DMZ

In the last year, we have watched every documentary about North Korea that Netflix offers. We have listened to every news story about North Korea. And there is always a lot. We have been so moved by stories of those who have escaped and so burdened for those who remain. If you are unfamiliar with the situation in North Korea, I'll give you a nutshell. They keep their people completely in the dark. Literally and figuratively. The people are starving. Famine is widespread. The communist government prevents anyone from leaving. They are not allowed to hear about news from the outside world. They are told only what the government wants them to hear - most of which is not true or half truths. Most "commoners" in North Korea are starving or have very little food. When rations are divided up by the government, the people in the "party" (governmental party) are given the most food. They tell their people that South Korea is in poverty and democracy is not working. They have anti-American propaganda. And the North and the South fought a war that never ended. They signed a cease-fire and tensions are still high today. Just like the iron curtain divided Europe in the Cold War, there is a Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that divides North and South Korea. The Cold War is still alive in Korea. This boarder (the MDL) is the most heavily guarded boarder in the world. And Rob and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check it out.

We were supposed to take a morning tour, but we were 10 minutes late and missed that tour (those who know me well are not surprised about this!). But it worked out well, because we had gotten a map from our hotel that was basically a huge flyer for another tour company. We called them and managed to get a private tour. The tour guide came and picked us up and drove us out there. You can't just go up to the MDL and take a look. There is a large space on either side called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The only thing in the DMZ is landmines and lots of wildlife. People are not allowed to go through it. Many people have died trying to escape North Korea through the DMZ. There are some places where the DMZ is wide and you can't see North Korea, and there are other places where it is more narrow, and you can see. As we were driving, there was a very narrow part where you could clearly see North Korea without binoculars. Both sides have thick barbed wire fences. You can see the lush area of South Korea. And then the barren area of North Korea. Our guide explained that the North is MUCH more mountainous that the South. You could see lots of mountains, but the mountains are bare. They are not lush. They are brown. They have cut down all the trees. At one point, the DMZ was only a river and it was not very wide. You could see the boarders lined on both sides with bunkers and watch towers. It was so eerie to see. It is basically a stand-off. Our tour guide told us that the North has a dam that they use to control the water level. The last time they opened it suddenly and it was like a tsunami. Several people died. In places where the DMZ is narrow (like this particular place), there are abandoned towns in the South. No one wants to live that close to the North.

Koreans in the South hope for reunification. Most all monuments refer to this. Our first stop was at Imjingak. There were several things at this stop. One was the Bell of peace. It represents the hope for peace and unification of Korea in the 21st century. There are 21 steps going up to the bell, and the bell weighs 21 tons.

There was also some tributes to the Korean War. One was an old train that symbolizes the division of North and South. It was left in the DMZ after it was bombed during the Korean War. You can see thousands of bullet holes in it. Another thing is the Bridge of Freedom. It was built in 1953 to free prisoners. The prisoners were driven to the bridge and walked across to freedom.

Our next stop was the 3rd tunnel. The South has found 4 tunnels that the North Korean military built in an effort to invade the South. The built the tunnels to go under the MDL and DMZ. In the case of the 3rd tunnel, a North Korean defector tipped them off about it. South Korea drilled down in several places and poured water into their drilling. Finally they found a spot where the water went straight through. They dug an interception tunnel and discovered it. The North Koreans ran away and painted black marks on the walls claiming that they were actually mining for coal. But there is no coal in that area. We actually got to walk down and into the tunnel. We went under the DMZ in the tunnel and up to the first blockade (there are 3). You could look through to the second. The MDL was not far at that point. It was barely tall enough for me to stand, and I had to duck in some spots. It wasn't wide either. And you could see the spots where they had inserted dynamite into the rock to blast their way through. Our guide told us that the North Koreans would explode something on their side at the same time as dynamite exploded in the tunnel so that it wouldn't be heard. We couldn't take pictures in the tunnel, but I got some good mental pictures. And the climb back up is very steep. It was quite a workout! Our guide said it is estimated that there are probably many many more of these tunnels that they had tried to build that weren't discovered.

Next we went to my favorite part. The Dora observatory. It is the highest point and you can get a really good look into North Korea. The only connection that North and South Korea has is a road. And the only people that travel that road is trucks going to an industrial building where some North Koreans work. They manufacture goods that the South turns around and exports. They can pay workers really cheep in North Korea. South Korea even strung up electricity to power the building. That building is one of the very few places in the country that has power. If you look at a satellite picture at night, you can see lights covering the South, and almost no light in the North. There are binoculars at the observatory that you can see a whole lot. There is an interference tower that scrambles South Korean channels so people in the North can't see it. However, some South Koreans can pick up North Korean channels. It is mostly propaganda (for those that are members of the party and have electricity). You could also see parts of the Joint Security Area (JSA). It used to be that the entire JSA was the only place that military personal could pass over the MDL. However, there was an incident where some US soldiers decided to trim a tree that was blocking their view, and the North Koreans didn't like it. They got in a fight, and the North Korean soldiers killed 2 American soldiers. The leader of North Korea apologized, but the damage was done. So they divided up the JSA and now the standoff of the soldiers is very close there. South Korean soldiers aren't able to get too close to the boarder. North Korean soldiers have in the past tried to pull them over the boarder. And North Korean soldiers also aren't allowed to come close. Some have tried to defect that way, so they don't let the soldiers get close without having another soldier behind him to shoot if necessary. You can also see some houses. It used to be that no one lived in those houses. It used to be a propaganda village to try to show the South that they have houses and make them think they are doing fine. But now the workers at the factory live there. I managed to see 1 person in North Korea walking around. I prayed so hard for that person. The difference in the countries is stark. And you can tell just by looking at this one area. I am sure it is even worse further in. This is there "best foot" forward. Yikes. You could only take pictures from further back. In the background of the second picture (behind the guy waving), you can see North Korea (kind of). There is grass in the summer, but our guide said that it is completely brown in the winter. It looked pretty brown already.

Our last stop was to a train station. Dorasan Station. It is the last train station in South Korea before the DMZ. They have it all set up for unification. They have immigration area ready to receive North Koreans and and a train area that says it goes to the furthest train station in North Korea. The hope is that they will one day be able to open the countries to each other for travel and trade. My guess: this probably won't happen until communism falls in North Korea. Or until this type of oppression falls. Our guide told us that Koreans in the North didn't used to know the truth about the prosperity in the South. But one time the North sent players to play some sort of sports game in the South, and sent some people to cheer them on. It was mostly people high up in the party, but there were some "commoners". And they saw the truth. And they told the truth when they got back to North Korea. And one lady lost her life for telling the truth. 

That concluded our tour, and I dozed off on our way back to the hotel from the DMZ. My body was telling me it was 3am! Here are a few more fun photos. The first one is a monument that symbolizes the split of the North and the South and the hope for unification.

We meet Jacob tomorrow morning. We are very excited and nervous. Can't wait to report on that!