Being Tourists in Seoul

We  were only in Seoul, South Korea for two weeks.  Not enough time, we decided.  South Korea is one of the places on this trip that we hope to return to.

Among some other things, we hit the highlights in Seoul and a bit outside of Seoul:  the palace, a tour of the DMZ, and the Seoul Tower.  And I don’t want to forget Blaise’s bucket-list location - the Kukkiwon.  Sure, there were many other things we could have seen there, but we only had two weeks and our slow travel style of mixing general living in a place like locals (to the extent foreigners can) and doing the touristy things, (a way of travel which is now firmly entrenched) did not lend itself to running around and seeing everything.  I get this is not a way of travel everyone would want to embrace, but it is really working for us.  I do not like to feel exhausted from rushing around and seeing everything in just a few days.  Does this mean we will miss seeing things from time to time traveling this way? Yes.  But I will trade that every time for the experience of spending time immersed in the culture.

The highlight of our time in Seoul for me was the visit to the DMZ.  For Blaise, it was the Kukkiwon, although he admits the DMZ was really interesting.  Thank God I can finally spell Kukkiwon without looking it up every time!

The DMZ

This was particularly interesting to me because last year (I think it was last year, maybe the year before), I read the book, Star of the North, by D.B. John.  I highly recommend this book.  It is one of the best books I have read in a really long time.  A big thank you to Jeff for the recommendation.  It involved someone from North Korea, South Korea, and the CIA.  This book sparked my interest in what life in North Korea must be like, so very isolated from the rest of the world and controlled by the government.

Overview

The DMZ (demilitarized zone) is the buffer zone between South and North Korea.  It has been in place since the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953.  What I did not really understand until I went on the tour is that South and North Korea are technically still at war to this day.  I never thought about it that way, but I am sure I have known that.

The DMZ is 2 ½ miles (4 kilometers) wide and 155 miles (250 kilometers) long and intersects the 38th parallel.  It is a de facto border and is one of, if not the, most heavily fortified areas in the world.

This is a map our tour guide provided us showing the structure of the DMZ. The Military Demarcation Line is the actual border between the two countries.  The Civil Controlled Line is not quite the DMZ but still controlled heavily by the South Korean military. (Map credit to our tour guide, K)

Overall, the area has an eerie silence to it, even with a bunch of tourists there.

We were on a bus and the soldiers had to come onto the bus and check every single passport before we entered the area and when we exited at the end of the visit.

Unfortunately, we could not take pictures of North Korea and nearly everything we saw in the DMZ.  We were told at each place where we could take pictures.  Some of the pictures posted here were provided by our tour guide, K.

We almost did not take this tour because we can no longer go to the Joint Security Area (JSA) which allows you to step in the room and across the desk so you can actually stand in North Korea.  You have not been able to do that since 2023 when relations between North and South became even more strained than they were or when someone from South Korea went on a tour and actually defected to North Korea.  I can’t remember which one that was but after each of those situations, things got buttoned down in the DMZ.  Blaise did not want to go once he heard we could not stand in North Korea, but I really wanted to go so I am glad I convinced him to go.

Recent Tensions

In 2023, tensions between South and North Korea intensified when South Korea elected a president who took a harder stance with respect to North Korea.  In retaliation, North Korea increased their missile testing and launched a new spy satellite.  South Korea responded to that by holding the largest joint military drills in years with the U.S.

North Korea would also send over trash balloons which were quite literally balloons that would float across the DMZ into South Korea carrying trash.  In response to that, South Korea would play KPop, on extremely loud loudspeakers, across the DMZ into North Korea.

As a result, even though South Korea allows tourist visits to the DMZ, they greatly reduced what these tourists can and cannot do.

Two highlights of this trip were the Dora Observatory and the walking in the third infiltration tunnel all the way to the demarcation line (the border between the two countries).

Dora Observatory

The Dora Observatory is a place within the DMZ on the top of a hill where they have high-powered telescopes to look into North Korea. Again, absolutely NO pictures.  Our tour guide, K, sent us (via WhatsApp) many pictures from that location from many years ago when taking pictures were allowed.  Those are what you see here; not anything Blaise or I took.  Unfortunately for us, rain was on the way so our ability to see any details in North Korea, even with the telescopes, was very limited and eventually non-existent within a matter of minutes of our time there.

This is a picture of a post in North Korea using one of the telescopes from years ago from the Observatory.  (Photo credit to our tour guide, K)

This is the Kaesong Industrial Complex located in North Korea just north of the DMZ.  This was a symbol of economic cooperation between the two countries where both South and North Koreans worked. It was operational from 2004, until 2026 when tensions between the two countries became too much to continue the venture.  (This is another photo from years ago provided by our tour guide K.) 

Another photo from the Observatory taken years ago and provided by our tour guide, K.

The second, and probably most interesting, highlight of this visit was walking through the third infiltration tunnel.

Before I get into what that was like, here’s a little background, which I find fascinating. Remember, the Armistice creating the DMZ was signed back in 1953.

There were three “Tunnels of Aggression” found in the 1970’s: 1st Tunnel in 1974, 2nd Tunnel in 1975, and 3rd Tunnel in 1978.  It is the third tunnel that we walked and is the closest of the four to Seoul (about 27 miles from Seoul).  The 4th Tunnel was discovered in 1990!

These tunnels were dug by North Korea from North Korea, under the DMZ, and into South Korea intended for troops to travel through for an attack on Seoul.

It is interesting how they found the tunnels.  According to our tour guide, there was a North Korean defector who was an engineer who worked on the tunnels.  He told South Korea of their existence but couldn’t tell them exactly where they were. To find them, South Korean and U.S. engineering teams drilled narrow vertical holes and filled them with water.  When North Korea used the dynamite to dig the tunnels, it would cause sudden jets of water to shoot up in the air.

Map of the four North Korean infiltration tunnels. (Photo credit to our tour guide, K)

At first, North Korea denied what they were doing and went so far as to paint black on some of the places on the walls of the tunnels to support their lie that they were digging for coal.

Once discovered, they were concreted up so North Korea could not get through.

Again, the 3rd Tunnel is one that we visited.  South Korea built a steep long tunnel to intercept the North Korean tunnel, which allows tourists today to go down into the tunnel dug by North Korea.  Thus, there is a North Korean and South Korean part of the tunnel we visited.  Before we went down the tunnel, we had a brilliant woman on our tour ask why it was called the North Korean tunnel if we were in South Korea. Really? She couldn’t figure that one out?

Before going down the tunnel, we were warned of the steepness of the South Korean part of the tunnel leading to what North Korea had dug out as well as the claustrophobic nature of the tunnel and how low it was at points.  The tour guide also mentioned that someone the week before we were there had a heart attack in the tunnel as a means to assure we understood the steepness of South Korean portion of the tunnel.

We were given hard hats and headed down, despite my asthma and Blaise’s claustrophobia.  If you get to the DMZ don’t you have to experience that tunnel?

It was a long trek but we did it!  The South Korea part of the tunnel was deceptively steep.  It didn’t look particularly steep but when you were going back up, you sure felt it.  And that part of the tunnel was long.  So was the flat North Korean part.  The North Korean part had its own problem.  That height in that half of the tunnel was extremely low. So I had to walk hunched over for nearly all of it, which was almost 435 meters since that is how far the North Koreans had dug into South Korea.  The hardhat saved me.  I hit my head too many times to count on the top of the tunnel.  I thought I was ducking low enough but at times the tunnel was way lower than I thought.  I have to say I was momentarily jealous of the many people short enough to walk through standing straight as a board.

You could see the spots where the dynamite was situated when the North Koreans were building the tunnel and painted black areas to try to dupe people into thinking they were digging for coal.

At the end of the tunnel, at the demarcation line (the literal North Korean border) were three massive concrete barriers to permanently seal the tunnel.  The barrier closest to us had a window so we could see to the next barrier.  There was a light in the space between the barriers and plants were actually growing between the barriers.  I guess because of the light in there?

It took me longer than most to get back up the incline, but I did it.

It was a rough trip but so very much worth the effort!  If you make it to Seoul, I would put this on your “must do” list.

Picture of the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel we walked.  Again, we could not take a picture so this is one provided by our tour guide, K.

We also visited an area just outside the DMZ on the South Korea side (obviously) called the Civil Controlled area. This is called the Freedom Bridge.  This is the bridge South Korean POWs walked across to go home after the Armistice was signed in 1953.  The top of the bridge is fairly newly replaced but the bottom is original.  (I took this picture as this was one of the few areas we were authorized to do so.)

Also in the Civil Controlled area was this relic.  It is a train car that was blown up and shot up with over 1,000 bullet holes. (I took this picture as this was one of the few areas we were authorized to do so.)

The Kukkiwon

This is a place, as a child, Blaise never thought he would get a chance to visit.  Blaise is a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, gaining his first black belt at age 14.  (This is part me bragging about him and part informational, to understand why Blaise wanted to go.) That is why visiting The Kukkiwon was important to Blaise.

The Kukkiwon is the world headquarters for Tae Kwon Don.  It is also the only place in South Korea where black belt tests are performed.

What I learned about the Kukkiwon and Tae Kwon Do with this visit:

In South Korea, they just call it Kukkiwon, not The Kukkiwon.  We still call it The Kukkiwon because that is how Blaise has always said it and because I like it better that way.

Every child in South Korea must learn Tae Kwon Do. It is part of their school curriculum.  They don’t have to get a black belt or anything but it is akin to our gym class.

The Kukkiwon is in the Gangnam district - of the Gangnam Style song by Psy fame.

The actual dojo in The Kukkiwon is smaller than in the pictures that Blaise had seen.  I, personally, thought it was huge.

The Kukkiwon is situated at the top of a hill within a lovely wooded garden area right in the middle of the Gangnam district of Seoul. Being there, you would think it is miles from civilization.

Even after the fascinating trip to the DMZ, Blaise still says this is the highlight of our trip to Seoul for him.  I am thrilled he had the opportunity to see it.

I won’t really talk about the other two big tourist places we visited, the big palace and the Seoul Tower, since I posted about them on Facebook and other than what I said there, there is not much more to say.

Brief Cruise Overview

I will try to post another blog in the next week to talk about the first of our back-to-back cruises, which ends tomorrow.  This is our first back-to-back cruise ever.

The first cruise was 13 nights (with the night of May 14 happening twice due to the International Dateline), from Tokyo to Whittier, Alaska.

The second cruise starts tomorrow and is 11 nights going from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

More about those in my next blog, focusing on the first cruise.  I will probably write a separate blog for the second cruise.