2023-09-18 06:41:31
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Lee, an authority from Tong-il chon, moved to this village in 1973. Twenty years had passed since the signing of the armistice that put an end to the bloody fighting of the Korean War (1950-1953) and the South Korean Government decided to create a village on a mountaintop 1.6 kilometers from the fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea to show their neighbors that their country had the most fertile land and that Life was better on the south side of the border.
Lee Wan Bae, local authority of Tong-il chon, a village located on the outskirts of the DMZ, highlights that they live in peace, as they follow strict security protocols. (Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
The DMZ has been the backdrop to life in Tong-il chon (Unification Village, in Korean). The government carefully selected the 80 households that moved to this place, 40 for soldiers and 40 for civilians. Men and women received basic military training. Everyone learned how to shoot. A high degree of patriotism was also a requirement to live on the most armed and guarded border in the world.
The Demilitarized Zone is a strip 250 kilometers long and four kilometers wide that divides the Korean peninsula at the 38th parallel. It was created when the armed war stopped with a truce on July 27, 1953, which made that area territory of minefields that date back to the conflict, barbed wire fences that seem endless and soldiers ready to attack. The tension is kept at a maximum. Although July marked the 70th anniversary of the armistice, the war is not technically over yet and the DMZ and its surroundings are still armed to the teeth.
(Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
(Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
Inside the war
Getting to the area where the DMZ is located, including the village of Tong-il chon, is possible through scheduled tours and visits that have become quite popular among tourists and enthusiasts who want to be part of the living history of the peninsula. Korean. Individual tourism is not allowed.
The Demilitarized Zone: a highly protected area
There are an estimated two million mines in the 4 kilometer wide DMZ. Armed soldiers guard the fences every 100 to 200 meters. Crossing the DMZ is considered almost impossible due to the heavy presence of soldiers. Doing so is prohibited by law in both North and South Korea. In its seven decades of history, few people have managed to cross clandestinely. The recent case of the American soldier Travis King, who defected to North Korea, is quite unusual. The demilitarized zone was demarcated in 1953 with the signing of the ceasefire between both nations following a bloody three-year war that left five million dead. civil and military. Officially, the conflict is not over.
The southern part of the DMZ, near the city of Paju in Gyeonggi Province, is regarding 50 kilometers from Seoul. As we approach the Freedom Highway, we pass through a strict security checkpoint. We are only an hour and a half from the South Korean capital, but the rules have already changed. It is mandatory that we give our passports to young soldiers to travel through the area. They will be returned at the end of the tour. They remind us that photos and videos are prohibited, unless permission is obtained from a military member.
From now on, the landscape on both sides of the road permanently mixes nature, military surveillance posts and layers of wire reinforced with explosive traps or heat sensors.
The northern and southern perimeters of the DMZ are sealed by wire reinforced with booby traps or heat sensors. Crossing it is considered almost impossible. (Photo: Milagros Asto)
Arriving at the so-called Third Tunnel is like being transported to the heart of war. It is believed to have been built by North Korea to invade South Korea by surprise. This is the third and largest of the four such tunnels found so far. It was discovered in 1978 and is 1,635 meters long, enough for 30,000 soldiers and artillery to cross in an hour. Only 265 meters are open to the public in the south.
This tunnel is located 73 meters underground. We left our cameras and cell phones in some lockers and walked along an underground path built for tourists. We continue down and reach the original corridor. It measures regarding two meters wide by 1.6 high. After a few hits to the head, we understand why wearing a helmet is not optional.
(Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
(Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
(Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
When we reach the end, we come across a concrete block built by the south to prevent the north from using it once more (there are three blocks in total). The barrier in front of us has an opening and is the closest we will be to the Military Demarcation Line today. We are located in the middle of the DMZ, just 170 meters from the border. At this point, a digital calendar tells us how many days have passed since the signing of the armistice. Today, September 7, 2023, the number we see is 25,609. Emotion is the impulse necessary to take the road back. Returning to the surface down a steep slope is a fair price we managed to pay.
A short distance from the Third Tunnel is the Dora Observatory, from where we can see the North Korean town of Gijeon-dong and the South Korean town of Daesong-dong, the only two towns located in the DMZ. The good weather also allows us to see how the South Korean and North Korean flags fly before our eyes, showing us how close their territories are.
The Dora Observatory is very popular with tourists visiting the DMZ and its surrounding areas. Binoculars allow you to have a better view of North Korea. (Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
The North Korean flag can be seen much closer through the binoculars available at the observatory. (Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
El Comercio visited the Dora Observatory on September 7. (Photo: Milagros Asto)
The DMZ played a crucial role in the Korean War. It was the scene of an exchange of prisoners from both sides and its most sensitive area is Panmunjeom, a place shared by the two Koreas and where the famous Border Security Area (JSA) is located. Here is the only building in which you can cross the Military Demarcation Line, the true border, without anything happening. Access to this area is increasingly restricted.
Beyond the conflict
Despite the tense climate, in the village of Tong-il chon there is a desire for a better future. “In the beginning, agriculture was the only source of income, we sold ginseng, soybeans or rice, but now tourism has been revitalized,” says Min Taeseung, director of the village museum. Thanks to the visitors, the village was able to open businesses and a restaurant, where they also sell agricultural products.
Min Taeseung, director of the village museum, hopes that more tourists will come to the area. (Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
The Tong-il Village Museum with. (Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
The Villa’s restaurant offers typical local food. (Photo: Korean Culture and Information Service -KOCIS)
Regarding security, residents trust that nothing will happen to them and see in their northern neighbor a nation hit by precariousness. “I visited North Korea twice during the last inter-Korean summits and it is like South Korea in 1960,” Lee Wan Bee tells us at the end of the tour.
Min Taeseung says goodbye saying that fear of the northern neighbor does not dominate South Koreans. “Since the late 1980s there is no longer military training in our village, but the South Korean flag flies in every house 365 days a year.”
WAR-RELATED DESTINATIONS
“They are very important tourism points”
Jesus Kim
Director of the South Korean Tourism Organization for Europe, America and Oceania
The DMZ and other war-related sites are very important tourist spots for many tourists visiting South Korea, and the country is doing everything it can to promote these tourist areas.
This year is very significant because we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Armistice Agreement, so we also develop tourism products so that veterans and their families, such as their children and grandchildren, can visit South Korea.
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