Korean War Memorial

Korea - DMZ Joint Security Area

This flag stands in a village in North Korea that we call “Propaganda Village”. The flagpole is about 530 feet tall and the flag itself is over 100 feet long making it one of the largest flags in the world. The flag weighs 600 pounds and in calm winds or rain it has to be brought down or it will rip apart under its own weight.

Korea - DMZ Joint Security Area

Inside this building is where all the conferences between the two sides are held. If you look at the concrete slab with the gravel on one side and sand on the other; the gravel is South Korea and the sand is North Korea. This building sits perfectly on the line with a half in each side. Therefore when you’re inside you can technically be standing in North Korea. In a couple of my pictures you can see I’m on the sandy side (North Korean side) of the line.

In the picture where I’m standing next to a ROK guard the door behind us is the door to North Korea. The door was locked while we were inside but is normally unlocked. When the ROK guards lock/unlock the door for tour groups there has to be two guards, one to unlock the door and one to hold the one unlocking the door. Apparently the North Koreans have waited on the other side of the door and stolen ROK guards in the past so now they have extra guys to hold them down in case of an attempted kidnapping.

Korea - DMZ Joint Security Area

This is the North Korean building. I’m not sure if it came out well in this picture but if you look closely the window to the left of the NK guard (his right) there is a dude checking us out with binoculars. Also notice all the cameras just on this side of the building; there are many more cameras pretty much everywhere you look.

Korea - DMZ Joint Security Area

These Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers stand guard in what's known as the "ROK Ready" stance. It's a modified Tae Kwan Do ready position which they use to be poised for action and look menacing to the NK guards they’re staring down. They stand half hidden behind the buildings to cut down their exposure to enemy fire. These guys are pretty focused as you can imagine but they’re not ceremonial like the guards at Buckingham Palace who are famous for their rigidity and discipline; these guys look around and move as necessary to maintain constant vigilance. They abide by tourists taking pictures though and even seem faintly amused by it.

Korea - DMZ Joint Security Area

The highlight of the tour was the Joint Security area. The JSA is an area used by both sides to hold armistice talks as well as routine meetings to discuss other various topics pertaining to the management of the DMZ on each side. There used to be free travel within the JSA between the two sides with very little interaction however several altercations, defections, gun battles and axe fights have caused the JSA to be divided into two sections just like the rest of the DMZ.

We started this portion of the tour by getting our ID’s checked again by Korean sentries at the gate to the Korean Army base that’s adjacent to the JSA. We then had an inbrief given by an US Army soldier who would be one of our two Army escorts (they jokingly stated they preferred not to be called “tour guides” since that was an undignified position for any self respecting Army soldier defending the DMZ). From this point we boarded Army buses and since our Korean tour guides weren’t allowed into the JSA they had to hang out on our original buses until we got back. Our Army tour guides were very informative and allowed us to take pictures pretty much anywhere we wanted and of whatever we wanted inside the JSA which was cool.

Korea - Infiltration Tunnel #3

Just below the observation post is the site of one of the infiltration tunnels dug by NK that have been discovered over the years. There are 4 known tunnels that have been found between 1974 and 1990. This tunnel was the 3^rd found; hence the clever name: Tunnel #3. Discovered in 1978 it is 73 meters deep and stretches 1.6 km under the DMZ to the foot of the Dorasan hill. An access tunnel 400 meters long at an 11 degree slope was dug for tourists to reach the infiltration tunnel; let me tell you it’s a bit of a hike (but not all that bad really). The portion of the tunnel that’s still open on the southern side goes about 600 meters back into the DMZ from where the NK stopped burrowing once they were discovered. At that point the S. Koreans built a few walls and a large cistern so if NK ever tried to break through there again they’d get flooded by the water stored in the cistern. It’s estimated that over 30,000 North Korean soldiers an hour would have been able to traverse these tunnels and one of them was even large enough to permit trucks and tanks! Our tour guide mentioned that there are estimated to be upwards of at least 20 of these tunnels along the length of the DMZ. I’m not sure if any others have been confirmed or not but there are only 4 that the Koreans are willing to admit publicly. This was another area where pictures weren't allowed ergo no pics.

Korea - Dorasan Observation Post

Our next stop was the observation post above the village. This post is strategically located on a hill which provides an unobstructed view all along this part of the DMZ area. On a clear day you can see several miles in every direction and conveniently enough we had a nice clear day while we were there. Security was pretty tight and we weren’t allowed to take many pictures but let me tell you the view was pretty amazing. We could see well into North Korea and I’m sure if a North Korean even so much as sneezed wrong someone at this observation post would take notice. For instance with my binoculars I could see the North Korean city of Kaesong which is the 3^rd largest city in NK and has about 380,000 people.

Korea - Dorasan Station

Dorasan station is a stop on an old train line which used to connect Korea to Russia through China. The train tracks and station were destroyed during the war but have recently been rebuilt and connect to a line in North Korea. There is some usage of the line for the transport of some goods between North and South but obviously it’s completely closed to passenger trains. The station is only a couple of years old and therefore very sleek and modern albeit completely empty. The hope is that soon people will be able to travel freely on this line again and the station stands as a silent monument to Korean optimism for reunification of their country in the near future. In the meantime it's actually kinda creepy!

Korea - DMZ Villages

There are two villages in this area, Unification Village and Taesong-dong. These villages mainly farm rice and ginseng. There is apparently only one restaurant in Unification Village so that’s where we had lunch. We ate a traditional Korean meal of bulgogi (beef) with rice and kimchi on the side. Despite what most people think about kimchi I think most of it is not half bad. There are kinds I like better than others but I think it gets a bad rap in the states. It does smell bad though!

The people who live in these villages do so because they are descendants of the people who lived here before the Korean War and returned to their ancestral villages after the war. The villagers are subsidized by the Korean government and don’t pay taxes. Their homes are built and maintained by the government and they are provided with modern cars as well. The only way to live in the two villages is to be a direct descendant of a village family or, as a woman, marry into one of the families (women can marry into this village but men cannot). The purpose for such a high level of government sponsorship is so the N. Koreans can look over the border and see happy, prosperous people living in nice houses and driving modern cars. Also I’m sure there’s some “danger pay” component to the fact that they are living in the middle of a battlefield. The villagers must be back in their homes around sunset and must have their doors and windows locked after midnight. Ironically the rice grown here is considered to be the best in Korea and fetches a high price on the market. Our tour guide said that particular area of the valley has great soil which produces high quality rice. Appropriately enough it’s called “DMZ rice”. I’m guessing they served us DMZ rice at lunch but you never know; it didn’t really taste all that much different at any rate.

Korea

On Friday, June 16^th we flew on a Navy transport plane from Atsugi to the Air Force base in Osan. The first thing I really noticed about Korea was from when we were on final approach to the base. Surrounding the airfield are anti-aircraft batteries, missile batteries and troop emplacements. Just as we were heading to the Officers quarters a U-2 spy plane took off undoubtedly for some secret squirrel mission over some hostile territory. It really drives home the thought that this is a nation poised for war at any moment. Penetrating the hovering air of invasion was our lunch at the Chili’s on base. It was like walking through a wormhole and finding yourself somewhere in Southern California. We spent the remainder of the day in the town outside the base shopping (you can get some great deals on custom clothes, handmade shoes and whatnot there).

The next morning (Saturday the 17^th) we traveled by bus to Seoul to meet our tour group at the USO. The group was a mixture of American military personnel, a few American tourists, some Dutch tourists, a couple of Canadians and some other assorted nationalities that I can’t remember. At the beginning of the trip the tour guide is responsible for checking everyone’s nationality because Koreans are not allowed in the DMZ. Even our tour guides weren’t allowed to stay with us the entire time and during those periods we were escorted by American soldiers.

It was an hour and fifteen minute bus ride to our first stop which was the Dorasan Train Station. On the way there you pass a river on one side. The DMZ traverses the river in several spots. Due to this the banks of the river are heavily guarded and blocked with serious barbed wire fences. The heavy fortifications are to prevent North Korean spies from swimming down the river into South Korea, which has apparently been attempted and thwarted numerous times (and probably succeeded many more). The closer you get to the DMZ the faster buildings make way for rice paddies and other farm areas. There are a few business that take advantage of the sparsely populated (and I’m sure low rent) area for sprawling industrial areas and the Korean Soccer team’s training facility is out that way but I guess the tradeoff is being located in what is thought to be the primary battlefield in the event of further hostilities.

Before you reach the Dorasan Train Station you have to cross the “Freedom Bridge”. This heavily fortified bridge controls the only access road into the DMZ area. Security is extremely tight and everyone has their ID’s checked by Korean soldiers who man one of several checkpoints along the bridge. This entire time I can’t help but feel this is what the border areas between East and West Germany must have been like during the height of the Cold War; checkpoints, barbed wire fences and stern-faced guards continuously asking for your papers. After the bus is given the once over by the sentries we continue to Dorasan Station.

Red Horse Driving a Bulldozer

I really have no earthly idea why this horse is driving this bulldozer but I guess it makes some sense in the demented reality of your average Air Force guy. Yikes.