DMZ

DMZ stands for 'Demilitarized Zone.' It was created by the Soviet Union and America after the Korean War as a barrier between the two countries. In order to avoid northern invasion, roughly 1 million land-mines were dropped by the USA throughout the area between these countries. So, no one has been there in nearly sixty years. The DMZ is about 2 km wide, and has actually turned into one of the few places in Korea where wild animals flourish.

Amy and I went on a tour of some spots along the DMZ. It was as intriguing as it was emotional. The first stop on our trip was at the Freedom Bridge. This bridge leads to the north, but was blocked off during the war. It is a symbol of the connection that remains between friends and families that are separated between the north and south. Thousands of families visit this place every year to put up ribbons and pictures of loved ones trapped in the north.

There is also this train engine, which pulled a train from the north to the south, but was shot 100,000 times. I didn't stop to count.

The next stop on the tour was at the Third Tunnel.

Since the 1970s, South Korea has found four separate tunnels dug under the DMZ by North Korea. When I first heard about it, I figured it was some poor souls trying to escape....not quite. Under the DMZ is nothing but pure granite, which must be blown away with dynamite. It turns out that the North Korean military has been trying to find secret ways to stage invasions on Seoul. The most recent tunnel was found in 1990.

The Third Tunnel is the biggest and closest to Seoul. Therefore, it was considered the most dangerous. The tour guide said that an estimated 30,000 North Korean troops could've run through the tunnel in one hour.

We strapped on our hard-hats and descended hundreds of meters under the ground. It was very cool and damp. The tunnel went on for a very long time, where we finally got to the point where the South closed it off.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures; but here's a diagram!

After tunneling, we went to an observation building on the very edge of the DMZ. We were not allowed to take pictures past a certain point. They said that if the North could see cameras shooting pictures, they sometimes feel threatened and shoot bullets back.

We followed the rules.

Through binoculars, we could see a 'city,' with many military installations. I looked for a long time, but only saw two people and one car moving. All of buildings looked empty. This was in the middle of the day on Sunday. We think that this 'city' is quite possibly only there for appearance to the South.

Yup, those are some buildings in North Korea. I took this one behind the line...don't worry.

Another bizarre aspect to the view was a MASSIVE flag atop a very high flagpole. Apparently, the South and the North have competed over the height of their flagpoles. After spending thousands of dollars, South Korea finally conceded to common sense, and let North Korea have the tallest flagpole in the world. That's right, it's the tallest in the world. They spent thousands of dollars on it...and they can't feed most of their people.

One of the good guys.

The last stop was at a brand new train station. Thousands of South Koreans donated the funds for this station that will eventually go to Pyeongyang. This station was built with the hope of unification in the future. Some day, hopefully sooner than later, the Korean families separated by this horrible situation will be able to take a subway to see each other. If and when that day comes, I will be coming back to take a ride there too.