Korea - Day 2 - DMZ tour

ok...things were a bit surreal...all the time youre wondering is this really happening...i mean really, in this day and age...you got guards that stand behind the building half exposed, half hidden so as not to give the other side a clear target, you got the same guards wearing dark sunglasses so that other side will not know what you are looking at because apparently it caused a huge rucus some years ago, you got the other side building a flagpole, then extending it to make it taller than the other side's one...???...there are pictures of the north and when you look real carefully you notice that there arent any trees...the reason: they are all chopped down for heat.

this picture is actually taken at the border of n/s korea. the soldier is standing on the border, the mics are actually placed on the border as well.

say cheese...ok you dont have to

n.koreans stand guard

s.koreans stand guard - half hidden/half exposed

the world's tallest flagpole
The world's highest flag tower stands at the entrance of Gijeong-dong (330 meters tall) flying a 300-lb North Korean flag. This tower was not originally as tall as it is now, but when the flag pole in the South was extended, thus making it taller than the Gijeong-dong pole, the North again quickly extended their pole taller. However, due to the weight of the flag, the pole would not be able to support it if it becomes wet, hence the immediate lowering of it when it begins to rain.

s.korean soldiers marching

poplar tree - or where it originally stood (actual girth)
On the morning of August 18, 1976, a group of United Nations personnel attempted he to trim the branches of a poplar tree in the DMZ that was obstructing the view from a U.N. guard post. North Korean soldiers attempted to block the operation then attacked the U.N. personnel with axes.

the bridge of no return - you can cross but you will never return

shot taken from bus leaving the dmz

n.korean defector
this guy actually defected and lived to share his testimony. he played a couple of original n.korean songs for us after lunch.

i never really thought about all that goes on only a 2-hour flight away...you dont think about all the millions of dollars and hundreds of soldiers that both sides spend every year to keep this border which seems more like a show/a facade...really came back with just this surreal sense of reality...or maybe its too real and this world is just all show...whoa...sorry...anyway...