Going to the Demilitarized Zone
6 Comments Published by seserak on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 7:32 PM.
I'm leaving Japan tomorrow on a four days trip to Korea. It's going to be my second visit to this East Asian country in four years. (I went there once in 2002 with my Khmer seniors.)
This time, however, is a little different as I'm going with my seminar's professor, who's Korean, and 17 other students who take the same class. A genuinely kind professor, he pays half of the trip's expense, including the plane ticket, for each of us.
As for the travelling schedule, we will land in Pusan on the first day and spend the evening touring the city. The second and third day, we will be visiting Seoul, the capital of South Korea. And the last day, we will head to Panmunjom(板門店）, a "truce village" that straddles the border between North Korea and South Korea in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone(非武装地帯).
If you live or study in Japan, the term "Demilitarized Zone" might sound familiar. Well, in case you don't know, DMZ is "a strip of land running across the Korean Penisula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea". It was established in 1953 in accordance with a truce treaty signed by the two countries. " Truce treaty" means the Korean War hasn't offically ended yet. With each side having over one million troops deployed within 160 kilometres of the Military Demarcation Line, it 's considered to be one of the most heavily armed border in the world.
When I told a friend that I'm heading to the DMZ, he asked me if I am crazy. He said North Korea has just recently tested its Nuclear Bomb and is suspected of planning another test. The tension between North and South Korean has been increased lately as a result of the Nuke test. War can break out at any time. DMZ, for him, doesn't sound like an ideal place to visit, at least for the time being.
I guess he is right to worry . In fact, only half of the students will tour the site. The rest decide to remain in Seoul, citing the same reasons. Nonethless, I'll go, as I 've already decided. Korean War: it's been a hot discussion topic in my class for weeks. We've talked about the DMZ . We've seen it only in the news. Now we got the chance to see the site by our own eyes, so why not go. One more thing, I believe the war, for the time being, is unlikely. North Korea seems to have lost all friends. It has infuriated its staunch ally, China, with the Nuke test. It can't go into war without the support of any friend, China in particular.
My trip to DMZ is going to be safe , so to speak.
Anyway, I'll post the pictures of DMZ once I've got back from Korea. Now I gotta pack my clothes.
This time, however, is a little different as I'm going with my seminar's professor, who's Korean, and 17 other students who take the same class. A genuinely kind professor, he pays half of the trip's expense, including the plane ticket, for each of us.
As for the travelling schedule, we will land in Pusan on the first day and spend the evening touring the city. The second and third day, we will be visiting Seoul, the capital of South Korea. And the last day, we will head to Panmunjom(板門店）, a "truce village" that straddles the border between North Korea and South Korea in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone(非武装地帯).
If you live or study in Japan, the term "Demilitarized Zone" might sound familiar. Well, in case you don't know, DMZ is "a strip of land running across the Korean Penisula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea". It was established in 1953 in accordance with a truce treaty signed by the two countries. " Truce treaty" means the Korean War hasn't offically ended yet. With each side having over one million troops deployed within 160 kilometres of the Military Demarcation Line, it 's considered to be one of the most heavily armed border in the world.
When I told a friend that I'm heading to the DMZ, he asked me if I am crazy. He said North Korea has just recently tested its Nuclear Bomb and is suspected of planning another test. The tension between North and South Korean has been increased lately as a result of the Nuke test. War can break out at any time. DMZ, for him, doesn't sound like an ideal place to visit, at least for the time being.
I guess he is right to worry . In fact, only half of the students will tour the site. The rest decide to remain in Seoul, citing the same reasons. Nonethless, I'll go, as I 've already decided. Korean War: it's been a hot discussion topic in my class for weeks. We've talked about the DMZ . We've seen it only in the news. Now we got the chance to see the site by our own eyes, so why not go. One more thing, I believe the war, for the time being, is unlikely. North Korea seems to have lost all friends. It has infuriated its staunch ally, China, with the Nuke test. It can't go into war without the support of any friend, China in particular.
My trip to DMZ is going to be safe , so to speak.
Anyway, I'll post the pictures of DMZ once I've got back from Korea. Now I gotta pack my clothes.
Good luck with your trip, bro.. Can't wait to learn about your experiences there.
If I had to choose, I would also choose to go!
Good luck! South Korea has been one of the places that I'd like to go. And I hope to realize this dream very soon.
Mongkol and Mungkol,
Thanks bros. I'll keep you posted
*A bit out of topic, but you two got the same name. Reminds me of Big Kalyan and Small Kalyan( Dee Dee), who share even their surname( Keo). That's fascinating, haha.
'm Mankul too. Hehehe, j/k.
Well, good luck on the trip, enjoy yourself, and please takes lot of photos. I've never been to Korea yet, and hope I could visit there one day as well.
great you must be enjoying your tour while one is fighting with papers. :P
Yeah, Mongkol and Mungkol. :p The other special thing is that we both have a few same friends too.
Well, have fun.