Saturday, March 1, 2008

DMZ

This is one of the tours that everyone says you need to do before leaving Korea.  No kids allowed, so I knew there was NO way we were going to get my mom to leave her granddaughter for a whole day.  She had her favorite day of this vacation....a day home alone with Adeline all to herself.

The DMZ (demilitarized zone) is the 4km-wide zone that divides North and South Korea.  As part of the tour, we visited the Joint Security Area (JSA), the area with the infamous slab of concrete, 18 inches wide, between the Koreas, with opposing soldiers staring at each other across the line.  The picture below was taken while facing across the concrete slab (not visible) into the North Korean side.  A PRK (People's Republic of Korea...North Korea) soldier is watching us from the portico of the white marble building.


Standing with a Republic of Korea (ROK - South Korea) soldier.  The tallest soldiers in the ROK army, and all black belts in Tae Kwan Do, are specially chosen to police the JSA.  This picture was snapped just before the soldier wrapped us all in a loving bear hug of international solidarity, planting a kiss on dad's cheek.  Just kidding.


This is our vista from a security checkpoint, across the DMZ, to the North Korean village of Gijeong-dong, or what is known in the West as Propaganda Village.  Huge speakers used to broadcast propaganda across the DMZ, telling of the "people's paradise."  These are no longer in use, but this gave the village is popular name.  The village is abandoned, manned only by a skeleton crew which turns some of the lights on at night to make it seem inhabited.  The flag pole in the foreground is the tallest in the world, flying a PRK flag that is 31 meters long and weighing 600 pounds.


A PRK security tower at the JSA.  PRK soldiers are inside watching us.  Our US Army guide told us at least three times before stepping outside that gestures of any kind, especially international gestures of...er...defiance, were strictly prohibited.  So we just looked and smiled.


At DMZ Tunnel #3.  This was discovered in 1978 (or so), the 3rd such tunnel discovered accidentally by South Korean authorities.  PRK soldiers tunneled to within 30 or so kilometers of Seoul before the tunnel was discovered.  It was made to ferry 30,000 PRK soldiers into South Korea in 1 hour.  Now it is a tourist attraction.  This picture was taken before we descended into the tunnel.  Pictures were not allowed in the tunnel itself.


A sculpture depicting the desire of both Koreas for re-unification.  

9 comments:

Mari said...

What an interesting but sad place to visit. I love the sculpture.

Kristen said...

What an interesting tour! Thanks for sharing all the photos. I am sure your mom had a great day lovin' on Adeline. My mom would be exactly the same way - give me the baby (or kids) and you go do your thing :o)

Ruthie said...

You got to see some things on your DMZ tour that we missed (the tunnel and the sculpture) but we have almost identical pictures of looking across the blue buildings into NK, and with the ROK soldier.

I bet your mom and Adeline had fun together! You will be sad when they go home...

Jean said...

What an INTERESTING post! I feel like I've just had a social studies lesson!

Momma Roar said...

Thanks for sharing this - T and I both enjoyed it.

That tunnel was amazing - they just accidentally discovered it? WOW!

krista said...

Great pictures--bet we can't fully imagine how much the North and South Korean's lives are world's apart. I especially liked the sculpture picture with the studly men...er hem! :-P

Mary@notbefore7 said...

Finally poking my head back into the blog world...catching up.

WOW! Looks like you have been having fun with your parents. Loving the pics.

This looks like an interesting and yet sad trip. The tunnel story was wild. Glad you had sitters for a day so you two could go!

Jean said...

That header picture is so adorable. You'd better watch it - I just might snatch her right out of that header and keep her!

Jenni S. said...

This is really fascinating - thanks for sharing.