Insane weekend: To DMZ/North Korea (videos and photos)

I sure have bad timing sometimes, because on the same day that South Korea officially blamed North Korea for the attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan, I had a tour to the DMZ (the demilitarized zone containing the border between North and South Korea).

Above: The countries that helped South Korea during the Korean War.

While everyone else's tours sound more or less the same, my tour was very unique and not in a good way.

It started quite normally. We met up at Yongsan Garrison (the main US army base in South Korea) and left for the tour. After an hour, we arrived at the DMZ at a joint American-South Korean army base called Camp Bonifas.

Above: Location of Camp Bonifas in relation to Korea.


Above: Location of Camp Bonifas in relation to the North Korean and South Korean border.


Above: The final version of the Korean border after the Korean War.


Above: Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. Or Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.


Above: Border markers from North Korea and South Korea.

Above: Photos from the Korean War at Camp Bonifas.

At Camp Bonifas, we're supposed to get a small briefing before heading to the JSA (Joint Security Area), where the actual border is located. Here is the main video for the briefing:



After the video ended, we had a small question session while we waited for them to get ready for us. The soldier answered about two questions before someone said something in his earpiece and he quickly left the room. There was a long delay, which was apparently quite unusual.

He came back and said, "Um, I guess you guys are now supposed to proceed to the gift shop." So we boarded the bus and got to the gift shop, where I assume they normally put you while they make final preparations at the JSA for visitors. But just as we lined up at the gift shop, a Jeep or Humvee (forgot which) pulled up and two American soldiers came out and barked, "We need you all to get back on the bus NOW!"

We (including the tour guide) were confused but complied. The tour guide was given a brief explanation, and the bus left the base. Apparently we were being ordered off the base. This was very unusual; the tour guide told us that she had done this for a long time but this is the first time a JSA tour has been called off partway through.

Faced with a sudden change in schedule, we proceeded to the next location -- one of the four infiltration tunnels built by North Korea in a plan to attack South Korea. The tunnel was steep and my short stature proved to be an advantage, since the ceiling was quite low at times. It's incredible that the tunnel was even built because it was solid rock.

The next location we went to was Dora Observatory. This is an observatory that boasts an indoor and outdoor observation hall that overlooks much of North Korean territory around the city of Kaesong. This is where things continued to get weird.

The outdoor observation deck prohibits photography and the only viewing tools that are permitted are coin-operated binoculars. However, on that particular day, the outdoor viewing deck was closed off and guarded by soldiers. The explanation was that it was "closed for construction." The tour guide seemed surprised, since she had never seen it closed before and she didn't get any news about construction.

Above: Dora Observatory was heavily armed and guarded that day.

So we headed to the indoor observation hall, where we could see Kaesong through large panes of glass (I don't know if they're bulletproof). There were soldiers EVERYWHERE that day. From the indoor hall, we managed to take a peek through the door leading to the outdoor observation deck -- and it was absolutely perfect. No sign of construction or deterioration, or even garbage on the ground. Something was going on.

Another weird thing we saw was a huge line of cars going southbound on the highway from Kaesong. South Korea operates several factories in Kaesong, so it was not exactly alarming to see that. The tour guide said that those cars normally bring in finished products from the Kaesong factories. We went like, "Okay."

But the cars kept coming. And coming. And coming.

The tour guide said she had never seen so many cars come down on that highway during such a short period of time before. With all the tension going on that way, we started to wonder if South Korean workers in Kaesong are being recalled, or if the current situation was affecting the factories in Kaesong.

After Dora Observatory and lunch, we went to Dorasan Station, currently the northernmost train station in South Korea and a station that is planned to be the crossing point to North Korea when or if the border is opened to civilian travel again. I've been there before, and it is largely an empty shell of a station. The highlights include signs pointing towards the train tracks towards Pyongyang, North Korea (which are obviously not used right now) and a large customs and immigration control point that is largely gathering dust.

Above: The tracks to Pyongyang, North Korea. (South Korean spelling: Pyeongyang)

Above: The empty immigration control center at Dorasan Station.

Above: The final tollbooth on the highway to North Korea, next to Dorasan Station.

Above: Interior view of Dorasan Station.

Dorasan Station was the final stop, so we headed back to Seoul. On the way back, we were on a highway next to the Han River, which flows from Seoul. I've been on the highway several times before and knew about the military watchtowers lining the river until Seoul, since the river does connect with North Korea at its mouth. The difference this time is that all the watchtowers were heavily guarded by at least one guard carrying large rifles. I usually don't see this many soldiers guarding those towers, so this time it felt very different compared to what I had seen on my other previous commutes along the route.

Above: A military watchtower along the highway next to the Han River.

When we got back, we surrendered our United Nations guest passes from Camp Bonifas -- they were in such a hurry to escort everyone off the base that they forgot to collect the passes from us.

All in all, it was a disappointment not to see the JSA but at the same time it was certainly a unique experience that other DMZ visitors normally don't get. We didn't get to see as much but we certainly felt a lot more of the tension and conflict than other groups due to the seriousness of the situation.


"Now you see, the changing of the worrd is inevitabre!"

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Coming next:

• To Japan (photos)