no man's land



We wanted to see something outside of Seoul, so the four of us went to the DMZ - the demilitarized zone - between North and South Korea.  It was the first real rain we'd seen, which seemed appropriately sombre for our destination.  It is almost winter here, a few brave leaves clinging onto their branches, but the overnight frosts have lessened their number every day.

Martin loved the anti-macassars on the bus

Our first stop was to Imjingak, the village that saw the first outbreak of hostilities that June day of 1950. 

The shrine with an enormous bell, called the "Bell of Peace" (I love the shape and sound of Korean bells!), is hugely symbolic for a people who truly believe the two sides will  become one again, and soon, denoted by its 21 stairs and 21 tons and thus readied to ring in the 21st century.

There is also a sad old steam locomotive pockmarked with the bullet holes and blast damage it sustained after being derailed and left discarded in this area during the hostilities.


The so-called Bridge of Freedom, which was built to free thousands of prisoners at the ceasefire in 1953, is now covered with ribbons and paper  flowers and messages, all private prayers and remembrances, especially for those who continue to have divided families across the border. 

Rather incongruous for the seriousness of the place is a comic little statue of North Korea's 'dear leader' that, of course, must be posed in front of. 

At the Dora Observatory it is possible to see sentry towers for both sides, as well as some of the almost 2 million soldiers that patrol every day.  Yes, that's what I said - two million!  One of the most intriguing and innovative ways still used to determine if someone has attempted to get past the barbed wire fences is the placement of stones in various point of the fence.  Any movement will disturb the stones and thus alert the guards.

The day we were there would have been a great day for defectors, as it was possible to see absolutely zilch through the binoculars.  Well, that's the equivalent of 50 cents I'll never see again!


is that North Korea or the Bering Staits?

The best part was tunnel No.3.  There have been four tunnels discovered running deep underground from North Korea and all directed towards Seoul.  Each one is designed to move approximately 30,000 armed North Korean soldiers through every hour.  The first tunnel was discovered in 1974, a bit by accident really. Odd to think that I was back in Canada in high school, watching the TV show MASH while the Korean confict continued! 

When confronted, the North Koreans' first reaction was denial "Tunnels?  We didn't dig any tunnels.You dug the tunnels!"

When that didn't work (except on its own people) it changed to "Oh, those tunnels! Those are coal mining tunnels." The solid granite walls had been painted black to make them look like coal, but as coal is not found in granite and the "coal dust" washed off with water, that was fairly easily refuted.

almost tall enough to walk upright through - but not quite!

Tunnel #3 is over a mile long and visited by way of a hard-hatted steep walk down to the heat of its depths, over 500 feet down, where we all stopped to look through a tiny rectangular opening at another such opening a few metres away on the North Korean side.  Then an equally steep walk back to the fresher and cooler air of the surface.  The fourth tunnel was discovered in 1990, which is not an awfully long time ago, so who knows whether or not #5+  are yet to be found?

Our final stop was Dorasan Train Station, which took 52 years to reconnect to the north-south network.  It's big and empty, with luggage carousels and clean seats and shiny turnstiles waiting for bodies to make use of them.  Two soldiers guard the track access, and the entire country waits with hope to be able to travel on it. 

When you think about it, South Korea is completely cut off from the entire world.  Reunification would connect it to China, Russia, and even Europe, the dream of everyone we've come across.

Everywhere there are statues and art pieces reflecting the DMZ and what it symbolizes.

Perhaps the most surprising tidbit of information we learned was that this 2 km stretch has seen no chemical or other pollutants, making it an area filled with wildlife, especially birds.  Several endangered animal and plant species also exist among the heavily fortified fences and landmines. Lovely to hear birdsong cutting through this dreary landscape!  Another beneficiary is the land itself, which supports a thriving organic farming industry, particularly for ginseng and ginseng products.  Some of these are wonderful, such as the ginseng tea and roasted soybeans.  Some of these are quite awful, such as the ginseng chocolates we bought, which tasted like they are made 32 years ago. Young and single people are exempted from national service as well as from taxes and other costs if they choose to live here and work on the land.  But as soon as they marry and have children they are forbidden to stay, as society would frown on bringing up children in this potentially dangerous location.

barbed wire and soy beans

The last words on our day were ones of hope.