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A Visit to the DMZ: A Virtual Tour of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea

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Editor’s Note:

The lesson that follows was developed by a participant in an Indiana University National Consortium for Teaching about Asia seminar. We thank Anne Prescott of the IU East Asian Studios Center for sending this lesson. A virtual tour of the DMZ accompanies this lesson plan. To include the virtual tour in your curriculum, please visit our Web site: http//www.aasianst.org/EAA/supplemen­tal.htm where a script of the tour can be printed and the color photos can be viewed.

map of the korean peninsula
Source: This map has been modified based upon a Florida Geographic Alliance map. Florida Geographic Alliance
http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/maps.html. The original map can be accessed at http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/ pdf/ asia/korea.pdf.

Script for a Virtual Visit to the DMZ

a photo grid of several areas of the dmzEarly in the day, we leave Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to begin a one-hour bus ride to Panmunjom village and the DMZ [Photo 1]. The distance from one of the world’s largest cities to the DMZ is only 40 kilometers (25 miles). Panmunjom is an area where a Joint Security Area (JAS) has been created. The JSA is a place where North and South Korea meet to discuss military, economic, and politi­cal problems between their countries [Photo 2]. It is the only location where the two Kore­as meet and has been the site of numerous dis­putes over the past fifty years [Photo 3]. Over 75,000 people visit here each year. This area is also referred to as the United Nations Com­mand Security Force—Joint Security Area. Before the bus departs we are told of the Unit­ed Nations Command enforced dress code—no jeans, t-shirts, halter-tops, or shorts. We must also read and sign the release form pro­vided by the LEN forces [Photo 4]. (Pass out the VISITOR’S DECLARATION form and request that all students sign the document.)

For most of our hour drive to the DMZ we will not be allowed to take photographs from the bus. At certain times it will be announced that photography is allowed [Photo 5]. Any­one violating this policy risks confiscation of his or her camera and exposure or destruction of their film. The highways that we will drive upon are named the Unification Road and the Freedom Road.

We cross a bridge called “Freedom Bridge.” No photos are allowed. In the event of military aggression by North Korea, this bridge will be immediately blown-up. (South Korean citizens are not allowed to go beyond this point.) A US Army soldier boards the bus and will now accompany us during the rest of our visit to this area.

We arrive at the UN Security Forces for­ward base named Camp Bonifas [Photo 6]. This US and South Korean military base is 400 meters from the DMZ [Photo 1]. The DMZ is a zone, 1000 meters on either side of the 151-mile long armistice line, in which both sides’ military activi­ties are strictly restricted and regulated. At this location we will be given a briefing and required to wear an identification badge. We also change busses from one operated by our tour company to a bus owned by the UN Joint Command [Photo 7].

photo grid of several men in military uniforms and buildingsOur bus now enters the Joint Security Area. Today, there are 24 buildings in the 800-meter diameter area [Photo 8], where rep­resentatives of the United Nations and North Korea meet to confer about a variety of con­tentious issues.

The bus stops at a building called “Freedom House” where we will be allowed to take pho­tos. From this observation platform [Photo 9] we can see across the line that divides North and South Korea. We can see a North Korean observation tower [Photo 10], a North Korean visitors center [Photo 11], and “Conference Row.” the buildings [Photo 9] in which UN and North Korean officials meet to administer and enforce the armistice agreement of 1953.

Many famous people have also visited this area [Photo 12].

Here we see US and Korean guards inside a conference building in the Joint Security Area [Photo 13].

These are North Korean guards on their side of the JSA [Photo 14].

This village and the 480-Toot-tall flagpole on the North Korean side of the armistice line were established for propaganda purposes [Photo 15]. (The flag itself is 90 feet long). No one lives in the village. South Korean farmers are the only actual inhabitants of the DMZ and they tend their crops under constant military protection [Photo 16].

Since 1953 there have been numerous instances of hostility along the DMZ and Joint Security Area. An example is the 1976 attempt of US forces to remove a tree that was obstructing their view within the Security Area [Photo 17]. North Korean guards responded to the tree removal by taking the American’s axes from them [Photo 18] and killing two American officers. Four US enlisted men and four South Korean sol­diers were also injured. The fight lasted four minutes. Five days later, heavily reinforced UN units cut down the tree. [Photo 19] Today, this monument marks the former location of the tree that sparked this severe violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

photo grid of a monument and several men in uniformThe North Koreans have attempted to tun­nel under the DMZ on several occasions since their first tunnel was discovered in 1974 [Photo 21]. North Koreans dug these tunnels so that they can send spies and saboteurs into South Korea. Underground, deep inside a second tunnel dug by the North Koreans, we observe the actual line that has divided the Korean nation since the 1953 armistice [Photo 22].

two photos, one of a tunnel and of people in uniformphoto of an area with military menphoto of a statue of two men in uniform embracingPlacing a small part of the Korean peninsu­la off-limits to intense agricultural and com­mercial development has had unintended con­sequences. Inside the DMZ, species of endan­gered and rare birds, bears, and other animals exist inside an unusual wildlife refuge.

In recent years, efforts at Korean reconcilia­tion have taken place at Panmunjom. Red Cross conferences, cultural, and sports exchanges are conducted within the Joint Security Area [Photo 23]. The reunification of Korea and the end of this heavily fortified line of division seems to be the strong desire of most individual Koreans as well as the official policy of both the governments of the North and South.

When we return to Seoul, you are encouraged to visit the War Memorial of Korea. Outside the Memorial’s entrance stands this stat­ue [Photo 24]. The statue’s soldiers represent the divided people of Korea. Prior to 1945, when Korea was divided along the 38th paral­lel by Soviet and American occupation forces, the Koreans had been a united people. At the conclusion of a tragic three-year war in 1953, Korea remained a divided nation. Many Korean families were sepa­rated by the political division of their nation and have not seen mem­bers of their families for over fifty years. Koreans visit the bound­aries of the DMZ to be as close as possible to separated family mem­bers. South Korean students have attempted marches to the DMZ to meet with North Korean students. Today, Korea remains divided by the most militarized border on earth.

After a buffet lunch at the NCO dub at Camp Bonita and a chance to visit a DMZ gift shop [Photo 1], we begin the one-hour return bus ride to Seoul. I hope you have enjoyed your visit to the United Nations Command Security Force—Joint Security Area.