The Demilitarized Zone is the buffer on either side of the 38th Parallel, the armistice line dividing Korea into North and South. It is famous for its tension, as it represents not a permanent and peaceful divide, but rather a tenuous cease fire, while technically still remaining at war. Since its creation, there have been many incidents to add even more tension - the ax incident, infiltration tunnels, etc.
We expected it to be a somewhat scary place, imagining the famous image of Panmunjeon within the DMZ where Northern and Southern soldiers stand mere yards from each other (Recreated quite amazingly for the setting in a B-Boy movie, seen here). Instead we found it to be a strange, but not frightening place. We first went to Imjingak, an area with memorials, a small observatory deck, and an amusement park across the street. No idea why, but there you have it.
We continued on to the 3rd infiltration tunnel, where we watched a documentary about the area. It highlighted the violence of the war and the suffering of separated families, but then switched themes quite rapidly to show a more positive view: the DMZ, having been untouched for many years now, has become a wildlife refuge.
The documentary was rife with excessively positive propaganda, and drilled home the notion of hope rising out of despair and life out of tragedy (just to show that the South isn't immune to its own form of political propaganda).
We then proceeded to the museum, which catalogued the violence, aggression, and overall just plain sneakiness of the North. They dug a total of 4 (if I recall) infiltration tunnels in an attempt to infiltrate the South, each time getting closer and closer towards Seoul. If they did manage bring their army through one of the tunnels (some of which have enough room for up to 3-4 soldiers waking side-by-side), they would pop up mere meters away from the heart of the South.
After that, we were allowed to go into one of the tunnels, although only to a certain distance. After that limit, it's blocked by a giant wall of concrete.
Overall, it was a rather odd experience. I (Jay) have to add that it was definitely a tad disappointing, as I was under the impression we would be traveling right up to the main border, at Panmunjeon, which is what everyone automatically thinks of when the words "Demilitarized Zone" come up. As such, it was a let-down from my expectations, but that aside, it was an (if nothing else) educational visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment