South Korea

1 day , August'15

WHAT'S DMZ?

DMZ is the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea: it's a 4 km wide and 240km long strip of land where nobody since 1950 steps in. It's considered the most militarised area in the world.
The only point to cross the DMZ is the Joint Security Area (JSA), where a small UN house with a table is placed exactly on the border to let North Koreans and South Korean sit to have peace talk without exiting their respective countries.

Nagorno map, click on to enlarge

INTRO SOUTH KOREA DMZ

THE TRAVEL IN SOUTH KOREA DMZ

PRINTABLE FORMAT

VISIT TO THE SOUTH-NORTH KOREAN BORDER (DMZ) FROM SEOUL

NOTE: I'm not reporting as usual about a whole travel but only about the South- North Korea border (called DMZ) visited from Seoul in the week end during a business trip in South Korea

Kind of visit to the DMZ:
Organized through a tour operator (it's not allowed to visit DMZ independently)as day trip from Seoul. There are so may different operators with different packages according to what you want to see. I choose the full one: tour T27 with VIP travel

When:
1st August 2015 in a 8h daytrip

Do I need a visa:
Yes you do despite you don't need to enter South Korea. You have to book it in advance (depending by the operator from 2 weeks to 2 days)

How I moved:
Mix of travelling by bus and on foot. Note that in JSA you will change bus getting on a military one.

Freezing or baking:
In August be prepared to get soaked

Where I slept:
The visit is always a day trip from Seoul; according to the package you take can be from 4h to 8h

What I liked:
DMZ's a unique place where you still breathe the cold war tension. I learnt a lot about the history behind it biased of course by the South Korean point of view. Unless you don't manage to enter North Korea (good luck) it's the best place to peek in such scaring country

What I disliked:
It's a group tour so be ready for this. It'll be a full bus of people (most of them South Korean) snapping pics around as they are in an entertainment park. In JSA you'll feel a sense of uneasiness being a heavily militarized area.

How much daily:
Tour price: 110euro pp. T 27 tour with VIPtravel is one of the most expensive I've seen, but I've preferred to pay 20-30euro more than risking falling in a crappy organization. The price includes everything, also lunch.

Tips:
Dress code applies : Normal blue jeans are OK to wear but no sleeveless shirts, t-shirts without the collar, short pants & skirts, sandals, military looking clothes and T-Shirts with flag or name of the nationality on it.

TRAVEL IN SOUTH KOREA DMZ

Being the only way to visit DMZ I picked a tour booking it online 3 weeks before my visit (minimum booking advance is 2-3days). The tour has been postponed due to some military training, but luckily I managed to readjust my agenda accordingly. The agency I used is http://www.vviptravel.com (TOUR T-27, price:135.000KRW). I choised the full package (7.20 am- 5.00 pm) since I didn't want to loose anything. Most of the other packages are shorter and more economic.
I got picked up at my hotel at 7.20 by car and taken to the Lotte Hotel from where most of the buses leave. At 8.20am the bus was full (a mix of South Koreans Nort Americans, Australians,...)and we left. It take2 arounf 45min to reach DMZ from Seoul.

THE PLAN OF THE TOUR HAS BEEN:

Pick at the hotel 7.20 am
The Tunnel
Dora Observatory
Dorasan Station
Imjingak Park
Lunch
Camp Bonifas (Slides Show and Briefing)
JSA (Freedom House, Conference Room, Bridge of no Return)
Back in Seoul at 5.15 pm

THE GUIDES AND THE TOUR
Welcome to DMZ!	Our guide	A military guide of other group
Don't expect to be the only one in DMZ! You'll be part of a group (15-45 people) and along the way you'll meet so many other groups that it may have the feeling to be in Disneyword: However you'll find it very well organise and despite the crowd, quick. THE TUNNEL (the 3rd infiltration tunnel)
The parking; as you see it's plenty of tourists	A mock up of the tunnel entrance	It's me on the train inside the tunnell
The Third Tunnel of Aggression is one of four known tunnels under the border between North Korea and South Korea, extending south of Panmunjom. It is 1.7 km long, 2 m high and 2 m wide adn 73m deep. It is apparently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul from North Korea. You will be equipped with an elmet and by a small train you will reach the bottom of the tunnel from where in a 10 min walk you will reach the 3m thick concrete casted at the border. DORA OBSERVATORY
The observatory platform	The DMZ (the fence 2km south from the border)	A military building? Boh?
Dora Observatory is situated on top of Dorasan (Mount Dora), the observatory looks across the Demilitarized Zone. Visitors can catch a rare glimpse of the reclusive North Korean state through binoculars from the 500-person capacity observatory. They will be able to see the North Korean propaganda village situated in the DMZ (a fake village built by North Koreans), a remnant of the old prosperity of the North, and can see as far as the city of Kaeson. Unfortunately when I was there (1st Aug) was so foggy that I saw almost nothing. You'll be shown also the huge christmas tree facing North Korea that every year the South Korean lit (exception it has been made the year of the death of Kim Il John)

Our guide while explaining	Don't expect a gloomy place, on the opposite...	Everything is ready for the line to be reconnected to North Korea
Everything is ready for the line to be reconnected to North Korea	South Korea wishes to open the border	The train Seoul- Dorasan is colourfull
Dorasan Station is a railway station situated on the Gyeongui Line, which once connected North and South Korea and has now been restored. For several years the northernmost stop on the line was Dorasan Station.On December 11, 2007, freight trains began traveling north past Dorasan Station into North Korea, taking materials to the Kaesong Industrial Region, and returning with finished goods. On December 1, 2008, however, the North Korean government closed the border crossing after accusing South Korea of a confrontational policy. So today it's the northermost point you can reach by train: the station is currently served by four daily trains from Seoul, which are used mostly by tourists. You can enter and visit the station. You'll notice the explicit wish by South Koreans to reopen the line to North Korea, with the aim to be reconnected with the EuroAsian railway sistyem, making so possbile to reach Paris by train IMJINGAK PARK
Bombed locomotive found in DMZ	The entertainment park. Will it be the same on the other side?	South Korean families having fun
South Korean families setting up tents just for the day	Will it be visibile from North Korea?	Our lunch not bad at all
Imjingak and sometimes in English called the Imjingak "resort", is a park located on the banks of the Imjin River in the city of Paju, South Korea. The park has many statues and monuments regarding the Korean War including a bombed locomotive found in the DMZ after 30 year. There is also a restaurant, an observation deck, a pool in the shape of the Korean peninsula, and even a small amusement park. It's quite a popular spot where you'll see many South Korean family enjoying the week ends. The park was built to console those from both sides who are unable to return to their hometowns, friends and families because of the division of Korea. JSA (THE PANMUNJON VILLAGE) AND CAMP BONIFAS
The pass I got to enter JSA	JSA, where South and North Korea look face to face each other	The conference room built across the border
The real border is just a concrete slab	The table in the conference room where the meet for negotiaton (the border line is in the middle)	South Korean guard inside the conference room
The souvenir shop in the JSA	The southern border of the DMZ on the way to Seoul
Camp Bonifas Camp Bonifas was a United Nations Command military post located 2 km south of the JSA (so 2 km from the border) but 400m form the southern border of DMZ.. It was returned to the Republic of Korea in 2006. In Camp Bonifas you be asked to change the bus getting on a militar one to visit JSA (Punmjun village). Here you'll be shown an interesting history of the Korean War and there's a souvenir shop plenty of DMZ gadgets. JSA (Freedom House, Conference Room, Bridge of no Return) The Joint Security Area (JSA) is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. It is often called the "Truce Village" or the 'Panmunjon village'. The JSA is used by the two Koreas for diplomatic engagements: you'll see the conference room inside which a table is set over the demarcation line where the two Koreas can sit without exiting their own country. The border itself (demarcation line) it's not fenced, but just a few centimeter high concrete slab. Here you'll breath the tension among the parties and the rules on how to move and what to photograph are very tight. Don't expect to poke around where you want snapping what you want: in particular you'll be severely instructed to take picture only toward North Korea. There'r a lot of recent events connected to JSA, among which the major one is the axe murder incident when a trimmed tree was going to be the spark of the 3rd world. You will be shown a memorial standing where the tree was placed..