The DMZ : A trip to North Korea

One of the first things you get asked when you mention you live in Korea is ‘North or South?’.
Luckily and like 99.9999% of the people who head to Korea I do live in the South but the North is a beautiful and scary mystery. The rest of the world is terrified by this small unpredictable land and Korea ignores it like an annoying younger sibling that wants to play in their room.
I knew at some point during my stay in Korea I would have to pay a visit to the scary area that is named the DMZ (De Militarised Zone) so when a few of my friends (who are sadly leaving Korea) wanted to go I jumped on board.
We headed up to Seoul on the KTX after school, Soju and Beer in hand. We arrived at our pleasant enough hostel and decided to get a ‘quiet’ dinner.

 Eight hours later, two bars, 6 buckets and a night club later we were running around the hotel desperately trying to wake ourselves up enough to catch our bus to the DMZ.

We rallied and caught our bus that took us up North.

as you can see...still a bit tipsy

When we arrived at Panmunjom (the area of the demilitarised zone that brings the guards face to face with each other 24 hours a day) the snow was falling and the area seemed as grim as its past.
The American army guards gave us a fantastic tour and it was eerie. I have never been in an area with so much tension. This was a tour but at the same time we were warned that North Korea was taking out pictures to use as propaganda that if they were to give us the finger or try to spit on us that there was nothing we could do. If you approached a guard to closely they would punch you. Even the South Korean ones.
To be stood in a room that has seen so many conversations deciding the fate of millions of lives left me with a really sense of proportion and humbled me to the fact I live in a country with such a delicate and painful past.

As well as the Panmunjom we also the location of the 1976 axe murder. This was an incident cause by cutting down a tree. The tree was cutting off all visibility for the Only South Korean viewing station. The cutting down was delayed from the confirmed time because of rain. A small team of unarmed guards went to cut the tree down. The N.Koreans watched for 15 minutes without incident but suddenly the North Koreans attacked with over 20 men all carrying crossbows and clubs. The North Koreans got hold of the axes held by the two South Korean and American guard and attacked them. There is also a photo of another guard Capt. Bonifas who was bludgeoned to death by 5 North Korean guards.
I realise this isn’t a nice story but it shocked me to the core to see the photos and realise that the area we were in was so volatile.
There are many other stories I could tell you but it was all pointing to the forgiveness shown by the South Koreans. Tunnels built for miles into areas they weren’t allowed purely to blow them up and endless rants from guards and these men have let it go and if anything provide more aid to their neighbours. I would like to think that the UK or America could be as forgiving in the same situations but it’s hard to believe.
There is break throughs, such as the completely deserted and fully built train station to North Korea that is fully functional but full of nothing.

There was also a shop that let us stock up on North Korean memorabilia. We left with some North Korean Brandy that we aren’t planning on drinking.
It was a fantastic and haunting trip but I’m really glad I did it.

The one piece of advice I would give to anyone heading on this trip is:
If you are tall then be wary of the tunnels. These tunnels were created by dynamite and were created to attack the South Koreans so they are quite serious but watching two extremely tall men crawl their way through it while short Koreans laughed at them made my day. The 362km walk up the steep hill to get out of the tunnel….not so much.
The rest of the weekend included us all having good food and good drinks and preparing for the next few weeks when they all head home. I’m not going to go into it too much for this post but it’s very sad.
Anyway I am sorry for the morbid nature of this post but it feels nice to share with people the real side we see here in Korea. North Korea is definitely seen as the spoilt younger brother who cries when he wants more food brought to him. Hopefully there can be some peace between the two some day but it does seem a very long way away when you are stood at Panmunjom and being glared at by a Guard carrying all forms of weapons.