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Asia » North Korea » Kumgangsan
July 20th 2006
Published: July 19th 2006
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The DMZThe DMZThe DMZ

South Korea after leaving the DMZ
“… I will explain a few rules. First, no taking pictures while on bus. Second…” Our guide spoke with a degree of clearness that I haven’t heard yet here from a Korean until now when he began stating the rules of our trip. As he continued to further explain the seriousness of breaking these rules the mood began to set in as to where we were about to go.

The Japanese rule of Korea ended with the end of the 2nd World War in 1945. At this time the Soviets and the Americans occupied their respective halves. However, the two countries could not agree on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea. In 1948 this led to the establishment of separate governments in the north and south, each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.

Shortly after, as tensions grew, the North crossed the 38th parallel claiming the south had crossed first, and attacked. From June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953 the Korean War raged on. The UN stepped in and initiated the Korean War Armistice Agreement where all parties, including the UN, would sign. Since then the Demilitarized Zone has separated North and South Korea. This is where my adventure begins….

My first impression of North Korea before departing on my trip was this: North Korea is being governed by a lunatic, the people are poor and hungry, and to top it all off, all of them are brain washed. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of you have a similar opinion, or something along those lines.

Military and Agriculture

The fact is North Korea spends 20-25% of its GDP on its military giving it the sole position of largest military spender in the world. In comparison to the South, NK is estimated to have 1.08 million armed personnel to the South’s 686,000 troops (plus 3.5 million paramilitary forces) plus 17,000 US troops. Yes, first impression would be that the South could overrun the North, but the thought of going to war with a mad man who is so unpredictable is what scares all South Koreans. It really comes down to the possibility of whether or not the North have nuclear capabilities, which, to be honest, the US can’t be 100% sure about. And the South only spends 2.5% of its GDP on its military, which means that the North is armed to the teeth.

The North’s agricultural outlook is poor, and some food products are deliberately diverted away from the citizens and in the military. “The combined effects of a reclusive state, serious fertilizer shortages, and structural constraints - such as little arable land and short growing season - have resulted in a shortfall of staple grain output of more than 1 million tons from what the country needs to meet minimum requirements” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea).

My personal observations cannot, unfortunately, be supported by a photos because of the limited opportunities that the North allow us to take pictures, but I can assure you when I see farmers using oxen and traditional plows I can be convinced that little attention is being paid to the food shortages.

Economy

The present position on most of the North’s economy has been deemed classified. However, there are a few secure trade routes that connect the North strongly with the Russians and the Chinese, but also with the South. The North is interested in conducting trade, but only as long as their main objectives are satisfied, mainly power. If you wonder how and why the North acts the way it does when
PropagandaPropagandaPropaganda

"Kim Jung Il is the greatest leader"
negotiating on the international stage, just keep in mind that this is very similar to ALL Koreans, north or south. Their needs come first and they will do whatever it takes to get things there way, however, who ever shouts loudest and shows more muscle will win. When dealing with the North this can be a deadly combination.

An example of the Economic intentions of the North, I managed to find some outside sourcing to help explain this newly developed idea occurring in the southern part of North Korea.
The Kaesŏng industrial park is run by a South Korean committee that has a fifty-year lease which began in 2004. Hyundai Asan, a division of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai has been hired by Pyongyang to develop the land . Thus far a dozen South Korean companies are participating in the project that employs six thousand North Korean Communist Party workers in eleven factories. Another twenty-eight South Korean firms have signed up to begin building factories as well. . The firms are taking advantage of cheap labor available in the North to compete with China to create low-end goods such as shoes, clothes, and watches. Workers earn an average of $57
Ben and IBen and IBen and I

yes, they even let this Aus in!!
per month - half of Chinese labour costs and less than 5 percent the salaries of their South Korean counterparts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaesong_Industrial_Region)

Much of this is not mentioned within the international media, at least not as far as I know, but the North appears to becoming a bit more open minded to connecting with the South in this manner.

Personal Observations

The actual nervousness that overwhelms any traveler going into an authoritarian nation such as the north is quite overwhelming. Before crossing into the DMZ we were strongly briefed as to what we will expect once we enter ‘northern territory’. Guards were evenly paced at about 500m intervals along the entire stretch of highway leading up to the North Korean Immigration. Each guard held a red flag that would be raised if any suspicious movements, gestures, or photos have been taken. In that case, if such and act was caught, the entire caravan of 10 buses would instantly be brought to a screeching halt. The thought of a soldier entering our bus would be pretty damn cool, but also not worth the loss in your camera or the embarrassment that would ensue once the offender would be removed and taken in for questioning. I am sure a lengthy bargaining session would pursue until the tour guides had come to agreeable terms that would allow you to see your family again.



We were all removed from the buses, with all of our possessions in hand, and escorted to a tent where the officers would line us up in an order that was now dictated by a number which was given to us on our passes. At this point I was waiting for one of the guards to pull out rubber gloves and ask us to drop our pants. Thankfully, that was not the case, and we continued to press forward in an orderly fashion through customs.

Oddly enough there was a bear mascot that greeted us and a row of Koreans that smiled and waved. Hmmm, not what I was expecting, but better then what I was expecting. Like a row of soldiers staring me down as if I was a criminal. Who knows what they have been told about why we were even in their ‘motherland’.

We re-boarded the bus again and took off to our central tourist area which consisted of places to eat and tourist trap goods. Keep in mind that our location in NK was only about 50kms over the boarder. It was all organized by a SK company that, I am sure, fought hard to get this kind of access into NK. I am also sure that they pay through the nose to the NK government. My two day trip totaled about $350 dollars US.

Of course there were guards at key points within the tourist area, but mainly at intersections where actual North Koreans crossed from one side of tourist areas to another. Any Northern Koreans within the tourist areas would wear a red pin with Kim Jung Il’s face. There was little contact made with the Koreans that lived in the area, only Koreans that worked a few jobs within the ‘compound’. To facilitate the shops and food courts mostly outsiders were brought in to work. According to our guides, 60% of the people working in these tourist areas were Chinese and the rest South Koreans. Those Northerners that do work within the tourist areas were few and primarily found to be on the mountain treks trying to sell food and other commodities along the way.

Did I mention that we were not supposed to take pictures of North Korean’s, or more specifically soldiers? Guess what I have???? HAHA. Well, I have some blurry pictures for you to see. You can see the red flags that they carry religiously. The picture was taken from my, to my surprise, glamorous 4 star hotel. It was getting dark, which I used to my advantage, and I couldn’t use a flash in fear of being spotted, but not too bad considering I was taking the pic from inside my room and zooming as far as I could to get the best shot. I am sure I was also shaking cause of the joke that snipers were all over the place. I shouldn’t take my jokes so seriously, but in a country like this it would be hard not to believe that such a thing was possible.

As this blog is getting rather lengthy, I will keep this next section short and sweet. Once we arrived we spent the larger part of the day hiking up to a beautiful waterfall that we never really managed to see through the heavy fog (clouds) the higher we hiked. The next day was no different, except we managed to get a break in the clouds and I could snap a few hazy pics of the view that surrounded our area. The weather was hot and humid for the whole trip and the overcast weather held out long enough with the rain. I have included many pics from both hikes for you to enjoy.
(Paul, I am sure you might recognize a few of these pics, but I didn’t go on the ocean hike like you did, I’m a climber, what can I say)

The return trip through immigration was a bit nerve racking again. Not because of my original fears of being cavity searched, but that I snuck a rock into my pack and didn’t want to be caught and let alone my new pics. You would have thought that the x-ray machines would be able to pick it up, but guess who got lucky, again?

To give you a bit more of an idea how militarily sound the area is, I managed to get some shots of ‘Tank Traps’ which line either side of the roads at key points on both sides of the DMZ. Since I couldn’t take pictures of them in the North, the South had the same set up for their protection. These large blocks are held up by 3 or 4 smaller blocks and are all rigged up with explosives. This is a precautionary measure just in case either side decides to use road access as a means to penetrate across the DMZ. These little blocks will be blown out and the larger boulders will come crashing down onto the road and help slow down on coming military vehicles, primarily tanks. The DMZ doesn’t look much different than an untouched forest, if such things exist out side of this area. It has been untouched for the last 60 years and looks incredible. I snapped a pic or two just past the DMZ into the South.

I’m sorry for running on for so long, but if there is one thing I wanted to help people understand it is the relationship between the North and South. Missiles aren’t a huge threat over here as the rest of the world makes it out to be. It all comes down to perspective. The North wants One Nation, but the South feel cheated as the North try to do this in their own manner, through spies and pointless political tactics. Progress is being made, I suppose, but if it ever gets to the point where the boarders will open, then there will be many more problems to tackle. Like trying to bring 22 million people up to speed as to what really has happened these past 60 years. If you think you’ve had a bad day, wait until your dead leader didn’t invent the wheel, or didn’t fly in space. Freedom is a gift, enjoy it!



Additional photos below
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The leadersThe leaders
The leaders

on the left is Kim Jung Il the present commander in chief, the other is his father Kim Il Sung who is technically still the true leader.
SoldiersSoldiers
Soldiers

fuzzy, but cool!
DMZDMZ
DMZ

What the DMZ would look like


19th July 2006

Comment
Thanks for the info stroh, I think you look a little bit like Kim Jung Il. Did any one think you where a basketball palyer? Do they eat dogs in North Korea? Try not to get hit by any rockets falling from the sky while you are over there
21st July 2006

Ah the memories
Looks like you had a good time. Yah I remember those photos! You are so educational - such a teacher!
22nd July 2006

soo jealous...
i got the email that you had written a new post just as i was reading up on North Korea in my trusty Lonely Planet....cant wait to get there...hope there is something that you havent done so that we can go toghether!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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