Tunnels, the DMZ and Trains to Nowhere

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October 10th 2014

Published: October 10th 2014

Tunnels, the DMZ and Trains to Nowhere

Incheon, South Korea

8:30am on this cloudy morning and we’re off to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea. This is an area 2 ½ miles wide roughly on either side of the 38^th parallel. The area is accidently a wildlife refuge and is a “no man’s land” or “buffer zone” between the two countries, overseen by peace keeping forces and led by the Americans. It is the worlds most heavily guarded boarder running 148 miles. Our tour guide told us that young children in South Korea are taken to the American Memorial with a statue of General MacArthur as he is their hero for coming to their aid.

The trip out to the DMZ took about an hour by bus. As we headed out north out through the smoggy skies of industrial Incheon, we saw hundreds and hundreds of automobiles on the docks ready for export around the world. Incheon appears to be a city of high rise block building apartments. We passed thousands of these buildings. As we left Incheon behind and moved into agricultural fields we saw yellow rice paddies as far as the eye could see. The yellow color meant the rice was ready to harvest. Because it is cold in winter in South Korea they only have 1 growing season for the rice, unlike warmer Vietnam that has 3.

The countryside was beautiful, but quickly took on an eerie look as the fences along the roadway bordering the river were topped with spiral barbed wire and interspersed with guarded lookout stations. These stations are manned by the South Koreans at night in order to watch for defectors and possible attacks from North Korea coming down the river.

As we looked across the river in the distance we could see clearly that half the mountains and landscape were barren and brown and the other half full of trees and green. The barren, brown landscape is in North Korea. Because the economy in North Korea is in such bad shape, the North Koreans have been clear cutting the trees for food, shelter and firewood. The green trees were in South Korea. As we got closer to the border and the DMZ, we saw more military and finally arrived at the checkpoint. A South Korean border guard boarded the bus and walked down the aisle inspecting each of our passports and counting the number of people on the bus. We were not allowed to take pictures around the checkpoint.

After leaving the checkpoint, we headed to the DMZ and the Third Tunnel. The Third Tunnel was discovered in 1974 after a tip from a defector from North Korea. The tunnel was designed to move troops from North Korea in order to invade South Korea. 10,000 armed soldiers would have been able to move through the tunnel in one hour. The tunnels go underground through the DMZ and into South Korean territory. Very frightening for the South Koreans! The Third Tunnel has been reinforced and opened for tourists to see. The tunnel, far underground and under the DMZ, has been sealed off with concrete and steel so that neither North Koreans nor South Koreans can go through.

We were told to put all of our belongings including cameras in lockers as no pictures would be allowed underground. We also donned hard hats which turned out to be a blessing as the tunnels are pretty dark, wet and narrow about 4’wide and only about 5-6’ feet high.

We boarded a mini-monorail which took about 50 of us down an extremely steep incline in a small tunnel (which was built specifically by the South Koreans for tourists to access the main tunnel, 240 feet below ground).

Once we arrived at the main tunnel, we got off and into a single line in semi-darkness. Then, with water on the ground, we walked, bent over, so as not to hit our heads, about half a football field (it seemed like a mile ;-) This was a real challenge for tall American men! As we headed toward the end of the tunnel on the South Korean side, another line of people coming from the other way began to pass us so now we had to hug our half of the 4’ wide tunnel as we trudged on. The North Koreans had painted much of the granite tunnel black, trying to make it look like the tunnel was a coal mine. There was also yellow paint to designate where they wanted to place dynamite for blasting the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel we could see the concrete and steel closure. Then we turned around and headed back down the darkened tunnel toward the monorail and our eventual exit from the tunnel. This was an unbelievable experience to actually be in the tunnels dug by the North Koreans in the DMZ. Incredible.

Just visiting these sites, which are so full of history and military action, was astounding-quite a walk back through the time to the Korean War and how it impacted South Korea. We saw memorials along the DMZ with South Koreans leaving paper wishes and paying homage to their ancestors and relatives still living in North Korea.

We once again boarded the bus and headed to the Dorasan Train Station. Here is this BEAUTIFUL, HUGE, MODERN $20 M train station near the DMZ. The North and South Koreans agreed to a joint venture in about 2000, where each would build trains stations and rails to connect not only to each other but all the way to Paris, France. The rails and stations are built but now… the North Koreans will not allow South Koreans to connect with them so… the train goes from Seoul to the DMZ and back again! This beautiful station sits virtually idle. Warehouses across the road were built to house the goods that would travel by rail and they sit vacant. Surreal.

What a day… time for a traditional Korean lunch of Kimchee, some type of purple rice, beef and salad…yum ;-)

We will be here overnight, tomorrow: Seoul, Korea

Tunnels, the DMZ and Trains to Nowhere

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