As former US President Bill Clinton described it as “the scariest place on earth”, Korea’s DMZ is one of the most intense, yet interesting, places to tour. During my time of living in South Korea, I took advantage of the opportunity to partake in this eye-opening experience.
The first place to tour at the DMZ is the third tunnel. This is one of four tunnels that the North Korean soldiers have dug under the DMZ in order to have a potential surprise attack on Seoul, the capitol of South Korea. The third tunnel was discovered in 1978 and is located 52 km from Seoul. It is 1.7 km in length, 2 m wide, and 2 m in height. It is so large that 30,000 fully-armed North Korean soldiers and their vehicles could pass through the tunnel within an hour. It is suspected that it took the North Korean soldiers 800 days to complete the tunnel by continuously using dynamite.
Tourists are taken to the museum and then groups walk down to the first blockade of the tunnel. Helmets are required to walk into the tunnel, as the tunnel is quite shallow in spots.
The USO DMZ tour takes groups to the Dorasan train station, which is the only station that connects South Korea to the north. The railway would connect Pyongyang, North Korea’s capitol, to Seoul. This railway has only been in operation for one year from 2007 to 2008. As of 2011, the railway remains closed.
Tourists are able to walk through the station, see the train tracks, and receive a train ticket to North Korea, which cannot currently be used. The dream that would like to be accomplished upon reunification, is for South Korea to connect their train tracks in China and the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, which would allow travel to Europe.
What makes the USO tour of the DMZ unique to any other tour is the opportunity to experience the Joint Security Area (JSA). This is the only part of the DMZ where tourists are able to potentially see North Korean soldiers. For security reasons, the dress code is very strict and tourists are never allowed to point any fingers or take pictures of the South Korean side of the JSA.
Tourists are able to see across the Military Demarcation Line. They also walk into and outside of South Korea’s Freedom House. Across the line, visitors can see North Korea’s Panmungak building. Each tour also takes you into the conference room, which is used for the North and South to conduct any meetings.
One of the final places to see is the Bridge of No Return. This is the only ground link between Seoul and Pyeongyang. It is the spot where all prisoners of war (POWs) were repatriated at the end of the Korean war.
I took the tour through Koridoor, though there are other organizations who do the USO tour as well. The costs for most USO tours range from $75-100 USD.
Source:
“Panmunjeom: Facts about the Korean DMZ” by Wayne A. Kirkbride
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Korean DMZ Slideshow
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