The DMZ

Today was an AMAZING day! I had the opportunity to go with several members of the branch up to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. Two members of our branch work up there. Unfortunately Spencer couldn't go because he got called in to work today last minute. We met at noon at Gate 13 of Post. It's only about an hour and a half drive up to the DMZ from Seoul. We made it in good time. When we arrived we had a briefing with Lieutenant Commander Dan McShane ("Danny"). He's actually one of the few guys up there that's Navy rather than Army. He walked us through the history of the Korean War and the armistice agreement that was signed. We were the first tour post summit! Here's a link to a video of the historical summit between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in for those interested.

Here's a quick recap for those who haven't brushed up on their Korean history....

WWII had just ended and the northern part of the peninsula was occupied by the Soviet Union, while the southern portion was occupied by the United States. The north invaded the south in 1950. The two sides fought for a year before they began drafting a ceasefire agreement. Fighting continued for another two years before they could get both sides to agree to the terms of the ceasefire. In July 1953 the armistice agreement was signed by both sides and an official ceasefire was ordered. They established the demilitarized zone as a buffer between the two sides. The DMZ extends across the whole country and is 4 km wide with the line of demarcation running down the middle. Naturally, both sides started cheating immediately. As a result, contrary to it's name, the DMZ is the highest militarized zone in the world per square inch. The Koreas are still at war today as an official peace treaty was never signed.

So back to the tour....

Danny took us to conference row first. While we were at conference row we were accompanied by South Korean soldiers who stood all over in modified taekwondo positions facing North Korea. Conference row is essentially a line of buildings that are used for communication between the north and the south. They sit right on the border and have an entrance on both the north and south sides. Once each party enters the building, they are divided by a table with a microphone cord running along the top of it representing the border. As you can guess, the North Koreans sit on the north side, and the South Koreans sit on the south side of the table. Neither party is allowed to cross over the border while any member of the other side is present in the building. There are 4 or 5 buildings with the same set up. We got to go inside one of the buildings. There were South Korean soldiers stationed inside the building while we were there. It's a crazy place to be. While we were inside I crossed the border and walked over to the North Korean side. It was a crazy feeling. I took a picture with a couple of the soldiers (from an arms length away, of course!) and then we went back outside. We also got to see the peace tree that Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in planted during the historical summit on April 27, 2018 right on conference row. The last thing we got to see as we were driving away was the spot where the KPA soldier defected to the south last fall. He was shot by the North Koreans 5 times but made across the border and was transported to a hospital where he recovered. The tension at the DMZ is high, but especially on conference row.

Peace tree planted by the Korean leaders in April 2018

 Danny then took us to a beautiful look out point and monument. On the map, we were surrounded by North Korea on 3 sides. We were lucky to go on a clear day because we could see miles into North Korea. Apparently on some days you can't see more than 15 yards out. We passed by "The Bridge of No Return" on our way back to the visitor center. The bridge was given it's name at the end of the fighting period of the Korean War. Part of the ceasefire that both sides agreed to was that all POWs would be released. The POWs were lined up on the bridge and given a choice to return to their own country and their families, or stay where they were but as civilians rather than war prisoners. Each man made their own choice, however, once they crossed the bridge there was no going back.

The last thing we saw on our tour were the underground tunnels that the North Koreans were digging into South Korea. We had to walk down about 200 meters underground. They've built a ramp downward to get to the entrance of the tunnel and then you have to wear a hard hat and crouch if you're American cause the tunnels were definitely not made with the consideration of anyone above 5 foot 5 inches tall. The North Koreans had disguised them with coal dust to look like old mining tunnels. When South Korea discovered the tunnels, the North Koreans claimed they knew nothing of the tunnels and that they weren't theirs. It wasn't until the South Koreans started including the tunnels in their tours and began bringing in revenue that the North Koreans came back and said, "Hey, half of that money belongs to us." South Korea's response? The classic, "I thought they weren't your tunnels." So, North Korea does not get any of the money from South Korean tours of the tunnels. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures in the tunnels.

That pretty much concluded our DMZ tour. I will never forget this day. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Most South Koreans don't even get to visit the DMZ in their lifetimes, in fact, they weren't allowed to visit the DMZ until only a handful of years ago. The coolest thing I learned about is how concerned is with North Korea. The church has given and continues to give lots of humanitarian aid to North Korea. In fact, after the famine in the 90s that killed hundreds of North Koreans, the church invited 11 North Korean officials to Utah to learn about agriculture and they taught them how to plant and care for apple trees. Who would have thought that the church has been so involved with North Korea?!