DMZ

Our first trip to the DMZ was postponed thanks to Mr. Kim Jung Ill and the 100 plus bombs he launched at Yeonpyeong Island back in November.   This past weekend, we finally made it there to get up close and personal with our commie neighbors.  The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (aka. North Korea)... Here we come!

Our first stop is the last place you can go without registering with the South Korean government and handing over your passport or green card.

4 - Micah

At Imjinsak we had no idea what was going on.  We saw a few people scoping out the mountain in the background leading us to assume it was North Korea.  We stopped for a few  photos only to find out that we had been duped.  Still don't know the significance of it. There was an old bullet ridden train and lots of barbed ware though.

This is an alter set up for South Koreans to pray for reunification.  On this Saturday, there were quite a few people praying.  We had to get a closer look.

This is what we found.

Not sure with this is but we think it has something to do with reunification. 

 

A closeup of the bullet holes.

Our second stop was an observatory where you can see parts of  North Korea.  This is the best picture we were able to take, any closer and a Korean soldier would kindly ask us to remove the picture as he stood over our shoulders to  make sure it got done.  In the background you can see a city that some call propaganda city.  It's quite huge and literally in the middle of nowhere.  A quick chat with an American soldier posted at the observatory taught us that Mr. Hyundai donated the money to build this city and provide jobs for North Korean citizens.  There are about 48,000 North Korean employees and a slew of managers that travel back and forth across the border daily.  The goods that are produced make their way back to the South in one of the 17 crossings that occur at this site daily. 

This is at the entrance to 3rd tunnel designed and developed by the ingenuous North Korean engineers.  The tunnels were designed to move an entire infantry unit into South Korea in under an hour.   There's actually a funny story about the tunnels.  Upon discovering them, South Korea went to their not so friendly neighbors and said "Yo Ill, whats up with these tunnels?"  His reply was "O, these...Ya see, we was lookin for so coal , and..."  To make sure his story was believable, Kim Ill-Sung had some of his cronies spray paint the granite walls of the tunnel  black to make it look like coal.  True story...  kind of . 

Hi Micah

To get to the tunnel we had to descend 300 meters underground.  The hike wasn't for the light hearted, it also wasn't for those over 5'3". 

Read the sign above

This is a state-of-the art train station on the South Korean side of the DMZ.  It was built to facilitate intra-country travel after unification.  It's fully staffed, fully functional, andmissing just one thing... travelers.  

T

A souvenir from the DPRK.  A bottle of North Korean wine which tastes a lot like grape juice.