DMZ, JSA, MDL, UNC, MAC, USA, ROK, DPRK – these are just some of the acronyms we had to get familiar with when visiting the most militarized border in the world. This border between the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) divides the peninsula. It creates a buffer between two distinct philosophies. This buffer protects a grand swath of nearly untouched nature. It also separates families.
To visit the famed Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), we booked a tour company out of Seoul. The tours sell out early and fast, so we couldn’t get the longer tour that included infiltration tunnels and observation towers. However, we did experience the most intense and intriguing portion of the zone—the Joint Security Area (JSA).
This is a little military post right on the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) or official border between countries. Although the war is between the ROK and DPRK, it is technically fought by the United Nations on behalf of the south. So, even though most of the soldiers on the south side are South Koreans, they wear UN uniforms and are controlled by the United Nations Command (UNC). Most of the other UN soldiers on the border hail from the United States.
Due to this background, the UN signed the Armistice Agreement and set the border with its current rules and regulations. In fact, an official representative from the ROK was not at the talks where the agreements were made.
DMZ Tour
Our tour began in downtown Seoul where we hopped on a tour bus. On our short drive to the UNC base our guide gave a brief history of what we would experience and told of many of the interesting things we would see and experience.
We crossed the DMZ line, 10 kilometers from the MDL, and showed our passports for the first check. Then we arrived at Camp Bonifas in the JSA where they checked our passports again. At the visitor center we were briefed with a PPT and were given the lowdown on protocol for visiting the JSA area on the MDL (the real border).
The JSA
Another bus took us to this next location with a military escort. Our group filed out of the bus into two single file lines and into a fancy, large building. It wasn’t the only of its kind at this military-populated site. Through the back of this building we walked and were greeted by a view of North Korea and their grandiose visitor center building.
In between the two structures built for show and bragging rights, a row of blue military-style buildings straddles the actual border line as demarcated by a concrete curb running between buildings.
Our tour guide explained some previous altercations between guards at the JSA. As part of our protocol, none of us were allowed to point or make any gestures that could be considered in the least bit as a sign of hostility. This included our tour guide who motioned with her head or explained where to look without pointing.
Stepping into North Korea
The military escort kept us moving and on time. He ushered us into the Conference Room where the Military Armistice Commission holds meetings and where they formally signed the Armistice Agreement. The border runs through the middle of this building, so for a few minutes we explored the north from inside the small blue building.
When our few minutes were up, we went back outside in our lines and waited for the other half of our group to do the same. From here we drove through the JSA past the Bridge of no return and the site of the axe murder incident. In the distance, we saw the two villages within the DMZ that fly enormous flags as part of the propaganda war.
The tension was high and the pageantry even higher. When we first arrived we could not see any DPRK soldiers on their side except occasionally peeking around the corner of the building. About halfway through our tour, a handful emerged and took their menacing stances. Then, just as our buses were driving past the buildings, a whole troop of their soldiers filed onto the stairs in front of the building. It was all planned and perfectly timed.
Imjingak
We reached the Camp Bonifas visitor center again and took a very short break before boarding our bus back. Before going back to Seoul, we stopped at Imjingak. It is a complex just out of the DMZ where the Bridge of Freedom helped exchange prisoners of war in 1953. A newer bridge helped a wealthy South Korean business man send cattle to the north not too long ago as a humanitarian gesture.
We had lunch in a large building with restaurants and an observation deck. Monuments and memorials surround the center. A large amphitheater also sits on the site and hosts concerts for freedom each year. Most likely they play loudly in hopes that a few ears 20 kilometers to the north may hear.
At this point though, my favorite part of this stop were the verdant rice fields all around with white marsh birds swooping and stalking. It is truly beautiful.
Back to Seoul
A visit to the DMZ is sobering and sad. It is also very exciting. The war was never officially resolved. The Armistice Agreement is merely a cease fire. This shows not just at the border. It is a reality every day for normal Koreans. The gas masks in the mall. Constant worry of attack with regular missile tests across the border. The crackdown on propaganda from the other side while thinking it perfectly acceptable to send your own propaganda to that other side. A foreign military presence in the heart of your capital. It is something I am thankful to not have to live with every day.
