Friday, May 15, 2009

Korean Demilitarized Zone (한반도 비무장지대)

As I promised before, this post is about my visit to Panmunjeom in South Korea. Before that I need to give some historical background.

The story of the division of the Koreas began with the Japanese occupation. After Japan lost the World War II Korea regained its independency, but ideological differencies between US and USSR made those two powers occupy different regions of the Korean peninsula after the war. US troops were at south of the 38th parallel and Soviet troops at north. As those two nations drifted further apart from each other to what would become the Cold War, the peninsula became further separated with different governments established.

In 1950, Kim Il-Sung, North Korea's ruler, dreaming of unification of the Koreas made an armed invasion to the south starting the Korean War. North Korean troops almost accomplished the objective of conquering the entire peninsula until the United States, fearing that Korea would fall into the hands of the communists, requested the UN to intenvene and deploy troops to the Korean peninsula.

That turned the tides of the battle, allowing this time the South to almost get control of the whole peninsula before Chinese troops joined the battle from the North's side. The battles reached a stalemate and finally a armistice (or cease-fire) treaty was signed between the involved parties separating the Koreas .

So, in a way, the Korean War actually never ended.

The armistice treaty included the demarcation of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), an area where installation of military facilities, station of armed troops and positioning of weapons are prohibited. The DMZ is a area that goes 2km apart from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL, the currently accepted border between North Korea and South Korea) to each side of the Koreas. Also, South Korea set a civilian off-limits line ranging between 5km to 20 km from the MDL.


Source: Wikipedia


Ironically, the Korean DMZ is actually the most militarized border in the world, and also said to be one of the most dangerous places. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it also became the last Cold War frontier.

All that calls for a unique experience, right? That's what I thought when I decided to book a visit to Panmunjeom, or Joint Security Area (JSA). That area is the only place where North Korea and South Korea connect, and the place where all talks between the Koreas have been held since the armistice treaty was signed.

To add more spice to the mixture, there were joint military exercises between South Korean and US troops and the scheduled North Korean satellite launch. Those two factors made the North cut communications with the South and close its borders, elevating the tension between the Koreas when I went there.

They're quite strict with visits to the DMZ area, and the JSA in particular. Korean civilians need special permission to go, and foreigners must join a group tour having their passports checked many times on the way (also, people from certain nationalities aren't allowed). Those who go have also to sign a term of compromise exempting the UN from any harm - even death - caused to them while they were in the DMZ and not to do any offending gestures to soldiers there. There is also a dress code prohibiting anything resembling military outfits, torn jeans, short pants, sleevless tops and slippers.

There was an English tour and a Japanese tour. My friend and I decided to play safe and joined the English tour. There were even some members of US military there for the joint military exercises with South Korean troops I mentioned before...


The first stop on the way was Imjingak, the closest regular South Korean civilians can get to the DMZ and where families with ties to the North perform ancestral rites while longing for the unification. It is also the place where the Freedom Bridge is. That bridge connects North and South and was used by about 130,000 POWs to return home after the Korean War.

From there the tour went to Camp Bonifas, named after a JSA officer killed during the Ax Murder Incident (I'll come back to that incident later), for the briefing. The briefing of the English and Japanese tour groups was held together with both guides alternating in giving explanations. Since I also understand Japanese, it was quite interesting to listen to both and notice some differences. Perhaps one really worth writing was when they were giving the historical background, the Japanese version sort of emphasized the point that Korea was divided after the Japanese occupation. Maybe an attempt to show to Japanese people that they also have a part on the story as Japanese government minimizes or denies some acts of the Japanese during WWII.

Also interesting to note, Camp Bonifas also has what was once called the most dangerous golf course. I don't know if they still hold that title, though.


From Camp Bonifas to Panmunjeom, where the highlight was peeking at North Korea at the other side and even taking some steps into it - only inside the blue MAC buildings, of course. Those buildings are where both sides hold talks face to face (when it happens, which is not often), and microphones from both sides record every sound in the room.

The next stop was Sentry Post Number 3 from where it is also possible to look at North Korean territory and Gijong-Dong, a North Korean village inside the DMZ. One funny story regarding this village and its South Korean counterpart, Daesongdong, is that both have a pole with a flag of the country the village belongs. Originally, the North Korean pole was built to be taller than the South Korean one. Eventually, South government decided to remodel its pole to match the heights. Very shortly after that North Korea also makes its pole taller and kept the title of tallest pole in the world...

Back to the Ax Murder Incident, the final stop around Panmunjeom was the monument where once stood the poplar tree that triggered the incident. That tree blocked the visibility between Sentry Post Number 3 and the South Korean sentry post at the Bridge of No Return. As workers and some South Korean troops attempted to trim the tree, North Korean soldiers demanded that they stop. Ignoring the command, they countinued to trim until other North Korean troops arrived with clubs and axes and attacked UN personnel involved in cutting the tree. As UN troops are authorized to draw their weapons if North Korean troops shoot at them, using white weapons was a clever way to prevent strong retaliation. Some JSA officers and soldiers were wounded or killed during the incident.

That triggered the Operation Paul Bunyan, the most expensive tree chopping operation in History, to remove the poplar tree. With a back up of an armed platoon, 27 helicopters, and a number of B-52 bombers (!!) the tree was finally removed and now a monument stands at its original place. From that incident security guards of either side have been prohibited from crossing the MDL to the other side (before, the whole JSA used to be a "real" joint security area between the Koreas).

To conclude the tour, a visit to a souvenir shop inside Camp Bonifas. Although I wasn't expecting that - no offense intended -, with Japanese tourists involved it is no surprise...

Talking to our guide on the way back, I heard some interesting curiosities about the DMZ. For example, North Koreans also visit the DMZ from the North's side. And, unlike tourists from the South that have many restrictions to avoid problems with the North, visitors from the North are allowed to wave to soldiers (even soldiers from the South), point at them, take pictures where South tours usually can't and have less time restrictions (sometimes they stay very long inside the MAC buildings to prevent tourists from the South from entering). And all that is used as propaganda by the North Korean government, saying that people from the North have "more freedom" than their South counterparts. Clever propaganda, I have to admit...

More pictures of the Korean DMZ tour are in my Korea album.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Falae Igao!
Muito interessante a sua historia!
Agora fica a pergunta... Se a zona eh altamente militarizada, pq ela tem esse nome?
E outra, vc tb sabia q oficialmente o Japao esta em guerra com a Russia? O Artem pode ser um espiao... hohoho

itsanada said...

A DMZ foi originalmente feita pra ser uma area desmilitarizada, mas devido a contantes atritos, acontece que muitas tropas acabam se concentrando na regiao. Acho que eh que nem qdo sua mae diz pra vc nao subir na mesa e vc sobe mesmo assim... hahahaha!

Nao sabia desse negocio de guerra com a Russia... interessante que o governo japones aceite russos entao... haha!