July 21, 2009 - Seoul, South Korea
"Goooooooood morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test! This is rock and roll! Time to rock it from the Delta to the D.M.Z.!”
~ Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam, the movie
Determined to not leave Korea with a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) visit, this morning at 0700 hours, a small squad of U.S. teachers undertook a covert operation. Still unsure why we are not visiting the DMZ as a group, we choose the U.S. military "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy to justify our secret mission. Inconspicuously meeting on the street, we were quickly found out and invited a couple other civilians to join in on the fun.
The DMZ is the most heavily guarded border in the world, established July 1953. Averaging around 2km between North and South Korea, the 38th parallel DMZ is a cease-fire separation line. Tourists can only visit the DMZ through organized tour groups, while South Korea citizens are not allowed near the area.
On a bus full of English and Japanese speakers, we visited the Freedom Bridge where South Koreans hang memorial ribbons for North Korean family members. The second stop at Tunnel 3 allowed for yellow construction hat visitors to venture underneath the DMZ, coming within 1/4 of a mile of the North Korea border. This is just one of many tunnels built by North Korea for a possible invasion of Seoul. The third stop at the Dora Observation Platform offered a telescope view of North Koreans working in the fields and a lone bike rider. It's said that sometimes children training for the North Korean military can be seen.
It is believed that most people in North Korea don't want to be starving and isolated from the world under a totalitarian communist regime. To be born a peasant in North Korea is purely bad luck. This is where I have a problem with Buddhist teachings - Buddhism believes this is not bad luck, but bad karma from a poorly lived past life.
More military facts learned:
+ Kim Il-sung, Mao Zedong, and Stalin believed "power comes from the barrel of a gun"
+ Kim Il-sung invaded South Korea in June 1950 and captured Seoul within 3 days
+ Nuclear weapons are "terror weapons," not "military weapons"
+ Successful military attack requires a 3:1 ratio (U.S. invasion of Iraq was a 1:2 ratio)
+ North Korea has the 4th largest military in the world
+ 70% of North Korea's forward deployed troops are focused towards South Korea
+ North Korea has the largest artillery force in the world
+ North Korea has at least 800 missiles
+ North Korean air force employs glider planes, which are undetectable by sate-lights
The world's concern with North Korea is becoming more clear.
The last and most impressionable stop on our tour was to the Dorasan Train Station. Currently, a multi-continental train runs from Paris, France to a southern Korean city. The only incomplete portion of this track runs through North Korea. Paying 500 Won (50 cents, US) we walked onto the platform and looked North in wonderment. The trackers heading to Pyongyang are there, but have never been used - stopping just short of the border crossing. After giddily placing an illegal train stamp from Dorasan Station to Pyongyang in my passport, a feeling of hope arose. I hope someday my children can visit North Korea and/or travel uninterrupted from France to Korea, through a country that no longer starves its people in order to fund their military.
With much to ponder - Mission Accomplished! I'm coming home!
But first dinner, drinks, awards, and laughter at the 27th Floor Taepyungro Club.
