When we first went into the DMZ, our first stop was the Joint Security Area this is a camp that is secured by the United Nations Command (UNC) and from this area, we had to leave all of our belongings on the bus and go onto a special UNC bus with a South Korean gard as well as a South Korean solider as our driver. No one can enter this area without a guest badge and a soldier.
Before we got onto our UNC bus, we had a debriefing. We had to sign a waiver that basically said that no country or army is responsible if anything were to happen to us. I was so nervous -- it felt like I was signing my life away. In the debriefing we were told no pointing to the north (the North Koreans don't like that), we could only take about 2 minutes of pictures when the guards told us, and we had to walk two-by-two in line when we got to the border.
In the DMZ, on either side of the border are South and North Korean villages. On the south side, Freedom Village is home to about 250 people that are wealthy rice farmers, but have a curfew from 11:00pm to 4:00am. On the north side is what the South Koreans call "Propoganda"Village. The village on the north side of the border is built to give the illusion that the people in North Korea live very prosperously. The lights in the village are turned on and off at certain times and there are no actual people who live there, it is just there to show that the North Koreans live well even though most of them do not.
North Korea's "Propaganda" Village (Image from Wikipedia)
I was actually scared. Our tour guide, Laura, told us during our bus ride that at the entrance of the North Korean building that we would visit are two South Korean soldiers in order to protect tourists because the North Koreans once opened the doors to the buildings and tried to grab tourists.
Usually, we are allowed to cross the border and go into the building that is on the northern side of the DMZ, but today we could not because the North Koreans had tour groups there.
It was amazing. We were standing on one side trying to get a glimpse of North Korean people while they were on the other side trying to get a glimpse of us.
North Korean tourists and a North Korean soldier.
I was actually somewhat relieved that we didn't cross the border, the sheer thought of it made me uneasy.
Something else that I thought was interesting was that at the border the South Korean soldiers face the North in order to protect the tourists, but the North Korean soldiers also face the north in fear that while they are not looking, someone will try and flee North Korea for South Korea.
In front of the blue building are South Korean soldiers. Where the dark grey pathway ends and becomes lighter is the actual border of North and South Korea. On the lighter side of the pathway are North Korean soldiers.
I have never been to anywhere so intense in my entire life. We couldn't even point to the north side of the border. Today was one of the most interesting things I will ever experience in my entire life. 60 years ago, my grandfather fought in the Korean War, but sadly it is not over -- there is a cease fire, but the war is not over.
I can only hope that there is a brighter future for those in North Korea and that one day there will be a peaceful, democratic unification of the two countries. Though it may be far beyond my time, one can only hope. I am so thankful for my freedom. I am thankful for the people that protect my freedom as a citizen of the United States, and for the freedoms that I am granted as simply being a citizen of the United States.
Anyway, that is all for today. I am leaving tomorrow, can you all believe it? I'm going to go walk around the city a little bit with my parents and grab dinner and then it's packing, packing, packing!
Until tomorrow,
Meryl
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