Asia Update #11 - DMZ

When the Korean War stopped, they set up a border between what is now the two Koreas. This borer is officially called the Demarcation Line. Then they set a zone of 1 to 2 kilometers on either side of this demarcation line, which is supposed to be demilitarized. At least no guns, but I've heard there are close to 1 million land mines buried there. Just outside of this zone on both sides is what is likely the most militarized zone in the world. This is the last cold war border in existence and it is about an hour's drive from my front door…

The border is some 248 kilometers (155 miles) long. Supposedly, there are 1 million military men on each side of the border. Well, we did some quick calculations and that would be men lined up shoulder to shoulder on each side (with some to spare), and we didn't see that many people. But it was very obvious that it was very heavily guarded…

The picture above is a guard house which we passed on the way there. As you leave Seoul following the Han River, the edges of the river are lined with barbed wire as soon as the river becomes navigable (there is a slight waterfall built in the river to prevent ships and subs from the north from coming up, with the negative side effect of also preventing commercial shipping from plying the river). This is still an hour's drive on a freeway from North Korea. As we continued closer to the North Korea border, the barbed wire got more thick and the number of guardhouses more common. Many of the guardhouses were manned at all times.

This picture is from the 3^rd Infiltration Tunnel. We were told that over the years the North had built tunnels under the border with the plans of infiltrating soldier and spies into the South. The South was worried about this, so has listening devices and they would drill bore holes at random intervals. This is the third one which they found with this method. Interesting, the North had dug a tunnel and made it all the way past the South's side of the DMZ, but not all the way to the surface. The South finds it with bore holes, and what do they do? They complete it by digging it the rest of the way. I guess the North knew that they were found, so abandoned it (and flooded it). The south searched it and then they put a set of concrete plugs (one is some 2 meters thick) in the center and make the rest of it a tourist attraction.

In the tunnel are 2 soldiers at all times. When we went down and as far as they'd allow us (some 170 meters from the demarcation line), there was one facing us and answering our questions and preventing us from getting too close to the concrete plugs. And there was another further down staring at the concrete plug. It seems that this soldier gets to spend his 4 hour shift at the end of the tunnel staring at the concrete just in case someone decides to bust through the concrete. I wonder if the north has soldiers staring at their side of the concrete plug?

This was the 3^rd Infiltration tunnel because it was the third one found. A defector from the North said that there are supposed to be some 9 of them in existence, though it was not clear if any of the unfound ones made it all the way across and to the surface.

These pictures are not great, but they were the best I could do. This is because those areas which we were allowed to go to are off limits to taking photos. As a matter of fact, there are many areas where they wouldn't even let you bring your cameras (I guess they were smart - we were sneaking pictures whenever we could - almost had a soldier yell at a coworker of mine). Even the tunnel was off limits to cameras.

And you probably thought I was kidding… This picture had to be taken on the sly (and not by me - I didn't want to risk arrest or torture or expulsion to the North or whatever they'd do to those who were a bit too camera-trigger happy).

We did get to go to a vista point on top of a hill where they provided information and even had binoculars which you could use to look across the DMZ and see the North. From there you can see the many soldiers and emplacements on either side of the border. The first one we visited we were not allowed to bring cameras to. But we were allowed at the second one (which was set back a bit further from the border). Here is a picture from there:

The other side of the river is North Korea. The buildings on this side are military installations for the south. The line heading away from us on this side is two rows of barbed wire with a trench between them. There are a variety of lookout points and bunkers built into the hill. I wonder if the North also has observation towers where people from their country and foreign visitors go to visit and stare at the soldiers of the South?

At both observation points, we were treated to videos and presentations talking about the propaganda which the North has done. They showed evidence of how towns have sprouted up directly across from the observation towers shortly after the towers were built (those fuzzy white buildings on the north side). These towns look modern, yet have signs of being uninhabited. The South is saying that these are signs of the north trying to show that they are affluent. Lots of other propaganda is talked about also. Of course, there are many signs that the south is also playing the propaganda game (such as the thing that looks like a billboard on the lower right of the picture). Makes you wonder who you really can believe - the truth is probably somewhere between what the North and South are saying.

The DMZ is basically uninhabited. And it is also untouched by man (well, besides the mines). This makes it very interesting from an environmental point of view - the DMZ is effectively a nature reserve and is supposed to contain many rare or endangered species.

It is very interesting that all of this exists so close to where I live. Around Seoul, you don't get much of a feeling about this. You sometimes see groups of police (especially around government buildings) and you will see the odd soldiers from time to time, but never does it feel like a police state. And there are various military bases around (one of which I accidentally wander on to while exploring on my bike - a soldier chased after me and made it quite clear that it was time for me to turn around), but all of this doesn't stand out or seem to have any affect on anyone's daily life. But when you get close to the border, you have to go through checkpoints and there are many soldiers around.

At the end of the Korean War, an armistice was agreed to, but no peace agreement. This means that the two Koreas are still officially at war. Thankfully, the tensions are easing quickly and it now would not be surprising if the two Koreas reunify within a decade. And it sounds like things have been changing over the past years- one of the VPs who was in town was here about 20 years ago, and he said that it was much more of a police state then. He was describing about a hill top in Seoul (comparable to Twin Peaks in San Francisco) where you'd go to enjoy the view. But instead of a view, there was a wall around it with a drawing of what you would see if the wall wasn't there. They didn't want anyone to see where everything was. It was reported that they wouldn't even print maps of Seoul.

I'm off for a few days in Singapore later this week, and then a week in Thailand. Should have some interesting stuff to write about between those two.