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Published: August 6th 2007
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Hi everyone,
This blog is not one of our ordinary blogs, but actually a tragic part of history that continues to live on to this day. Some of you might not be aware, but the city of Paju (where we currently live and work in S. Korea) is very close to North Korea. And ever since the Korean War ended over 50 years ago (1953), the unfortunate split between the people, the government, and especially the way of daily life of these two peoples continues to be divided. When Danny came to visit us last month, we took a special tour to the DMZ (the De-Militarized Zone) to see and learn more about this sad division that still lives on today. Today, the DMZ is the most heavily guarded border that exists in the world. Also, to many people's surprise, North and South Korea are still technically "at war". Even though a treaty was signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953, it was not a peace treaty, but instead, only a 'cease-fire treaty'.
On the first part of the tour, we were taken to Dora Observatory. Although there are many observatories along the border, this one
is the closest to N. Korea, and you must be on a special tour just to get there. In fact, everywhere we went on this tour is inaccessible to the public - You must be on a group tour with special permission! Here we saw mostly the farmland of North Korea, but also the infamous "Propaganda Village". This village was built by the North Korean government and got its name for 2 reasons. First, because of the extensive loud speaker system which broadcasts to the citizens (or anyone in the area who can hear it) the praises of Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Il's father who was considered to be even more "God-like" than he is!) These broadcasts are emitted 6-12 hours a day! The second reason is because this village has no citizens (mainly b/c of the fact that no one in North Korea can afford to live here!), and so it was obviously built for 'show' for the people of S. Korea to think that the N. Korean citizens are living well. Unfortunately, the only people that are there everyday though are the village's caretakers - they raise and lower the flag each day, and maintain the facilities.
Next, we visited the 3rd Tunnel. This was eerie and amazing at the same time, as we put on our hard hats and navigated our way into the dark, damp tunnel. Over the past 30 years, S. Korea has discovered a series of underground tunnels coming from the North, and all leading into the capital city of Seoul. This particular tunnel was the 3rd one discovered in 1978, and is so large that an army ten thousand strong could move through it within an hour. This leads many to believe that there were many strong North Korean plots to invade the South, even long after the treaty was signed.
Finally, we went to (in my opinion) the most exciting part of the tour - Camp Bonifas. For this part of the tour, we were actually within the DMZ, and as our bus was driving through this area, we couldn't help but notice all of the "MINE AREA" signs - noting that many of these fields still hold active landmines. Once we got to Camp Bonifas, the most dangerous base for American soldiers to be stationed at here in S. Korea, we went into a conference room for a
very serious briefing. We were told the level of danger involved in the area we were about to go to, and were even required to sign some paperwork which, in so many words, signed our lives away. We had to agree that if anything happened to us on the border, we and our families would not hold anyone involved responsible. Scary stuff, huh?
So after all the paperwork was signed and we were shaking in our boots, we all stood up and followed the soldiers to what is known today as Panmunjom. This is where the North meets the South for announcements, as well as important meetings. There are a series of buildings in Panmunjom (known as Conference Row) that are actually built right over the 38th parallel (the exact border of N. & S. Korea), and so in actuality, half of the building is on North Korean soil and the other half is on the South. We got to go into one of these buildings on our tour, which was really cool and scary as well. As this building is right on the border, South Korean guards & troops keep watch on one side of the line (from
what is known as Freedom House), and North Koreans on the other (known as Panmun-Gak). So, the entire time we were allowed to walk around in the building and observe everything around us...the North Korean guards were observing US through binoculars!! One guard was out in plain-sight, but others were peeking out of windows and watchtowers at us! It gave us all a very uneasy feeling...
So although that was the highlight of the tour, it wasn't over just yet. Next we went over to a sight where the 'Panmunjom Axe Murder Incident of 1976' took place. This incident occurred when some S. Korean/American troops went to cut down a poplar tree under order that it was blocking the view from the south side of a very important area. However, when they got there, they were met by N. Korean guards who questioned their authority and said they could not cut the tree down. When the work was continued, however, because the S. Koreans & Americans knew their actions were approved legitimate activity from both sides, a N. Korean guard suddenly yelled "Kill the Americans" and fighting broke out. The targets of the attack were the 2 American officers
(Major Arthur G. Bonifas and Lt. Mark T. Barrett), as they were pounced upon immediately and axed to death. Today, this military base is named Camp Bonifas in honor of Major Arthur G. Bonifas - one of the soldiers who was murdered at this incident.
We also saw the Bridge of No Return. This bridge was significant after the Korean War ended, as it is the spot where all prisoners of war were repatriated. These prisoners were brought to the bridge and told the choice was theirs, and that they could go to either N. OR S. Korea. However, once they had made their choice and crossed the bridge, they were NEVER to return to the other side - not even to see their own family that may have made the opposite choice. Today, the small bridge is old and worn...but its symbolism is very important to Korean history, as it denotes the separation of Korean families to this very day.
We hope you all enjoyed this blog and learned a little something too! 😊
Love,
Larry & Melanie
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Bree
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wow!
wow, thanks for the history lesson guys! i didn't realize you were staying so close to the border...