The DMZ

A fascinating part of the Korean psyche is the ongoing hope of reunification with the North. Across the city, reminders that unrest is part of the recent past remain. The Armistice Agreement was reached in July 1953 but this is only a tepid compromise. In the south the message seems to be--the war's not over until North and South are unified. It doesn't feel unsafe or sinister; there's an almost hopeful promise for the future. 

This manifests itself in various ways. Under the South Korean constitution, running of North Korea is technically still part of a united Korea. There are offices filled with civil services ready and waiting to run a united country. The BBC covered this in a fascinating article that can be read here. 

More immediately, on our tour of the Demilitarised Zone, a two km wide no-man's-land between North and South, a train station and tracks wait to connect the South to Pyongyang. Everything is modern albeit empty; it's like some eerie ghost town.

As part of our tour, we stopped several places in the DMZ including: a tour of one of the four tunnels built by the North Korean army to infiltrate the south;and the museum built to explore the history of the area. It's a bit unbelievable that the DMZ is a short 35-miles away from the busy Korean capital and it made our day's sights all the more concerning. 

We begun by donning hard hats and taking to the third tunnel, discovered in 1978. At just 52km from Seoul, it was considered the North's most viable threat to peace in the region. It is a true testament to human persistence--the depth and comprehensive length demonstrate North Korea's governmental attempt to destroy/infiltrate their neighbours.

From there, we walked around Imjingak Park with its panoramic views of  Freedom Bridge and the North. Miraculously, one good thing has come from this conflict. The DMZ has returned to a haven for natural habitat. Birds, water fowl, flora and fauna that haven't flourished in other parts of the country exist here. And so in a paradoxical way, the DMZ is actually kind of beautiful. 

Flags, barbed wire and strips of fabric in commemoration of lives lost, families separated, bring things back down to earth rather abruptly.

Dora Observatory, located close to the third tunnel, was our final stop. Here, from viewing binoculars that you plunk the 25 cent Korean equivalent into, North Korea lies in wait.

Little can be seen except for what the South has labelled 'Propaganda Village', a small town of low rise buildings, farmland, a statue of Kim Il-Seong and a flagpole.

The flagpole (not pictured), is a thing of legends. Apparently, the North and South are in competition for whose is bigger. Call it a flagpole pissing competition. The South had the taller one so, one night, under the cover of dark, the North extended their pole. And on and on.

Although we didn't make it as far, tours take people to Panmunjeom, also known as the Joint Security Area. Here, UN peacekeepers, South Korean and North Korean soldiers stand face-to-face, obviously wearing sunglasses at all times in order to avoid deadly eye contact. I mean this in no joking manner; soldiers avoid the confrontation of eye contact that could lead to a deadly flare up of feeling here at the border, rain or shine. 

Back in Seoul, military men in uniform, evacuation plan signs and fire extinguishers on the metro do more to remind everyone that the government is on guard.  This is all in conflict with the well-designed, polite, open-minded city that is the more immediate reality. The fear of destruction is real, the hope of reunification is there, but these ideas don't rule the day-to-day.