Blogs from DMZ, South Korea, Asia - page 5

September 19/08- The Korean DMZ. ... read more

Today I visited what my guidebook describes as "the weirdest and scariest place on the planet." I don't agree (Israel freaked me out way more) but it was still a pretty sobering experience. Today I visited what is known as the DMZ, or the Demilitarized Zone, which is the set up at the North/South Korean border. Rumor has it, it's the most heavily armed border in the world. I'm not sure I even understand the whole deal as it is quite complicated. Let me start South and explain upwards. The area starts with 2km. of military protected land in South Korea where people are allowed to live and farm. There's even a little town there called "Freedom Town" or something a bit cheesy like that. Because it is "so dangerous" to live there, the farmers are ... read more

The most heavily guarded place on the planet. Six hundred US- and Republic of Korea (ROK)-led UN troops face - literally - the vanguard of 1.7 million North Korean troops across a border that is, at one point, represented by a strip of concrete about 5 inches high and 5 inches wide. Not surprisingly, the UN troops' motto is "In front of them all". The reality of this situation was only brought home to me when, at an initial briefing by a word-perfect sergeant of the US Army ("Questions at the end only, please. I AM Infantry, so if you interrupt me, that WILL confuse me and I'll have to go back to the beginning!"), two unexpected and frighteningly serious incidents in the Joint Security Area (JSA) were described to us. The first was in 1976 ... read more

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, ... read more

For those of you actually checking my site, it has been awhile since I last posted - my apologies. I’ve been pretty busy with school things. And I’ll admit, sitting down at my computer typing and uploading pictures isn’t the most invigorating thing I’d like to do on my time off. Oh well, I guess it has to be done sooner or later (in my case, always later!). Since I spent Christmas in Thailand I didn’t have the warmest feelings toward coming back to Korea. Thailand was nice and hot so I dreaded returning to the cold weather and work that awaited me. Needless to say, the first few weeks in January were quite slow. Some familiar Canadian candy helped me pass the hours. Thanks to those who sent me candy for my birthday/Christmas. I ... read more