ms_minerva

Today I joined a tour to the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea. Our stops were Dorasan Station, the Third Tunnel, Dora Observatory, and Imjingak. I originally booked a longer tour that focused on the JSA (Joint Security Area), but it was cancelled for “political reasons.” My tour guide told me that this tour focuses more on military strategy and wouldn’t be as interesting to me, so I guess everything worked out. 

When our bus pulled into the zone, soldiers boarded and looked at all of our passports. We were all cleared, so we were able to continue on our tour.

Dorasan Station: Important people (i.e. politicians, Olympic athletes) can take a train from here to Pyongyang and vice versa. I got some stamps on my plane ticket as souvenirs! 

Third Tunnel: Infiltration tunnel the North Koreans tried digging after armistice so that they could invade Seoul. South Korea has found four of these tunnels so far, and there are probably more. The tunnel has been turned into a train roller coaster (very Korean) and doesn’t allow photo-taking (not very Korean at all). We had to wear helmets so our heads wouldn’t get injured from banging on the rocky roof of the tunnel (it happened to me a lot!). We took the roller coaster deep underground and then walked until we reached a point blocked off by the military, 170m away from the border. That’s the closest you’re allowed to get from South Korea.

Dora Observatory: You can look at North Korea through binoculars. I was able to see buildings in the closest city. They looked small but orderly. The city that’s easiest for outsiders to see probably isn’t representative of the inland, though. 

Imjingak: We had lunch here and could then explore. Since I was the only solo traveler in our group the restaurant gave me my own set of refillable appetizers! I finished first out of everyone and then went out on my own. First, I checked out Mangbaeddan, a monument where North Korean refugees living in the South go during Korean Thanksgiving to honor the ancestors they left behind. They can’t cross the border to visit their family’s graves. Next, I visited Freedom Bridge. After the Korean War, prisoners crossed the bridge to either the North or the South. They could never return after choosing their side. A fence now blocks the bridge from connecting to North Korea. People tie ribbons and banners onto it with notes expressing their wishes for a reunified Korea. There was also a bullet hole-ridden train that once connected Gaesong (northern city) and Imjingak but was destroyed during the Korean War. It’s a monument now.

Overall, I really enjoyed this tour and 100% recommend visiting the DMZ if you’re in Korea. It’s only an hour away from Seoul (scary to think about what would happen during a war), so it’s definitely accessible, especially if you join a tour group!