Unknowingly Crossing the North Korean Border

Joint Security Area

I have over the years found myself in various sticky situations while traveling. Like having to bail out my sister from Mexico in order for her to be able to reenter the US, being lost in the slums of Santo Domingo, and in the rougher parts of the south side of Chicago. All these experiences were accidental and had happy endings. I have also managed to keep very calm in these situations; the reaction sometimes came much later when it was all over. This adventure was planned and entailed a border between two nations, North and South Korea, still at war with each other. Having a Master’s degree in International Relations, I have studied North Korea on multiple levels. A visit to the famous DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) where the JSA (Joint Security Area) is located was something I wished to do during my time in Korea. The DMZ functions as a buffer zone between the two countries, using the 38 parallel, and includes the demarcation line, the actual border. I had expected for a visit there to be an interesting experience, but that my body would react so violently, I would never have guessed. Many times when I write a travel account I don’t do a play by play of my trip. But since so many people have asked me how it really was I will do so here. So here is the tale of when I unknowingly found myself on North Korean territory:

The trip began one could say when I managed to secure a spot with a tour which took people to the JSA (Joint Security Area located in what’s called Panmunjom) and not just to the DMZ. I did not want to see North Korea using binoculars; I wanted access to the famous split conference room. My Korean friend Dohee, who I was staying with, helped me to make some phone calls and we were asked to send over a copy of the biographical page of my passport. The strange thing was that I was allowed to go the following week, but Dohee was not. If she wanted to visit, she would have to apply way in advance and maybe be allowed to go after 3 months and on a day not chosen by herself, but assigned to her. We found it quite odd and wished to go together, but we decided I would go by myself. Going to just the DMZ was rather cheap, JSA was a lot more expensive. But as an International Relations nerd, I was willing to pay the price.

On the day of the tour, we had to get up at 6 am and left the apartment at 7. Dohee helped me to get to where the tour bus picked up from. The first stop was at the beginning of a tunnel. It’s the 3^rd Infiltration Tunnel, one of the many tunnels the South Koreans have found. This one was discovered in1978. North Korea is believed to have dug multiple tunnels to be able to attack Seoul. They deny it and claim the tunnels are connected to coal mines and points to coal dust on the wall as evidence. However, the walls have been painted with coal dust; it’s not natural. We first got to go into an exhibition hall and later watched a movie in the DMZ Theater. The movie explained the various forms the North Korean aggression has taken. We exited the theater and were asked to put on a hard hat and were allowed into the tunnel. At first I thought wearing a hat was a bit excessive, but the hat was actually necessary. The shorter, mostly Asian tourists, laughed many times when we Amazonian Europeans constantly hit our head on the tunnel ceiling. When you reach the end

At the gift shop

of the tunnel you are located 170 meters away from the North Korean border. Outside the tunnel there is a monument of unification and also a gift shop. Felt very weird that this is a tourist attraction. In the shop you could buy key chains that looked like various weapons, a piece of barbed wire from the border, figurines looking like North and South Korean soldiers and rice grown in the area, among many things. There were tons of tourist buses parked in the parking lot and there was actually an amusement park close by. I found it all very, very weird and a bit morbid that the atmosphere was so lively. The reason we were all there was because of a division of one country – which, to me, is a sad occurrence! We climbed onto the bus again and drove to Dora Observatory. The Ministry of Defense built this view point in 1986 and you can see for example the Kaesong Industrial Region (jointly run economic development – South Koreans get cheap labor and North Koreans earn an income). Visible is also a very tall flagpole with the North Korean flag. The South also has a flagpole by the border, but they stopped building it when it reached 100 meters. North Korea continued until the flag pole was 300 meters to prove

North Korean flagpole

they could do it better than the South. You can also see an impressive village with lots of grand buildings. This is all fake and everyone knows it. It’s built by the North Koreans to show just how rich the country is. Surreal. I got a picture with a South Korean solider who was patrolling the premises. The next stop was supposed to be the Dorasan train station where trains use to go to Pyongyang. We were not allowed inside the station because the military was there and I misunderstood it as we could not go into the conference room. I was so bummed!!! It was communicated very clearly that even though we paid a good amount of money for access to the conference room, if there were negotiations of any sort or military activity, this could be canceled and no money would be refunded. Completely understandable, but I was happy to learn that it was only the train station that was off limits.

The group split up and some had finished their tour then, totally crappy for them. The first part of the tour was a joke. We who were going into the JSA went with another bus to a lunch restaurant and were served bipimbap (rice, veggies, eggs etc) with side dishes. As Dohee had been such a great host and had explained to me what it all was, I enjoyed every piece of the meal. My travel companions, from France, Sweden, US, Hong Kong and Switzerland, did not enjoy the spicy flavors. I considered eating their meals too, but stopped myself, I really did not know them and I kind of wanted them to like me as we were going to enter into a potentially sticky situation together.

Now the real deal started. The security got strict! Earlier in the day we had to show our passport twice, but it was merely to show you had a passport in your possession. Now they checked your name and photo very closely many times. We were allowed inside Camp Bonifas which is the base camp for the United Nations Command Security Force. We signed a “Visitors Declaration” which started out saying: “the visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail the entrance into a hostile area and the possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action.”  We had a briefing on how to act and watched many, many slides on a screen in a theater. There are many places in the JSA you are prohibited taking pictures of. We had an additional ID check and clothes check. If you were wearing torn jeans and they let you enter with that you may have your picture taken by the North and they will use it for propaganda saying the South is poor. So anyone wearing ripped jeans would be asked to change into clothes the bus carried for events like that. You were not allowed to wear slippers as you may have to run fast and need to wear closed-toe shoes. This was all communicated in an email sent out ahead of our trip, but checked upon arrival to Camp Bonifas. You had to have a badge on you at all times as you stand under UN command and protection. We switched buses and were now on an official UN bus and drove to the Freedom House. During this tour I learned there are farms and people living in the DMZ. They don't pay taxes, their houses are kept up by the South Korean government, their crops are sold at a high price and don't have to do military service. However, there are strict rules of who gets to live there. For example, you can’t have relatives in the North and you need to be inside your home a certain hour of the night. And oh, you can be attacked by the North at anytime as the two countries are technically still at war with each other. Anyway, we drove to Freedom House where families from the North and the South were planned to be reunited. This has never happened as the North worries people would defect.

The atmosphere got very tense and we were asked to line up and walked up a few stairs and out onto a platform. We were escorted by American soldiers the whole time. And there we were, facing the famous blue buildings and North Korea was merely meters away. It was such a surreal feeling. I felt the seriousness

The split conference table

in the air. We were allowed into the conference room and we had a group picture taken there. This was a bit weird to me and in the picture I look very serious. As it was rather crowded a few of us naturally took a few steps back. There was no shouting or such, but one of the American soldiers sternly said “You who are in the far corner of this room, you are right now on the territory of “the other side” (They never said North Korea).” The soldier continued: “You can be on that side, but be aware you are submitting yourself to increasing levels of danger the further you go. If “the other side” tries to pull you in, we will attempt to rescue you, but again, you are now on the territory of “the other side.” I didn't really understand first that I had entered the part of the room which was on North Korean soil. After years of reading about North Korea and this split conference room, I really thought we who entered the room from the South Korean side, would only be allowed in the South Korea part of the room. I should have understood that I was on the "other side" of the room, but the situation was tense so my brain functions slowed down. Hence, I was approximately 5 meters inside of North Korea! One would think that maybe it is just for show, all this talk about it being dangerous, but I am telling you, in that moment, you felt the seriousness.

A girl asked: “Can we take a picture with the North Korean soldier?” I seriously thought that was the dumbest thing I had ever heard. But it was actually allowed – after the American solider once again informed us about the danger about getting dragged into “the other side” and told us to never, ever touch or brush up against the solider. And really, the American solider misheard her and never corrected us, it was actually a South Korean solider standing there. In the midst of a very, very charged situation, our brains seemed to

By the door

malfunction. No amusement park feeling here. I handed my camera to a girl next to me and stepped up. Half of a meter to one meter between me and the solider. A meter to two meters to the infamous door where the North Korean army have access to the room. My brain told me they would never allow civilians to do this if it was dangerous. But suddenly my body decided to react. My heart started racing, pounding so hard that I heard my own heartbeats in my ears. I honestly don’t think that North Korea would ever plan to drag tourists across the border. However, if anything happens within the DMZ that day, if one would be so unlucky to be there that day, I am not too sure the tourists wouldn’t become pawns in this very weird and twisted game of “chicken.” Which side will blink first? For a second, I thought I may faint, something I have never done before.

As morbid as it sounds, I am very thankful for the experience. We exited the conference room and drove to “the Bridge of No Return” (where soldiers were brought to in 1953 and were given the choice to remain in the country of their captivity or go home. Once the decision was made, they were not allowed to change their minds). We also saw where the “Ax Murder Incident” took place where North Korean soldiers killed two Americans in 1976. The American soldiers were close to the Bridge of No Return to cut down a tree obstructing the view and North Korean soldiers attacked them. The North has another version of the incident. We were brought back to the location of the gift shop. It was less tacky than the other, but still carried some weird souvenirs. I bought some old North Korean money. After being counted again to make sure none of us defected into North Korea we were allowed back on the bus and drove back to Seoul. It only took about an hour and a half to drive from the most militarized zone in the world, located next to the most closed society on earth and back to one of the most advanced cities existing today. I have used the word “surreal” before in this blog post, but that is the most fitting word indeed. Next time I won’t be only 5 meters inside of North Korea. Next time I will enter via China and spend a few days inside the country. That’s my plan.