Seoulscapade

Right there, along that concrete slab, is the dividing line between North and South Korea. I took the shot from behind a window in a blue meeting room, like the one opposite, straddling the dividing line. Technically speaking, I suppose, when I was at the other end of the room, I was in North Korea.

I took the photo from a window on the right here, in the table room at the Joint Security Area compete with ever-ready MPs.

This was the culmination of a day trip out to Panmunjom about an hour north of Seoul, at the North Korean border. The bus trip was organized by the institute where I work for Korea language students, who didn’t have to pay the 70, 000 regular tourists pay. I no longer took classes but I was allowed to tag along.

Now, a dress code does apply when going there; however, I neglected to read about this part in the handout I was given. I was in sandals. This worried the organizers and a spare pair of shoes were found. I was annoyed with the fuss then and in hindsight because we spent most of our time in a bus, waiting or looking out the window.

This kind of scene begins in Seoul and it’s like this all the way to the border, fencing and guard towers. One forgets in Seoul that the world’s most heavily guarded border is just north of the city.

The DMZ itself is a two kilometre wide “nature strip” across the 38th parallel. It has remained untouched for 50 years, making it one of them most well-preserved nature reserves on earth. What a good idea! It abounds with species of birds and animals. I saw birds everywhere while I was there.

Our day trip was pretty much like the regular agency tours conducted out there. Other locations are open to tourists as well. I guess everyone basically gets the same tour. When we arrived, all of our passports had to be checked while we were on the bus. That took quite a while. Then we were shunted to a lecture theatre for a lecture and short film. Then it was back on the bus and off to the Joint Security Area.

The tourist industry, in fact, is alive and well and doing very nicely out of the DMZ. Apparently, the same goes for the North because while we were at the JSA, I spied some tourists looking at us looking at them looking at us looking at. . . etc.

The impulse to wave, however, must be stifled. Another one of the rules tourists have to follow out here is not to make any gesture of any kind in a northerly direction, in case you start an international incident or something of that sort.

Here’s the wide view from an observatory platform:

It was difficult to restrain one’s self, after being told not to gesture, because all you want to do at those North Korean guards is put your thumbs your ears and wriggle your fingers. Here’s one looking right at me while I take picture on the North Korean side of the room.

All of this was interesting but what intrigued me most out of the whole tour was the deserted village. You can see it here in the distance, in this shot taken from the same observatory mentioned above but in a north easterly direction.

This village, apparently, is empty. It’s just there to intimidate or as a show piece of some kind. Here’s a close up. The flag pole, we were informed, serves no purpose other to be the tallest flag pole around, as a rival to a flag pole the South built somewhere or other.

I don’t know why it stood out for me as a highlight. It just did. It’s just, well, bizarre. All around the village, in the fields and among the hills are guard towers. We got a better look at them and at the village after leaving the JSA. The next part of the tour was just all by bus. Here, snapped hastily from the bus, is the famous Bridge of No Return, looking the worse for lack of use.

We did have another stop after the JSA, a brief stop at a high vantage point for the view, but then it was back to the bus and our Humvee escort for the return to Panmunjom tourist shops. After that we headed home. Admittedly, the whole trip was worth it, but it did sometimes feel like it was all part of a large tourist operation.