A Visit to Another Communist Country

Today I went to North Korea. I stood in their hostile, communist country, and I didn't even get shot at by the intimidating North Korea soldier who was on vigil, eyeing us with his evil eyes and taking pictures of us, apparently an intimidation tactic. I felt pretty safe because I had quite a few US Soldiers and South Korean soldiers protecting me.

Yes, today we concluded the trip with a cool tour of the DMZ between North and South Korea, two countries who are still technically at war.

Warning: If you have no interest in political history, just skip to the headings that interest you. I found this fascinating, and hey, when mom asks if a DMZ is a new band I like (sorry mom- in fairness to you there's an old hip hop band called Run DMC), I figure I need to elaborate here.

The DMZ
What is the DMZ, you ask? Allow me to very briefly indulge myself, because this is interesting. And I'm oversimplifying here so all you political and history buffs, have mercy.

Back in the day, Japan took control of Korea. But after World War II, Korea got out of Japan's clutches thanks to help from their trusty friends, the USSR and the US.

Obvious problem: The USSR was communist, the US is democratic.

To make a long story short, the country was split because the South elected a leader, as only a good democratic would do. The North was designated a communist leader by the USSR (shocking, I know).

Things got ugly when in 1950 the North wanted control of the South and started blowing things up to get it.

Enter the Korean war.

Millions of lives were lost. People starved. Families were split up because of death or separation while the men fought. War prisoners were taken. South Korea was in shambles and things were looking grim.

Three in a half years later, peace talks begin. But they never really reached an agreement. Think of it like this: you and your significant other have it out verbally, then get tired of the yelling and resort to silent treatment. A kind of passive hostility.

So the talks didn't really bring any resolution, but they did agree to stop blowing each other's heads off.

To aid this, a demilitarized zone (DMZ) was set up along the border of the countries. It's 4km wide and each country gets 2km. Under no circumstances can the line between the two countries be crossed. The UN is helping South Korea keep peace in their country, so the US Army is stationed in the South's part of the DMZ, with the South Korean army, to ensure the violence doesn't flare up (and it has periodically over the years). The countries are still technically at war.

Enough of the Boring Stuff, What Did You Guys Do?
Our tour was conducted partially by the US Army and a Korean company. Once again we saw cool things, learned a ton, and saw things the average person doesn't. It was very interesting, if not a little intense. It's quite safe to be there. I mean, if it wasn't, surely they wouldn't do tours. But we did have to sign a waiver stating that we understood we could get injured or killed by hostile action of North Korea. Tourists have gotten roughed up by North Koreans in the past; in the 80's some average Joe was almost killed and to this day talks with a voice box.

We stood in the room where the peace talks to stop the violence happened in 1953. The room is literally divided by a line down the middle of a boardroom table- the North on one side of the room and the South on the other. Standing at the North side of the room was the only time we were permitted to be on North soil. There is a door leading outside right into North Korea (fortunately guarded by a hulky bulky South Korean soldier). In the past, the North Koreans have walked through that door, taken out the guard, and taken and roughed up tourists. Apparently it doesn't happen often, but it certainly has happened.

Walking Through the Tunnel
What's cool is that we walked down the a tunnel that the North secretly tried to build under the DMZ to get into the South. Three tunnels of this sort were discovered in the seventies and another one in the 90's. Man, those North Koreas were short. We had to wear hard hats walking into the tunnel, and I assumed it was for falling rocks. When I started cracking my noggin on the jagged ceiling on the tunnel, I understood the dire need for the helmets. I had to walk like a hunchback. We weren't allowed cameras, but hey, rules are made to be broken. At the end of the tunnel was barbed wire and a wall with big sign that said: MDL (Military Demarcation Line- or the actual line that separates the 2 countries). NO PICTURES MAY BE TAKEN.

I whipped out my camera, crouched down, peered throug the eyehole (didn't want the obvious display on) and snapped a picture before you could say "communism".

"Oh, crap," I said to Lynae. "Is that a window?"

I squinted. Sure enough, I had just taken a picture of the camera that was spying on us from North Korea. There was a window in the wall. Hmph. I'm pretty easy going, but communist governments are a little scary. My trek back through the tunnel was a little brisker this time round, thumping my melon on the ceiling along the way. Thank goodness for the hard hat.

Other Interesting (or Not-So-Interesting) Tidbits
What about North Korea?
It seems to be an undisputed fact that North Korea is the most closed and secretive nation in the world, and one of the most highly militarized societies. Power outages and food shortages occur all the time. 3 million people have died of starvation since 1995. The stories of the propaganda that the North tells their citizens is appalling. Example 1: America is the reason they are starving. Example 2: Everyone wants to live in their wonderful country. (Oxymoron, or what?)

Who Has the Bigger Penis?
The North errected a substantial flag on their side in the DMZ. Not to be outdone, the South reciprocated with their own flag attached to a bigger pole at 328ft tall. "Preposterous!" said the North. They thumbed their nose once again at the South and installed a 525ft pole of their own with a big ass flag that weighs 600lbs dry and must be taken down in the rain because it's too heavy when wet and rips. Sounds efficient to me. Good thing North Korea has everyone working for the government to coddle this labor-intensive flag.

In North Korea, there are 25,000 (no, that is not a typo) statues of Kim Il Sung, the original leader in 1953 and father of the current leader, spread around the country. Don't ask me how that was determined, but a our official tour was pretty serious about that fact.

Naughty North Korea
Believe it or not, over the years North Korea has pulled some stunts that would make any criminal proud.

I already mentioned the tunnels, which were the North's way of sneaking past the DMZ to be able to attack Seoul, should the inclination arise.

There's been the attacks on tourists and attacks on South and US soldiers. The incidents are isolated and seems to have gotten better over the years, but they definitely have pulled some stunts.

Take a Deep Breath, Denise...
Ok, I am done here. You can blast my rant on the comment sections and tell me how dull and boring I am. But just remember- I warned you.

Tomorrow it's time for me to get back to reality and fly home. I wish I could do the Harry Potter thing and take some floo powder and land in the fireplace at 445 St. Lawrence Ct. But hey, I guess a plane is better than a psychadelic bus blasting hip hop. I am actually ready to go home, which surprises me. And it's a nice feeling because my new home really does feel like home for the first time. Sometimes you need to go away to realize things like this.

This trip surpassed my expectations in every way and thanks everyone for actually caring enough to read about my adventures and respond.

When I get back I'll post some final pics of the DMZ tour and a final video clip of Korea and China.

Stay tuned and see you soon!