The most heavily militarized border in the world is not that far from South Korea’s capital city, Seoul. That such a vibrant and electric city could have any connection whatsoever to North Korea, which lies just an hour up the road, is difficult to fathom.
Although it’s notoriously difficult to get into North Korea, it’s not that hard to physically see it. The road to the demilitarized zone, an area separating the two countries that tourists are allowed to visit, runs along a river; the green mountains one sees on the other side belong to North Korea. Although North Korea is just across the river, fences heavily laced with barbed wire and hundreds of soldiers patrolling the area indicate that North Korea may as well be a million miles away for anyone planning to swim there.
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At the site of the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, one can find a multitude of Korean War memorials. Other memorials, such as a rusted train engine from the Korean War, symbolize a long-lost connection from South Korea to North Korea. The most striking sight, however, is an empty modern train station, built back in 2002 as an attempt between both countries to repair the railroad line that was destroyed during the war. Signs direct potential passengers towards the train traveling to North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang; almost 14 years later, however, that train still hasn’t left.
The prevailing mood at the DMZ is solemnness: people seem to hope that their North Korean relatives and friends will magically appear from behind the thick fences of barbed wire to greet them. Many of these fences are covered with messages written for the North Korean people; ribbons, pieces of paper, clothes and even South Korean flags can be seen flapping against the wind, all bearing messages of goodwill to the people on the other side. Not a single North Korean has read them yet, though.
A soldier guards a yellow line indicating the point where cameras and video recording are no longer allowed. The site is Panmunjom, or “Propaganda Village,” a town built by the North Koreans intended to show off the prosperity of North Korea and to lure the enemy over during the Korean War. It is not hard to see, however, that this “village” has no real residents; the only sign of life is North Korean workers who futilely clean the rotting, windowless buildings on a regular basis.
One sight in the village stands out, however: a gargantuan, 525 foot tall flagpole bearing the North Korean flag rises above the myriad lifeless buildings. The flagpole is the result of one of the more bizarre skirmishes between the two Koreas - it was built as a direct response to South Korea’s 323 foot tall flagpole just across the border. The North Korean flagpole is the clear winner, and is today the fourth tallest in the world.
Many believe that North Korea is doomed to fail, and that after its collapse North and South Korea will be unified as they once were many decades ago. No one knows, however, when this supposed North Korean collapse will occur; indeed, North Korea has endured a variety of crises over the years that many experts believed should have already precipitated a collapse, including a devastating famine during the 1990s. Yet the country has miraculously managed to rebound from all of them, decreasing the likelihood that this supposed reunification will occur anytime in the near-future.
For now, the barbed wire at the border will continue to separate North Korea and South Korea.
