The Real "Team America"

Looking at North Korea
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5:45 is not a good time to wake up when you only got to bed at 12 am the night before. Bleary eyed we chucked togther our stuff and headed to the USO for a tour of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea (US$42 for civilians). Thanks to Emma B for organising it - you're a legend!

It took about an hour to get to the Joint Security Area (JSA) and we had our passports checked twice. Our civilian tour guide told us that South Korean visitors have to be cleared a month before a visit, so we had it easy. A US Army soldier took us for the tour around the JSA, starting off with a briefing on the Korean War. The history and politics around the DMZ is really interesting and we were definitely questioning Kim Jong Il's sanity by the time we had finished. The best part of the day was going to the Demarcation Line (DML) and looking at the North Korean soldiers, with a few South Korean soldiers for protection (people have been grabbed by the North Koreans previously) and to make sure that we were shot if we tried to defect.

...make sure that we were shot if we tried to defect.

North Korean officers checking us out
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We've all seen plenty on the news about North Korea but it became real when we stood there taking photos of some North Korean officers, while they took pics of us. Everything is recorded and we weren't allowed to point or wave to the North Koreans in case they used the image for propaganda. The South Korean soldiers look hardcore with their aviators and standing in the Taekwondo ready position - the whole idea is to look intimidating.

After having a view over North Korea and seeing their empty propaganda village complete with massive flag tower, we headed to out of the JSA and to another observation area for view from a different spot. We were also privy to some mild South Korean propaganda that suggested reunification was only a day away... yeah right.

Tough as!
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Tunnels had been built by the North Koreans to facilitate your everyday kind of invasion or general ambushes. The USO bus took us to Tunnel 3 and we were able to go down the South's interception tunnel and walk along Tunnel 3; 73 m under the DMZ. No photos were allowed, so sorry to all those wannabe moles. The tour took most of the day and we were delivered safely back to Seoul.