A Tour of JSA/Panmunjom

The afternoon would be the JSA/Panmunjom tour.  At Imjingak, those who would be going on this tour were called and asked to transfer to a different bus.  This time, each person is assigned a seat number.

Our first stop is lunch.  It's a bulgogi lunch near the area.  It's my first time to try this and I love it.  The area has long tables with "burners" that could be shared by 2 people.  It includes rice, beef, lettuce and different kinds of banchan (side dish).  Water is free but if you want soda, those are included in the meal, you will have to pay for it.  Banchan is unlimited.  One can get whichever one wants from the area near the counter.  The meal was more than enough for 2 persons... at least for my Mom and I.

Bulgogi Lunch

After lunch, we continued with the tour.  Our first stop is at a security gate.  I believe this is a gate to be able to go inside the Southern Boundary Line of the DMZ.  A number of vehicles, and tour buses are lined up here.  We were advised to take out our passport and open it to the identification page for security purposes.  Once at the gate, the bus turned back and got back on the line.  Not sure why but it might have something to do with the papers.  The second time around, we were let in.  A soldier went up the bus checking at the identification papers.  Before proceeding, we were reminded that taking of pictures are not allowed either inside or outside the bus, except when notified. 

Badge given to us which we should wear all the time

We passed by an actual village (Daeseong-dong/Freedom Village), the only one inside the DMZ in the South Korean side.  Here are some information I got from our tour guide:

• Residents here, we were told, are mostly engaged in farming.  
• Nightly curfew is in effect.
• Loud sounds are not allowed.  
• They have to live in their residence for a certain number of days in a year to maintain residency here.
• Male villagers who marry a woman from outside the village can live with his wife in the village.  If I remember it right, women are not given the same privilege.

We've also passed by the area where we could see the flagpole in Kijong-dong (one of the tallest flagpole in the world), and it's South Korean counterpart in Daesong-dong closer.

We then came into Camp Bonifas and the JSA Visitor Centre.  It is only in front of the building where taking pictures are allowed.  The visitor's orientation is held here.  The half oval-shaped building on the left of the picture houses a souvenir shop.  Aside from souvenirs, there are also North Korean products available here.

JSA Visitor Center

From here, we transferred to a military-driven bus.  We also have a military escort on the bus as well.  We occupy the same seat numbers as the one we have on the original tour bus.  We have to wait a bit as only one tour group at a time is allowed to go to the Freedom House.  We passed by another gate (or was it two?) before we got to the Freedom House.  We're so near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) now.   

We disembarked from the bus and followed the lead of our tour guide inside the building and out on the other side where we could see the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) buildings, the MDL and Panmun-gak (on the North Korea side). 

United Nations Command Military Armistice
Commission (UNCMAC) Buildings

It's unfortunate that the Panmun-gak is under renovation at the time of our tour.  But did you notice that there are no visible soldiers on the other side?  As per our tour guide, there would only be soldiers standing on the North Korean side if they also have visitors.  However, there would always be soldiers on the lookout.

UNCMAC Buildings

UNCMAC Conference Building

We entered into the UNCMAC Conference Building.  It is in this building where meetings between officials from the North and South Korea meet.  Only one tour group is allowed inside the building at a time.  Once all of us are inside, a soldier closes the door we used to enter.  There are 2 soldiers inside the building with us.  One of the soldiers guards the door to the North Korean side of Panmunjom.  He locks it and make sure nobody from NoKor will enter the building when tourists from SoKor are still inside.  This goes the same way for North Korean visitors.  The other soldier is literally in 2 places at one time.  He's got one foot in North Korea and another in South Korea. 

In the middle of the room, where one of the soldiers stood is the conference table being used by North and South Korea. The speakers in the center mark the MDL (Military Demarcation Line). So, technically, if the North and South Koreans meet, they're still in their country. 

Conference table

Conference table

Conference table

Soldier guarding the door to North Korea

The MDL is a really important landmark between the two Koreas but if you'll look at it, it's just a cement block (at least from what's visible to me) that marks the separation.  Looking out the window of the conference room, we saw that the South Korean side of the UNCMAC buildings have gravel, while that of the North Korean have sand.

Military Demarcation Line

We were supposed to pass by the area of the Bridge of No Return/Axe Murder Incident, however tour on that part of JSA has been stopped for the afternoon for security purposes.  Those who took the morning tour were lucky since the area hasn't been restricted before our tour group.

That's the end of our tour.  We were dropped off at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul (near City Hall).  We were assisted by one of the coordinators to the PTC office and paid our tour fee.  It was a long day, now it's time to take some rest and get ready for tomorrow.