!

Crackin' the Citadel - Our own Joe Scarangella visits old-school Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan

The Marmot's Hole gives us a glimpse at North Korean propaganda cartoons

Awesomeness.

Panmunjom: Crossing the line between North and South Korea

As I continue to feel bummed about the cancellation of DMZ tours (see yesterday's post), I've decided instead to revisit my trip to Panmunjom back in 2004.

Back in 2004, I was an employee of the US government, on assignment in South Korea. My co-workers and I were lucky enough to have a private tour arranged for us through our military liaison (normally, the only way civilians can visit the DMZ is via certain authorized tour groups). It was by far the most tense place in which I have ever stood, and while not exactly what one would consider a tourist attraction, it was definitely the most memorable part of my 2004 trip to Korea.

Our group arrived by bus into a desolate parking lot on a military base close to the border. Due to a scheduling error, our bus had arrived an hour early. The only sign of anything either non-military or non-parking lot was an unappetizing sign directing visitors to the Panmunjom Restaurant and Latrine. We decided to remain in the bus, waiting for our tour to begin. The eerie stillness of the place was only broken by the occasional explosion of artillery rounds in some sort of US/South Korean exercise being held nearby. Finally our official tour guide arrived, and we were driven to the border. The tour was very quiet, and everyone was very serious. You could feel the tension in the air, especially as armaments and security procedures were discussed.

When we arrived at Panmunjom, we were instructed to leave all possessions except cameras on our bus – we had to leave all purses, camera bags, backpacks, etc. on the bus. We were instructed not to make any sort of gestures towards the North Korean side of the border (ie, don't flip them the bird) or to shout or raise our voices.

In Panmunjom itself, we were able to enter the blue buildings which straddle the actual border, where negotiations between North and South are held. We were even allowed to cross over onto the North Korean side while inside the building. (There were, however, no North Koreans present.) The southern side of Panmunjom is guarded by numerous South Korean troops who stand at a rigid attention. We could only see one North Korean soldier in the distance on the northern side of Panmunjom. Visitors are not allowed to cross the border in Panmunjom anywhere other than inside the negotiation building, and even then, it is under tight guard.
I had a pretty poor quality camera at the time - I zoomed in as far as I could, and then used my scanner (yep, this was pre-digital) to enlarge him as much as I could. Thus far, this is the only North Korean I've ever seen.

After viewing Panmunjom, we were driven to an overlook, where we were able to look across the actual DMZ into North Korea. It was disconcerting to realize that this peaceful looking stretch of land is in fact the most heavily armored border in the world. Given the rapid pace of development in South Korea, where there is hardly an empty tract of land that is not being developed, for this countryside to exist less than an hour north of bustling Seoul is rather unbelievable.

The only North Korean buildings we could see in the hazy distance belong to the small town of Kijong-dong, known south of the border as Propaganda Village. We were told that it was established as a "paradise village" to woo South Koreans to the paradise of the Communist North, yet it stands empty and is maintained as an empty shell for show. The tower in the center is the world's largest flagpole, with the world's largest flag. When a settlement on the South Korean side erected a slightly larger flagpole, the North Koreans enlarged theirs. There's definitely a bit of my-flag's-bigger-than-yours going on here.

To see the complete set of photographs from my trip to the DMZ back in 2004 - including a picture of me on the Northern side of the border in Panmunjom, CLICK HERE.

North Koreans in Russia

I currently live in Daegu, South Korea. As Daegu is the fourth largest city in a very populated and modern country, I don’t have much opportunity for desolation traveling these days. As such, I was looking forward to this weekend, when I had planned to take a trip to the highly fortified and oxymoronically named demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea.

If you’ve been anywhere remotely near any news source over the past week, I bet you can guess that my planned trip to the DMZ got cancelled. See, the DMZ isn’t the sort of international border you can just walk up to or across; the DMZ can only be visited at approved locations and under escort by approved travel agencies. And the South Korean government can lock down the DMZ, cutting off all tourist visits at any time it deems appropriate… and as you might assume, this is one of those time.

(Now, in case you’ve been under a rock, or have had your head stuffed up a turkey for the past week or so, here’s the skinny: On November 23, 2010 North Korea began shelling a civilian village on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong-do, killing two South Korean marines and two South Korean civilians. This has resulted in much sabre-rattling from North and South alike, the dispatch of a US aircraft carrier and strike group to the region, and much alarmist babbling from the talking heads. You can read my take on the situation here.)

As a resident of South Korea, I have been following the news closely since November 23rd, and as a Russophile I was surprised to discover this article on the rather large expat population of North Koreans in the Russian far east, and the fact that they are currently being recalled to their homeland:

Russia's migration service said that there were over 20,000 North Koreans in Russia at the beginning of 2010, of which the vast majority worked in construction. The workers are usually chaperoned by agents from Kim Jong-il's security services and have little contact with the world around them. Defectors have suggested that the labourers work 13-hour days and that most of their pay is sent back to the government in Pyongyang. Hundreds of workers have fled the harsh conditions and live in hiding in Russia, constantly in fear of being deported back to North Korea.

To be honest, I’d had no idea there were North Koreans living (legally) anywhere outside of North Korea, other than small cadres of diplomats in the few countries with “normalized” diplomatic relations with the North. I had certainly never guessed that the North Korean expat population would be anywhere near this size.

I also noticed this quote: "North Korea's government sends thousands of its citizens to Russia to earn money, most of which is funnelled through government accounts," says Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist who discovered secret North Korean logging camps in the northern Siberian taiga.

Hmmm. Oddly enough, I know this Simon Ostrovsky fellow from my time in Russia way back in 1999-2000 (god, I’m getting old). I messaged him to see if he had any photographs or videos online anywhere from his experience investigating North Korean logging camps, and voilà!

Unfortunately, I can’t embed his video in this post, but it is excellent and definitely worth watching – so CLICK HERE and watch it now – Desolation Investigative Journalism at its best!