The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

A trip to Korea is not complete without a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (more popularly known as the "DMZ").  For the uninformed, Korea is the only divided country remaining in the world, and it's the DMZ that separates it.

There are many outfits that offer the DMZ tour.  They say the best one is being handled by the USO and Koridoor because real US soldiers conduct the tour and they take you all the way to Panmunjeom/the Joint Security Area (JSA).  Meaning to say, you get to see North Korean  and South Korean soldiers face each other AND get a chance to actually step in North Korea!  But that tour takes up the whole day, and is expensive at US$77 (P 3,400.00).

On a budget, we chose the half-day tour given by Freedom Tours at US$42 (P 1,850.00).  It's got everything the Koridoor Tour has EXCEPT for the trip to Panmunjeom and the JSA.

A good thing about Freedom Tours is that your can reserve on-line and then pay at their booth in the arrival area of Incheon Airport.  It's simpler and easier that way.  You CANNOT do this with Koridoor.  Koridoor requires payment at least 4 days before the tour, otherwise the reservation is cancelled.

The tour bus fetched us at our hotel at 7:45.  Majority of the people in our tour were tourists from Belgium.  We had an english speaking female tour guide.  The ride to Imjingak took about 70 minutes.

Our first stop was Imjingak--a tourist information center surrounded by Korean war monuments and memorials.

I went up to the observation deck and looked at Imjigang Railroad Bridge and Dorasan Station.

This is the Freedom Bridge.  According to the guide book, this bridge was built to facilitate the release of over 12,000 prisoners during the Korean War.

This is at the end of Freedom Bridge where the prisoners were released and where they started their walk to freedom.

This is what was left of a steam locomotive after it was riddled with bullets and damaged by bombs by the North Koreans during the war.

Our second stop was the DMZ Theater and 3rd Infiltration Tunnel.

We watched a short documentary about the Korean War in the theater.

This is an aerial view of the miniature version of the JSA.  I think North Korea is on the left, while South Korea is on the right.

Mural of how the North Koreans dug tunnels to infiltrate South Korea.

Michelle is our english speaking tour guide.

"South Korean soldiers" protecting and guarding the "border."

Marker showing the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel.  The mouth of the tunnel is located just 52 kilometers away from Seoul.  It is the closest to the capital amongst the other tunnels.  According the the brochure, an army of 30,000 soldiers can pass through the tunnel and invade Seoul within 1 hour.

Everyone entering the tunnel must wear a helmet.  And you really need it to protect your head from hitting the low ceiling.

This is NOT the 3rd Inflitration Tunnel.  This is just the access tunnel to that tunnel.  You cannot take pictures in the real tunnel.

Our third stop was Dora Observatory.  From here you can see, through telescope the Gaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, and the propaganda villages of both countries.  You'll also see the world's tallest flagpole, which belongs to the North Koreans.

Unfortunately, you can't take a picture from the telescope.  You can only take a photo behind the yellow line.  (I was told it was for security purposes).  So I took out my camera extender and took a photo from as high as I could reach.

This is what I was able to take a photo of.  Nothing much.  Just farmlands of North Korea.

The fourth and last stop of our tour was the Dorasan Train Station.  It is the last train station of South Korea before the DMZ.  It was built in anticipation of unification, but this was stalled when South Korea elected a new president last 2008.  His administration is anti-North Korea. Even more so today, after the attack on that South Korean island early this year.

South Korean males are required to render military service for 2 years.  EJ and I stand next to one of them.

Anyone care to join me take a train ride to Pyeongyang?

After the Dorasan Station stop, the tour bus went home.  We got dropped of at Yongsan Electronics Market in downtown Seoul at around 1:30pm.

For US$42, sulit na siya.  Freedom Tours provided a pretty decent tour of the DMZ.  However, if you really want the complete tour (visit the JSA) and have the extra money and time, then the USO/Koridoor tour is your best bet.  

Whatever you choose, make sure you go on a DMZ tour.

Budget:

DMZ Tour by Freedom Tours          P 1,850