June 22, 2017 - Day #20 The DMZ

June 22, 2017

A little business before pleasure this morning for me. I signed in to a staff meeting at 6am (2pm California time). The meeting ended in time for Russell and I to pick up breakfast at a nearby sandwich place before the DMZ tour. 

Our private tour bus picked us up promptly at 8am. The DMZ will be toured at the end of the day. First stop was the War Memorial. We learned a few things about the history of the Korean War.  All males between the ages of 18 - 35 in South Korea have mandatory service in the military for at least 22 months. 

The second stop was the Odusan Unification Tower.   It is located near Jayu-ro where Han River and Imjin River cross. From the Observatory you can see the North Korean land. Looking through the telescopes, we can see people walking, biking, and working in the fields.  It's surreal to see it with our own eyes. 

Our tour guide then took us to a BBQ restaurant. We had to drive through beautiful rice fields to get there. This Korean BBQ restaurant specializes in duck. We cooked our own meats over charcoal grills. At first it was good but then got tired of it quickly. There was plenty of food leftover. 

Our next stop was the Peace Park.  It's a popular place for students to visit. At the time of our visit, a lot of the students were eating lunch. A few of the young boys came up and said "Hello" in their limited English. Matty enjoyed interacting with them. 

We finally made our way to the DMZ. It was about an hour drive. The military base entrance looked intimidating with the soldiers holding their rifles. The tour guide got off the bus to do paperwork that took about 20 mins. A soldier came on the bus to escort us. We were told to wait for the commanding officer to personally escort us. He arrived in his Jeep and invited three kids to sit with him. Matty, Nicole, and Audrey immediately jumped at the opportunity. 

We were first led to a lookout area to see the DMZ close up. We can hear the North Korean propaganda music playing over loud speakers.  Major Chang gave us the tour with an English translator who had studied in New York and has perfect english.  Major Chang put us at ease with his great sense of humor and charisma.  It helped with easing the seriousness of the place. We got to see one of the underground bunkers and go in it. 

We walked along the DMZ line to a covered post. Matty and Nicole had the opportunity to put their hands on an anti aircraft machine gun and pretended to shoot. The gun wasn't loaded but the artillery was close by.

 

Major Chang took us to the situation room where he briefed us on the geographic layout of the DMZ, the boundaries between the north and the south, and the guard posts that were strategically placed for the best vantage points. It was kind of worrisome that they speak of the conflicts, they refer it as "when the war comes" instead of "if the war comes". They also mentioned that yesterday a North Korean soldier deflected to the south. Speaking of a possible war, South Korea is confident with winning with the support of their allies (mostly the US).  After serving pineapple juice as a refreshment, we followed the soldiers upstairs where there was a 360 degrees view of the area. There was a display of unloaded weapons for us to handle. Those who wanted to have the full experience of being a soldier put on camouflage gear as well. Matty was first in line and chose the two biggest weapons to hold. Russell and Greg channeled their inner Rambo and wanted to look the part of tough men out to save the world...I'll let the picture speak for itself. 

The DMZ was not what we expected it to be. I was expecting a very serious, scary, and intimidating place to visit. Our group was the only ones on the tour and I think they only do it once a day.  We learned a lot and can say that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We appreciate the hospitality of the soldiers, they were more so knowing that we are Americans and Dad is a World War 2 Veteran. Matty definitely had the time of his life and everyone commented that this was the first time they seen him smile so much.  Although we had a good time, we can not forget the seriousness, the suffrage of the North Koreans that is happening so close to where we are standing. We are so grateful for our freedom and for the men and women who fought and sacrificed for our rights. 

The all day excursion exhausted us all. We arrived back at the hotel at 6:30pm. We planned to have dinner at 7pm. Steven's 10 mins nap turned into 7 hours and Matty said that he was done for the day. The food court that we went to was a miss, they were closing for the day and we reverted back to our comfort zone, Jin Han Cook.  More Bim Bim Bap, Mul-naengmyeon (cold noodle soup), and Kim Chee fried rice.  Russell, Nicole, and I had our nightly walk in Myeongdong Night Markets sampling local favorites.