DMZ

Lately we have been fascinated by North Korea. In our down time we've been watching all the netflix documentaries we can find on North Korea.
Right now in our universities winter program we have three students who are defectors from North Korea. It's been so humbling to hear their experiences. One student left Korea when he was 11. He escaped North Korea with his Mother and Uncle by swimming down a river for 7 hours straight until they reached China. He said all he could think about the whole time swimming was that he was going to die. Once they reached China they laid low for 6 years and eventually traveled on down to Vietnam and Cambodia where they were put into prison for 6 months for entering the country illegally. After all of that, they finally were able to reach South Korea and gain citizenship.
He told us that while in North Korea the children were given the opportunity to go to school but if they chose to go, they wouldn't be given any food to eat. So instead of going to school he cut down trees in the mountains for firewood. Sometimes they would be so hungry with nothing to eat, that they resorted to eating grass.
Another student said her neighbors were taken away after they were caught watching a South Korean drama on television. She never saw them again.
This last week we had the opportunity to go visit the 38th parallel, the border of North and South Korea. We started our tour at an U.S. military base where we learned about the relationship of North Korea and the rest of the world.
FYI
-North Korea is the most isolated country in the world. No one really know's what is going on up there, there is only a lot of here say and a lot of pointing fingers between the North and South.
-If the North and South did finally reunify. Ideally, in order to stop the suffering of the North, reunification needs to happen. China doesn't want reunification to happen because they don't want to share borders with a U.S. ally. And South Korea loves the idea but really doesn't want it to happen for another "20 years" because they currently don't have a large enough economy to help their brothers if the North were to reunify.
-North Korea's economy needs to reach 50% the size of South Korea's in order for a stable reunion, but currently it is only 2%.
-If the North did finally implode they would first have to seal off the border, dismantle their nuclear weapons, and then get them the aid they need in order to grow economically before they could ever allow them to officially reunite.
-North Korea has the world's 4th largest army. A large percentage of their military is strategically positioned along the border. The foreign aid they do receive is mostly used to feed their army. 30% of their GDP goes toward the military.

Anyways, following the military base, we took an hour bus ride up to the DMZ. Along the way our tour guide pointed out several things that the South Korean government has put in place in order to stop from any potential invasion. Things that look like billboards are large cement barriers that could be detonated and dropped onto the road for blockage, and triple stacked barbed wire fences across the river.
Our first look into North Korea.
All we could really see here are the bare mountains, all the trees have been cut for fuel. And the "Propaganda village" which was originally built to give the appearance of a beautiful rich country, it really is just several large nice looking buildings that have never been occupied. They even have the windows painted on them. We could also see their jammer towers to keep all of the South's TV and radio out or their country but apparently, a majority of them are broken and they lack the funds for fixing them...but if the citizen's are found watching South Korean TV....they're done for.

This is a picture of the South Korean Flag pole. It was given to South Korea after their hosting of the winter Olympics. At that time it was the tallest flag pole in the world. 3 weeks later North Korea built up their neighboring flagpole to surpass the height of the Souths by several meters. This is just one example of the childish competition between the two countries.

We next went inside a tunnel that was dug by the North Koreans. (sorry, no cameras allowed) There are several tunnels that were built with the intent of a surprise attack by the North. But when one of the engineers of the tunnel projects fled North Korea and told South Korea all about their plans, the North claimed they didn't know of any so-called tunnels. Because they didn't trust them, South Korean's put several water pipes near the tunnel that would spew out if there was any pressure from further explosions. And one did spew. When that happened the South discovered several more tunnels from the North. This time the North didn't deny it, because 'all they were doing was mining for coal'....heh.
Sorry this is really long. I warned you at the beginning I am fascinated with this stuff lately!
Now for the coolest part.
After getting on the VIP list and passing the security clearance, we got to step into North Korea, inside the safety of the building that is. The North and South are separated by this cement strip in the dirt!

This is what North Korea looks like


You can kind of make out the smudge footprints all over this peace talk table. Apparently when the North uses the peace talk room, they take off their shoes and stand on the table bare foot with their back to South Korea. How rude.

Those soldiers are HARD CORE!! We asked our guide if anyone had tried to flee the North in this particular spot, he said in the 6 months he's been here there have already been two soldiers that have crossed here and are now living in Seoul. He also mentioned that sometimes North Korean soldiers will sneak across and ask for food and sneak back. Sometimes when they sneak back the North will kill them.
The DMZ is an amazing place. It is also interesting to know that the DMZ is one of the wildest unintended nature preserves on earth. Animals there are untouched and grow to enormous sizes, they even have saber tooth deer! We asked our guide if the animals ever trigger the land mines in the area, he told us that they do hear wild pigs blow up every now and then, but it is a rare occurrence because it takes 90 lbs of concentrated pressure in order to detonate one. Oh, and we also saw what sports illustrated called "the most dangerous golf course in the world" it's surrounded by land mines. I could keep writing. But I promised I'd make Jon-David dinner.
So in conclusion, we are so glad we had the special opportunity to go to the DMZ and learn more about it, and step foot in North Korea!