DMZ Tour with USO

I went on my first DMZ tour when I visited Korea for the first time in 2007.  It left such a deep impression for me that I knew that during my one year long stay in Korea in 2009, I would need to eventually go on this same tour a second time. 

There are a number of English tours that will take you to the DMZ, but I found the most economical one to be run by the USO.  To book, visit the website of the official affiliate of the USO.

The tour begins at Camp Kim in Seoul at 7:00am, but you needed to check in at 7:00am.  This meant that I had to wake up by 4:00am to take a cab to Geumchon to meet up with my friends, where we would then catch another cab into Seoul, before taking the subway to Samjakji Station.  From Exit 10 of Samjakiji Station, it is about a 5-10 minute walk to Camp Kim.  During check in, they require you to present your passport, so make sure to have that with you.

After the checking in, we boarded a bus that would take us to Camp Bonifas.  Upon arrival, we were required to sit down for a 20 minute briefing, where a US Soldier went through all the rules with us.  We were told not to point, speak loudly or make any sort of eye contact with the soldiers on the North, as they could open fire at any time if they see something suspicious. 

After the briefing, we boarded the same bus again and was then taken to Pammunjeon, the small village where the Joint Security Area (JSA) is located.  Within the JSA, we were permitted to enter Freedom House, Conference Room and see the Bridge of No Return. 

We disembarked in front of the Freedom House and made our way through the building to reach the exit that faced North Korea.  We were able to stand on the platform and look over to North Korea, where there were quite a number of soldiers staring right back at us. 

 

The American soldier then led us into the conference room where the Armistice Agreement was signed.  Technically, the room is built over the border and thus divided down the middle, which meant that we were on North Korean soil when we were in parts of the room.  There were two South Korean soldiers in the room.  One was guarding the door on the opposite side, which led to North Korea and another one was standing in the middle of the room where the border is.

After a few minutes here, we were taken to Checkpoint 3, where the Bridge of No Return is located.  We learned that the demarcation line runs right through the middle of the bridge and when the Armistice Agreement was signed, people were given one chance to cross the bridge.  The bridge is rightfully named, as once you cross the bridge into either the North or the South, you could not go back.  Another interesting thing we learned is that there are obviously guard houses on both sides of the bridge but the guard house on the South Side (Checkpoint 3) is surrounded by trees and only visible from other South Korean checkpoints during the winter months.  Legend has it that because of this, North Korea was easily able to kidnap the guards from the South and drag them over to the other side. 

When we visited, our bus passed by the bridge, but we were not allowed off the bus.  However, we were permitted to disembark a little ways near the checkpoint.  The view from the checkpoint was a quite depressing.  Although Spring was just coming in, the land was just bare and unattended.

Lunch was not included in the tour, so when we signed up, we were told that we would be taken to a cafeteria, where there would be 2 menu choices – Bulgogi Beef with rice (₩10000), or Bibimbap (₩6000).  If this didn’t work for you, you were to bring your own food for the day.  The cafeteria we were taken to was exactly how I imagined a military cafeteria to look like.

After lunch, we were taken to the Dora Observatory where we could use telescopes to see into North Korea.  It was pointed out to us that we were looking at Propaganda Village where every day, the lights in the buildings would automatically turn on at night to make it look like it was a very prosperous place.  However, you wouldn’t be able to see any people living there at all.

One strange thing about this part of the tour is that the telescopes are all lined up on the walls, but there was a thick yellow line painted on the ground, dividing the area where the telescopes were and where we were allowed to stand.  We were told that if we were not using the telescopes, we had to stand inside the lines.  We forgot about this and our little group of 7 gathered around one of the telescopes to have a picture taken, and were immediately yelled at by some of the guards. 

The Dora Observatory is also located right next to the Dorasan Station which is the last railway station on the south side of the border.  The railway was being used by freight trains to move materials into North Korea’s industrial area, but the last I heard, North Korea has now closed the border and the train is only running between Dorasan and Seoul. 

Our last stop of the tour was a visit to the 3^rd Tunnel, which was discovered in 1978 after a North Korean defector provided a tip to the South Koreans.  These tunnels were dug by North Korea, who claimed they were used for coal mining, but South Koreans believe that they were created as part of a military invasion route. 

We were provided with helmets and then followed our guide down into the tunnels.  The deeper we got, the lower the tunnels became and after about 10 minutes, I was constantly crouching so that I wouldn’t hit my head.  I can’t imagine how difficult this is for anyone over 5’5”.

We were in the tunnels for about 30 minutes.  Keep in mind that we were constantly heading downwards for the first 10 or 15 minutes, which means that you would need to climb upwards on the way back out. 

Once outside, there were a number of displays around the entrance that many people used as a photo op. 

Even after taking this tour two times, I find the whole experience to be absolutely amazing and worth every penny.  If I ever have the opportunity to visit South Korea again, I would surely go back and do this a third time.

For more photos, please visit my Photo Gallery of the DMZ and the Third Tunnel.