The DMZ from North Korea

A year ago this week I took a 30-hour train ride from Beijing, China to Pyongyang, North Korea. The adventure of just getting on that train has been chronicled and now I will write about visiting the DMZ from the North and South, just ten days apart.

The drive from Pyongyang to the DMZ is about 2 hours along the so-called Unification Highway. The most notable aspect of the highway is the fact that one seldom sees any vehicles. It should not have been so surprising considering the few people who have cars require a permit to leave the city.



At the DMZ, we were first taken to the Armistice Talks Hall, which is where the negotiations were held and the truce eventually signed on 27th July 1953. The black and white insets in the photos below are from that day, but the building is obviously different (something I realized just now as I don't remember hearing about this on the tour).


^The red sign says the building was graced by the presence of Kim Jong-il.





This stele sits outside the building and according to Lonely Planet,
the inscription reads:


It was here on July 27, 1953
that the American imperialists
got down on their knees before the
heroic Chosun people to sign
the ceasefire for the war
they had provoked
on June 25, 1950.






Afterwards we were taken to a building where the actual ceasefire agreement in Korean and English are on display. Next to each is the Korean and United Nations flags respectively. However, the most interesting aspect of this exhibit is the observation that there are actually two United Nations flags: one bright blue and one dodgy brown. Well, before you could mutter 'Why ...', our friendly military guide was proud to explain that the both the good-as-new Korean flag and the dodgy brown UN flag are over 50 years old, but only the latter has faded with time. Evidently, this 'proves the strength of our flag and our people'!



Finally, we were driven to the site of the actual demarcation line.
The top-left shows most of the area along the line and four of the seven buildings situated on it. Tours (from the North or South) always enter the third building shown.
The top-right shows the concrete slab, which marks the demarcation line. It is guarded here by three North Korean soldiers while a South Korean stares in the background.
In the bottom-left, I was technically in South Korea while taking this photo. If I was on the other side of that wall, I would very likely be immediately shot at from both sides.
The bottom-right photo shows two North Korean soldiers guarding the doors which lead to South Korea ... Ten days later, I would enter that very door on a DMZ tour from South Korea. And in retrospect, it is hard to believe that Seoul, with all its opportunities and prosperity, is just 70 kilometres away ...