DMZ 1

Doing disco moves like Cho Man-Shik! Cho Man-Shik has become a symbol for unification. He was an early soviet-backed leader in the north who, being both christian and pro-american, was "removed" to make way for Kim Il-Sung. He's also a reminder that "liberation" can have nasty, complicated consequences. This stature is near the Odusan Unification Observatory, a tourist stop on the way to the DMZ. The road out of Seoul follows the Han River, and even though the far side of the river is still South Korea, the riverbank on the Seoul side is lined with barbed wire topped fencing and armed guard towers (40+ miles). The observatory is on Mt. Odu near Paju City where the Han and Imjin rivers meet, very near the edge of the DMZ. Tight security entering the DMZ. Passports were checked by a Korean soldier carrying a machine gun. Several rounds of getting off or changing buses while the vehicle was checked out. The bridge over the river had scattered barricades on it so that the driver had to drive slowly and had to constantly avoid the obstacles. Anti-tank booby-traps were set at several places along Highway 1 (aka "The Main Supply Route", the only road that directly links North and South Korea). Our guide joked, "They say there is no 'D' in 'DMZ' -- it is a totally militarized zone." top bottom
Observation deck, Odusan Unification Observatory. Highly illegal picture of World Cup relic. Why? Military stuff on right. Strictly verboten. Ooops. ;) North Korea sits on the north side of the river. The observatory was built in 1992. Within weeks of the observatory's completion, bogus (read empty) villages and farms began springing up on the north shore. (It was too hazy on this day to see them very well.) Both sides play music, news, and propaganda at each other across the river all day long. Quite the surreal backdrop. Lots of artifacts from North Korea on display in the ovservatory. Oddly, for all the pro-unification talk, most of the artifacts were given a negative or condescending spin. e.g., the "new school text books" on display were 45+ years old. top bottom
Deep in the DMZ at the "Bridge Of No Return" leading into North Korea. This is also the site of the 1976 "Tree Chopping Incident" that lead to the division of the Joint Security Area. White posts at beginning of bridge mark the MDL (Military Demarcation Line: there is no border between the two Koreas since they are still technically at war). The MDL is physically marked across the entire width of the Korean peninsula. Once in the DMZ, but before proceeding to the JSA (Panmunjeom), we stopped at a UN/US base. There was a bar/gift shop that had small display cases with various DMZ-tension artifacts, including some of the personal effects of the two marines killed in the 1976 incident. top bottom

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