Where Two Worlds Meet: Korea’s Demilitarized Zone

There’s a line on the concrete.

We’re two kilometres away from the North Korean border. We’re given binoculars. We can see the soldiers smoking cigarettes. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was all normal.

I think I learned more on this day than ever before.

It had finally stopped raining. Our entire time in Seoul had been under dark clouds. We didn’t mind, it was atmospheric, and Seoul is beautiful no matter the weather. The drive didn’t take long, it’s only 55km.

This is a place of tragedy, and yet, hope.

Our first stop was Imjingak Pyeonghwa-Nuri Park, 7km from the DMZ. Here you’ll find war artefacts, monuments, a bunker, pinned letters and memorials, and an abandoned and derailed steam train strewn with bullets.

“Where’s the hope?” you ask. Mangbaedan Altar. At this monument, separated families perform rituals and pray for their loved ones lost to North Korea. Traditionally done on national holidays, people bring offerings such as wine and food with the wish of reconnecting. Both North and South Korea also hold ad-hoc ceremonies for the same purpose, but not very frequently.

Back in 1983 the Korean Broadcasting System aired a show called Finding Dispersed Families. Over 53,000 people took part, and 10,000 families were reunited! It’s an absolutely heart-wrenching watch. Hell, not even watch, it was emotional enough when our guide was telling us about it!

You have to have a guide to visit the DMZ by the way. There’s lots of tour options, both private and groups.

Next we went into the “Third Tunnel of Aggression”. I mean, who wouldn’t with a name like that?! 👀 This tunnel was discovered in 1978. There are four known infiltration passages under the Korean border. The incomplete 3rd tunnel is 1635m (1 mile) long and 1.95m (6ft 5) high. You thought being 73m (240ft) underground was creepy enough? This tunnel could accommodate 30,000 North Korean soldiers per hour.

Let’s not forget, each time the South Koreans detected a tunnel, they would have to build an intercepting tunnel themselves. The third tunnel still took 4 months to pinpoint exactly, even though it was an explosion that alerted them to it in the first place.

Experts believe there could still be another 20 undiscovered tunnels, and possibly – wait for it – 5,000 military facilities.

To go in the tunnel, you must leave all of your belongings, including phones, in a locker, wait to be scanned through, and wear your hard hat the whole time. I will also add that there’s a long slope down, but then on the way back it’s up, and I saw a lot of people struggling. So a heads up!

Afterwards, your guide will bring you to the Dora Observatory. Here you can use binoculars and see into North Korea, and a village called Kijong-dong. In North Korea, they call it “Peace Village”, in South Korea “Propaganda Village”.

I guess we can’t really know for sure, but it’s widely rumoured that Kijong-dong is a façade. A potemkin village with empty buildings painted in lies- I mean, bright colour. Fake windows, and even electrical timers to give the illusion of living. North and South Korea actually played propaganda through loudspeakers until as recently as 2018! While North Korea would send over disinformation, promises of a better life, political speeches and marching tunes, South Korea would blast over world news and K-Pop music. Like, imagine!

The final stop on the tour was to talk to a North Korean defector. First we watched a short film, and then we met an anonymous North Korean woman wearing a hat and sunglasses. Our guide translated for us, and even though she’s been here for a few years, she still seemed nervous. She answered our questions honestly, told us about her childhood there and of her work and family. Her story was incredible. She couldn’t be any more grateful that she and her son made it over.

The building in which you meet your former North Korean citizen, is completely decorated propaganda-style, with anthems playing. They will explain that they are not pro-North, but are just giving us a taste of how intense it is over the border.