North Korea - Let the propaganda flow...
Trip Start
Dec 02, 2011
1
5
Trip End
Dec 14, 2011
Seoul, Seoul, Korea Rep.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
North and South Korea are at war. This has been the official political status for the past 50 years after the cease fire of the Korean War in 1953. Seoul is precariously positioned just 45km from the North Korean border, this meant that when war broke out in 1950, the capital fell within days. Within a month the North Korean army had control of all South Korea but Busan, the city where I stayed for the past week.
With the help of the UN, the South Koreans regained their country, but still a deep divide of suspicion languishes between the two countries. And so it is more than a little interesting that the South Koreans have effectively turned the political situation into a hugely successful and profitable tourist attraction. With a tour group I visited the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) a 4km wide buffer between North and South Korea to attempt to ease tensions. The area itself is split between the two countries but overseen by the UN.
Visiting here you get a real insight into the political situation here, just a year ago the North bombed an island belonging to the South, albeit only killing 4 people. Standing at the border of North and South Korea with the guards is an intimidating position. You can literally see the North Korean building just a few yards away from the South Koreans, complete with North Korean guard spying the tourists through binoculars. Just as the North Korean guard begins observing us, so 2 South Korean soldiers take up a more aggressive stance, staring intently at their opposite number.
Here you have to behave, there have been a few instances of Russian tourists attempting to make a run for the South Korean border whilst on similar North Korean tours. The slightest wrong move could lead to aggression from either side, it's a tense, but exciting place to be.
Propaganda, as with any good Cold War situation plays its own significant part in this play. We were not allowed to wear ripped/faded jeans, this is because the North Koreans were taking photos of them and showing them to their people, suggesting that Capitalists did not care about what they wore. Fashion in North Korea, I assume, is quite limited in it's exposure.
All South Korean guards here wore sunglasses, this is to limit the possibility of intimidation by the North Koreans, apparently there were instances where North Korean guards would try to catch the eye of South Koreans which would lead to a little skirmish.
There are two villages within the DMZ, one South, one North. The South Korean village is self proclaimed as 'Freedom Village'. The North Korean village is called (I assume only by the South) Propaganda Village. Propaganda village sports the 3rd highest flag pole in the world, and many suggest it is actually uninhabited except for guards who patrol the area. Freedom Village is hardly free. They have curfews on the time they have to be in their buildings with doors locked, however they do get to live tax free. We were told that the food produced here is of the highest quality, due to the area having the cleanest air as there is no development within the DMZ. That's probably not true, however the virtues of the DMZ being a haven for wildlife are widely publicised to us tourists. Interestingly Freedom village used to be a military camp, however the North kept attacking it and so the South decided to turn it into a village. That seemed to solve that problem.
After the usual end of tour gift shop (yep, that's the one right next to where they're practising with machine guns...) we went to an observatory where you can see into North Korea. It wasn't very interesting save for Propaganda Villages flag pole. What was interesting was that they had a yellow line drawn on the floor, you were not allowed to pass the line to take photos. The reason for this is that the North Koreans could see you taking a photo of their country, and sniper you down. I obeyed this one...
At the observatory a church and Buddhist temple stand defiantly in the face of North Korea, a sign that this is a country with religion.
Later we visited the 3rd tunnel, one of many the North Korean's dug to attempt a surprise attack on the South. The South have now turned it into a tourist attraction, allowing us to go down into the tunnel. Apparently the North said they knew nothing of the tunnels, then changed their mind and said they were mining for coal. The retreating North Korean soilders are said to have painted coal on the surface of the tunnel to provide evidence to this effect. I've seen the coal painted walls, but it does all seem a little bizarre to me.
Finally, we visited a rail station that has been built out of hope. A huge, modern rail building built through donations at the end of the south Korean rail network, just before North Korea. There was discussion to link the network with the North, however the North backed down once the railway had been laid into the country. Apparently their stance was 'We did agree to build a railway between the two countries, however we did not say trains could run on them'. The South have grand aspirations, linking to North Korea would allow them to link to China, the rest of Asia, and eventually Europe. It was our tour guide's dream to one day take a train to Europe from South Korea, and indeed a huge world map shows the South Korea eventually linked with Leeds in the UK.
The tour gave a real insight into relations between the two countries, and now with Kim-Jong Il's death it is given even more weight as to how these two countries which are very different in some ways but still quite similar at the same time, change over the next few days and months.
Comments
fascinating insight! Well Done JR!