Korea Day 3: The DMZ

​Today we spent the whole day thinking and learning about the Korean War and its consequences.

We started out by visiting the Korean War Memorial and Museum.  The Memorial was an immense monumental space. We started in a long passageway lined with large bronze plaques engraved with the names of American soldiers, listed by state. There were also lists of soldiers from other countries who were part of the UN forces.

The Museum had an enormous amount of information and military equipment.  It was more than we could absorb in a hour.  It was divided into exhibits in the third floor about the UN history and engagement, while the second floor focused more of the history of conflict in Korea and what led to the war.  There were many exhibits detailing the division of Korea after WWII, the attacks against the south, specifically Seoul by North Korea supported by Russia and China, the utter devastation caused by those attacks and the action by the UN and the United States to fight and the war. It was really good to put the war and its huge losses into context - understanding how the end of WWII created a vacuum in Korea when Japan left after 35 years of occupation and getting some understanding of the global geopolitics that made Korea such a critical asset to China and Russia and the United States. 

After the museum, we headed north to visit the Demilitarized Zone itself (the only one in the world).  The site was very well organized, with specific stops to see specific things.  The highlight was the 3rd Tunnel which was one of several tunnels that the North Koreans made in the 1970s to plan a sneak attack on Seoul.  We went down 250 meters (2.5 football fields) on a long sloping ramp, then went another 200 meters horizontally through a dark, wet, cramped tunnel.  We all had to wear hard hats - and they saved us from whacking our heads on low pipes and rocks several times.  At the very end, we could look through a hole in a cement wall to see a patch of light at the end of the tunnel  that was  North Korea.  There was also a digital meter that said it had been 26,606 days since the armistice had been signed. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs or even bring our phones, so these photos are from the internet. The hike back out was a bit of a slog because it was uphill almost all the way, but we made it.

Back on the bus, we headed for The Observatory.  This was a three story building that allowed you to look out into the North Korean countryside and to see the “Propaganda Villages” on both sides of the DMZ as well as flag poles for both North and South Korea.  It was a beautiful, clear day, so we could see all the way to the nearest N.Korean city of Kaesong.  Again no pictures on the N.Korean side, but lovely views of the rice fields, the Han River, and the mountains looking south to Seoul.

The green space behind the wall is actually North Korea!

We returned to Seoul, arriving around 4.  We got out near Seoul train station and walked along Seoul-lo - an elevated walkway with pretty plants and benches (a bit like the Highline in NYC, but shorter and less designed).  Then we walked through Namdaemun Market, past the Post Office and on back to our hotel.