Visiting the DMZ

One of the most well known, all be it infamous, attractions in South Korea is the Demilitarized Zone or the DMZ.  Many visitors, and foreigners leaving in Korea, will often make sure that they visit the buffer zone between North and South Korea (or DRPK and ROK).  The Wendling family with less than one month left in Korea decided that they needed to take some time to visit the DMZ.

One of the unique aspects of the DMZ is that it is far easier for foreign passport holders to go on the tours then it is for Korean citizens.  As well, the tours of the DMZ usually involve a tour of the Joint Security Area, JSA, and Camp Bonifas, the United Nations camp.  For this part of the tour Matteya, Kyara and Justine were old enough to attend - so they went with Kevin to see this part of the tour in the morning.

The actual JSA, or Joint Security Area, features a number of buildings in the area which were used and are still used for discussions and negotiations between North and South Korea and almost always involved a third or fourth country such as Poland, Sweden or other countries.  The blue building are the places for talk but there are other buildings which were built with the intent of hosting "family reunions" with families which were separated by the Korea War.  To this day they have not been used for this purpose.

The JSA has quite a history to it as well - from 1953 - 1976 the JSA was actually an area with no border that North and South Korea soliders stood side by side, however, due to a number of incidents that have occurred the JSA is very well defined and if you cross into an area that is not allowed you can be shot or step on a mine.

Then in the afternoon the entire family was able to see the rest of the DMZ attractions which included the 3rd tunnel, the observatory and the train station.  The third tunnel is interesting as it is seen as being built for so that the North Korean army would have a way of circumventing the DMZ and then moving quickly towards Seoul.  These tunnels, 4 in total so far, are now closed and in fact tunnel 3 is a tourist attraction which the Wendling family was able to see.

Yet, in all, the DMZ is a unique area that talks of the history of the Korean War but also provides markers of hope that one day Korea will be one country.  It is unclear how this will occur if we consider the current conditions, yet, it could happen with some give on both sides and some wisdom from above.  With all of the evidence of war and suffering seen in their travels the Wendling family really hope that one day Korea is unified in a way that the dignity of all Korean people can be maintained and so that all Korea can live in Harmony.  However, there is much work to be done if this is going to occur.

With less than three weeks left the Wendling family has begun to pack and make preparations for retuning to Canada.  This blog will continue in order to Chronicle the final transition.  So stay tuned.