Seoul Weekend: DMZ

This is a soldier guarding us from the N. Korean
door on the N. Korea side of the room.

This passed weekend I went to Seoul with my whole program.  It was really a fantastic trip where I got to see and do so many wonderful things.  First we went to the DMZ on Friday and that was a really crazy experience.  For all intents and purposes, it is a war zone.  But right now, not only is it a war zone, but a tourist destination.  And I didn't think about it that way till I got there.  That place is the visual reminder of the severe divide in Korea and yet we foreign people can go there and take pictures with soldiers that guard it.  Honestly, I don't know how I feel about the whole concept, but it made me feel really strangely.  Even so, seeing that place in person was a very moving experience.

This is a picture out the window of 1 of the blue buildings.
The right side is N. Korea and the left is South.

You could physically see the line that divides the North and South.  It isn't like Germany where there was a wall you could touch or graffiti, it's just a raised section of pavement that separates the two countries and even in the building where negotiations take place, the room is divided down the middle by a table and in the center of the table are the recording devices, precisely in the middle.  

This is the negotiation table.

This picture is opposite, S. Korea is on the right and N. Korea
is on the left.

 We also visit a tunnel site where N. Korean soldiers tried to tunnel down to Seoul underground.

The sign saying the N. Korean capital direction.

After that, we visited a train station that connects to a station in the capital of N. Korea.  Obviously this can no longer be used by S. Koreans, but N. Korean government officials have been known to use it from time to time because after the N. Korean capital the rail becomes a transcontinental railroad.

Me "walking to" N. Korea.

After the visit to the DMZ we went to the American Ambassador's home to have a cook out/pool party.  It was also really strange to have that weird feeling switch.  Serious DMZ to party, but it was fun no doubt :)