After calligraphy class today I went to the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) for a tour, with over 100 other study-abroad students. It's a very interesting place of tension between the North and the South and the US. The DMZ was created in 1953 after the Korean War, which drew a 155-mile cease-fire line from the East Sea to the Yellow Sea. Symbolizing both war and peace, division and unification, the DMZ is a place where time has come to a stop. It is now a paradise for rare animals, birds, and plants as one of few places where nature remains undisturbed.

Our first stop was Imjingak Park. There's a lot of monuments and memorials here, and you can see the Unification Bridge. The train called "The Iron Horse Wants to Run" is here to symbolize the railway connecting the North and South that was cut off during the war. Unification Pond and the Peace Bell are here too.
We learned about the Unification Bridge, which was built by the man who started Hyundai Group, now one of the largest companies in South Korea. He was born in what is now NorthKorea (but it was under Japanese rule at the time), and his family was very poor. He was tired of living in poverty, so he stole one cow from his father in order to get money for a train ticket, and eventually came to Seoul and became the huge business tycoon we know today. When he became rich, he felt bad for stealing the cow so he made a deal with North Korea and built this bridge (also called "Cow's Bridge") and sent 1001 cows as a gift to North Korea, to pay back his one cow plus interest.

Our next stop was Dorasan Station. To get here, we had to drive through a military checkpoint, where a South Korean soldier with a K-1 gun on his back got on the bus and checked everyone's passports. All the girls were giggling because he was really cute. =) Anyways, Dorasan is the last train stop in South Korean, but their motto is, "Not the last station from the South, but the first station toward the North." This demonstrates the Koreans' hope for reunification one day. When this happens, it is possible for Korea to be linked to many countries, even up to Europe, by train. I bought a souvenir train ticket and postcard here for 50 cents. (yay for cheap souvenirs!)
We then drove through an area that was filled with hundreds of thousands of land mines on either side of the road. The tour guide said that many animals live here because people are afraid to go in there. She said only animals can go between the North and South freely, without a visa, because many of them grew up in the land mine field since they were young, and they learned to smell out land mines and avoid them. However, she said there are still times you see animals that have lost their legs.

We stopped at Dorasan Observatory. This is located within the Civilian Limit Line and the northernmost observatory where you can see North Korea. The view was beautiful - the DMZ is filled with greenery, and the mountains of North Korea were beautiful shadows in the hazy distance. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos, except of the mountains. We were able to see Propaganda Village (Gijong) in North Korea, which is a facade village. It looks really beautiful with its modern condominiums, but nobody actually lives there. People are bussed in throughout the day to make it appear like it's a village, but they are bussed back home at night. There is no electricity or power lines in Propaganda Village. Up until 5 years ago, North Korea would play propaganda over loudspeakers, saying things like, "You poor South Koreans...come over to North Korea, where we will treat you like kings!" They also float balloons over to South Korea that spread out propaganda leaflets.

Also, near the Propaganda Village is the North Korean flag. When they saw that South Korea had a bigger and taller flag, North Korea made theirs even bigger and taller. So you can see it from really far away. I think they said it's the largest flag in the world. As Dr. Brown said, it's so petty...it's like these countries are run by schoolboys playing around and competing with each other. We got to look through telescopes (50 cents for a few minutes) and see the village up close, as well as the industrial city of Gaeseong. You are supposed to be able to see a bronze statue of Kim Il-Seong through the telescope on a clear day, but it wasn't clear enough today.

People who live in the South Korean village of Daesong (Freedom Village) in the DMZ don't have to pay tax or do military service, and their land is free. They each live in a modern house with a high-speed Internet connection and have high incomes. However, all 230 residents must be at home by 11 pm and soldiers guard them at all times as they farm their land. All their farming is organic since they are not allowed to use pesticides here. They farm rice, soybean, and Korena ginseng here.

Finally, we went to the 3rd Tunnel, which is one of 4 tunnels that North Korea built into South Korea as possible invasion routes. The last tunnel was discovered in 1990. The 3rd Tunnel was discovered in 1978 thanks to information from a North Korean defector. The North Korean government frequently lied about the intentions of the tunnels and when they were built and who they were built by. We put on hard hats and walked down a long and cold tourist tunnel built by South Korea some 5 years ago before we reached the infiltration tunnel. It was built to allow the passage of 10,000 armed soldiers, who once they crossed the border, could get to Seoul within 1 hour. We went inside the tunnel and walked for a few minutes. It was really scary because it was very dark, with only a few lit-up exit signs every now and then. Suddenly, the girls in front of me screamed and started to run back, but since the tunnel is pretty small, they ran into me and I screamed and ran back too. I have no idea why they screamed. But I was pretty scared by that point so a bunch of us turned back and started walking back, and up the lit-up tourist tunnel. The tunnel is 72 meters down from the South Korean side, but our tourist tunnel was at an angle, so our tour guide said we walked an equivalent of a 25-story building! I was huffing and puffing by the end, so I believe her.
We got in some trouble because we weren't supposed to take photos inside the tunnel, and one girl took 3 photos (with flash) in the tunnel. She was caught on the cameras, and our tour guide asked who took photos, because the soldiers were about to come and check everyone's cameras. If you were caught with photos, you had to do an hour of "education."

The only thing I was a little disappointed in was that we didn't get to go to Panmujeom, located in the Joint Security Area (JSA). There's a lot of interesting stories surrounding this place, but it would've taken a lot more time if we had gone there, so it's a whole other tour package. Our tour guide felt that out of all the tours she gives, the DMZ tour is better than the JSA tour, but she said we should check out the JSA tour if we still had time in Korea. I definitely enjoyed the DMZ tour though, even though I was really tired and really needed to study. =P

It took an hour to get back to Yonsei, and I joined a bunch of girls for a feast with delivery food. We indulged on jjajangmyeon (probably my last time here in Korea), nigiri sushi, and fried chicken. It was all delicious, and for ~10 girls, only $5 each to stuff ourselves! I must say, I'm very impressed with delivery food in Korea. The best part, besides the excellent quality, is no delivery charge and no tip!