I chose to visit South Korea for two reasons. The first I already described in detail, namely the Templestay. The second will be the focus of this blog post, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

DMZ & JSA

What is the Demilitarized Zone, you might wonder. It’s a 4km wide and 240km long buffer, which separates North and South Korea. There are tanks, electrical fences, landmines and armies on both sides waiting for the fights to flair up again. The countries are not at peace yet; however, the DMZ has been turned into a full-fledged tourist area. This is what makes it so surreal. Cyprus has a similar DMZ, which they call the Green Line. They do not exploit this area for tourists though.

The area I wanted to visit the most was the Joint Security Area (JSA), inside of which is the truce village of Panmunjeom. This area is the closest you can get to North Korea and its soldiers without being arrested or shot.

The only way to get into this area is by an organized tour, so I booked a trusted Viator tour to organize the whole day.

Imjingak Park

The first stop on the tour is straightaway the strangest. Imjingak Park has a little amusement park for children. Our tour guide warned us not to tire ourselves out and climb on top of the viewing platform, because it’s actually facing the wrong way. So you won’t be able to see North Korea from there.

Imjingak Park has some old monuments to remind the South Koreans and tourists of the split.

The first is the Freedom Bridge, which connects the North with the South. 13,000 POWs were exchanged here in 1953.

There’s a derailed steam train, which was actually not visible due to restoration work.

What you can find most of all in Imjingak Park, however, is hope. Hope for a unified Korea. You can find it in the banners along the fences, in posters scattered around the area and in the flags.

Our tour guide told us that South Korea would like the North Koreans to be free; they still see them as their fellow countrymen who are living a very bad life. I was under the assumption that both Koreas were inherently different, apparently not.

Dora Observatory

The second stop on the DMZ part of the tour is Dora Observatory.

From there you can get a real look into North Korea. The town nearest to border in North Korea is Kaesong City. Kaesong is a fake city. If you look closely through the binoculars, and if it’s not too hazy; you can see that windows have been painted onto the brick buildings. No one lives here. North Koreans have put this town there as propaganda. It looks like a nice town, but really it’s nothing.

The North Koreans won one war, namely the tallest flag pole battle. North Korea had put a flag pole in Kaesong City, following which South Korea put a taller one in the vicinity. The North Koreans could not stand this so they made their flag pole even taller, 160m. For years it was the tallest flag pole in the world.

When you stand at Dora Observatory you can hear loudspeakers blasting propaganda music through the area. The speakers were quiet for a few years until the atomic tests started in 2016. Since then the tension has flared up again. This has also closed down a South Korean factory, which had employed North Korean labourers in Kaesong.

Third Infiltration Tunnel

The third stop is the Third Infiltration Tunnel. Since 1974, four tunnels have been found running under the DMZ. These have been dug by the North Koreans so that their army could launch a surprise attack. However, if you would ask them of course they will deny. They painted the tunnel black, so it would seem like they were digging for coal.

You can put your things including camera into the free lockers before you enter. The tunnel is very intense, because it’s 73m deep. There’s a steep walkway which takes you into the actual tunnel. If you are claustrophobic or tall, you won’t like it. The tunnel is 265m long – I had to walk hunched over the whole way. I understand now why they issue hard hats. I bumped my head so many times in the tunnel.

All complaining aside, the tunnel was actually my favourite sight of the DMZ part of the tour. It’s creepy, and busy, so people are passing each other entering and exiting the tight tunnel, but it’s worth walking through there and looking at the dynamite holes and black paint.

Dorasan Train Station

The last stop of the DMZ part of the tour is Dorasan Train Station. Remember how I told you the South Koreans are looking forward to unification? This becomes all the more apparent at this train station.

It was solely built with the hope that one day a Eurasian train line would run from here one day.

The train for Pyongyang is literally waiting to leave since this international terminal was built in 2002.

There’s a special souvenir shop inside the station which sells really rare North Korean wine. It’s worth buying a bottle here because you won’t find it anywhere else in South Korea. Now, whether it’s something you want to drink is a whole different matter…

Imjingak Park

After this stop we drove back to Imjingak Park after showing our passports a couple of times again passing through the different check points. The people who, like me, had booked the JSA part of the tour had lunch here and switched buses. Our new tour guide actually didn’t speak English very well, so we could hardly understand him. This is not ideal when he’s explaining all the different rules that come into play when visiting the JSA. I just tried to behave as much as people, and not take photos of anything until I knew it was definitely OK.

Camp Bonifas

At Camp Bonifas we received further instructions on how to behave inside the JSA. You have to understand that North Korean soldiers are eyeing the situation. If they see something they don’t like, they will not hesitate to kick off. At the camp our clothes were checked – we were not allowed to wear sandals for example – and we were transferred to another bus.

JSA

This bus took us to the JSA. There’s no speaking on the bus, it’s a bit of a tense drive to the blue conference rooms. There have been quite a few deadly incidents in the area so it understandably tense. Normally, as part of the tour, you visit he Bridge of No Return. However, due to some friction a few days previous North Korea had actually planted landmines in the area. I, in effect, was quite nervous too and even though it was nice to visit the JSA. I was even happier when I left the JSA.

Outside you can only take photos of the North Korean side, if you take photos to the other side you could be seen as a spy. The North Korean soldier is standing quite far away, but it’s still a tense sight to behold both sides staring at each other.

We got fifteen minutes inside the building to take photos of the soldiers in Taekwondo stance and to have a look around the meeting room where the treaty was signed.

You can do this tour from North Korea as well, I wonder what it would be like then.

Conclusion

This concludes my trip to the DMZ and JSA. One of the strangest places of Korea. On the one hand the tension is very high, and armed conflict could erupt any moment; on the other hand tourists are making their jolly way from one sight to the next. If you visit Korea, I would really advise you to take this tour. If you decide to go, also join the JSA tour. You have to book this one a few days in advance because they do a background check on your passport before you’re allowed to enter.

This post concludes my South Korea trip!