The DMZ: Part two

So this is a follow-up to my first post about my tour of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. As I said, the first half of the tour included visits to the Third Infiltration Tunnel, Dorasan Observatory, and the Dorasan train station. 

The second half of the tour took place at the United Nations Command military post Camp Bonifas and the Joint Security Area, which is another name for Panmunjom, where neither North nor South Korea have administrative control. This is also the village where the Korean Armistice Agreement was negotiated and signed in 1953.

When we arrived at Camp Bonifas, we were immediately boarded by U.S. Army Private First Class Martinez, who was to be our tour guide. He stumbled a bit through a brief itinerary before alerting us that this was in fact his first solo tour. His very first tour, with a superior as back-up, had indeed been that morning. 

Although I expected to hear some complaints, everyone clapped and laughed along with him as he settled into his new position. Maybe it was a desperate need to relieve some tension, but everyone seemed to be supportive and light-hearted about his rookie status. Perhaps we missed out on a few tidbits of information or a perfectly-scripted speech, but his genuine excitement and nervous improvisation were a fair trade, in my opinion. He joked about getting "Tour Guide" tattooed on his back instead of the machine guns his pals were sketching out. Oh well, not a bad gig, all things considered.

We got off the bus and joined another group in a large auditorium on the base. There, U.S. and South Korean (Republic of Korea, or ROK) soldiers supervised as we all signed waivers which stipulated, "The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action." The waiver also listed things we weren't allowed to do, including: take photos of anything ever (unless we were told we could), make any sort of gesture toward the North Koreans, make any kind of strange faces or expressions, go anywhere we weren't directed, attempt to get anyone's attention, speak to anyone not on the tour, wear white after Labor Day, or swim less than 30 minutes after eating. 

Once we signed over our first born, a veteran tour guide took the reins and gave a brief lecture on the history of the JSA and Camp Bonifas. Although it was a lecture about history supported by a Powerpoint presentation, it was anything but cheesy. The man knew his stuff, too; I have never heard anyone talk so quickly. PFC Martinez certainly has a lot of growing up to do.

The first place we went was  the Freedom House, which holds facilities for meetings and exchanges. After another reminder that North Koreans would be watching and filming us, we were taken outside to see the main North Korean building, Panmungak, and the small, blue conference buildings along the Military Demarcation Line. 

Here, ROK soldiers stand guard because of the tour. They are not required to stand there 24 hours a day -- just during tours and when any talks or meetings are held in the blue conference buildings. Note: They stand partially behind the building in order to obscure themselves as targets and so they can discreetly signal back when needed. This is the only place along the DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers stand face-to-face.



The perpendicular slabs of concrete between the buildings mark the Military Demarcation Line and represent the actual border between North and South Korea. The entire JSA used to be open territory, but has since been restricted; with one major manifestation of the tension being the explicit line down the middle of the village, not unlike Peter and Bobby Brady splitting their room in half with tape.

PFC Martinez told us how they like to call the gray buildings the "rec rooms" as a joke; these buildings are where North Korean reinforcements would wait during military negotiations.

The tower on the right is a North Korean observation post. If the soldiers stationed there see anything out of the ordinary, North Korean soldiers come down and man their posts along the MDL. Reportedly, this has happened during previous tours. It did not happen on our tour (I swear, Mom.). 

We also got to see the Bridge of No Return, which was used for prisoner exchanges after the war. It was thusly named because prisoners were given a choice to remain in the country of their captivity or return to their home country, but would not be allowed to return after crossing the bridge.

Another landmark in the JSA was the site of the 1976 Axe Murder Incident, which occurred when two U.S. Army officers were killed while supervising the trimming of a tree that blocked the line of sight between two observation posts. One of the officers killed was Company Commander Captain Arthur Bonifas, for whom the base is named. 

In response to the brutal killings of the Axe Murder Incident, the UN Command launched Operation Paul Bunyan, which was an obnoxious show of force to "protect" the workers cutting down the tree in question. The operation included more than 800 men sent to the location, backed by a ton of firepower ranging from machine guns to fully-equipped Cobra attack helicopters to B-52s looming overhead. All sent to cut down a single tree. 

Luckily, the operation was carried out peacefully, but tensions increased in the JSA, leading to the intensified enforcement of the MDL. This stump and plaque stand at the tree site in memory of the men killed here.

Finally, we were taken to an outpost where we were surrounded on three sides by North Korea.

Again, there was a post stocked with North Koreans watching our every move, so we were under strict orders.

Beyond the historically-fueled tensions of the JSA, there was no denying the beauty of the DMZ -- a place that hasn't been touched nor trampled by a single human being for more than 50 years. The peacefulness of it all can almost make you forget the battles that ravaged this land and the countless men who died fighting a civil war that might never be wholly resolved. Undoubtedly, if you ever get the chance, the DMZ is something to experience.