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Visiting the Demilitarized
Zone in Korea by Rick Chapo
 Unless
you have been living in a cave, you already know about North and South
Korea. Well, why not visit the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
The Korean War has to be
one of the longest in the history of man. While I don't know whether that
it necessarily true, it has to be up there on the list. Why? Well, it officially
never ended.
The Korean War was one of
those indirect wars between the USSR and United States during the Cold
War era. Although the countries never officially went to war, they would
do battle indirectly through other countries. Korea was one such place.
The intricacies of that war are beyond this article, but the important
thing is to understand how it all ended. It didn't!
In 1953, hostilities stopped
and negotiations began. An agreement could never be reaches, but hostilities
did not restart. The end all of the process was you now have a demilitarized
zone dividing South Korea and North Korea. The zone is little more than
a mile wide. There are no troops in it, but plenty of land mines and other
nasty things. On either side of the zone, there are troops. Lots of them.
The rather odd thing about
the Demilitarized Zone is it has become a tourist attraction. There is
no fighting whatsoever. As such, you can take tours where you learn the
history of the war, the negotiations and how things stand now. You can
also take a guided tour up and down the line from which you can see North
Korean troops on the other side of the zone. Your guide will tell you not
to waive and so on, but then does it himself. It is all so surreal, it
is a bit difficult to take it all in.
One of the more odd elements
of the visiting the zone is actually getting there. You can sign up with
a variety of tour companies. They will then take you out to the zone along
the Freedom Road. Pay attention as you traverse it. Things go from a lively
country to near silence as you approach the zone. It will make your skin
crawl.
Obviously, visiting a demilitarized
zone is not for everyone. If you are looking for something different, however,
this definitely fits the bill.
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About the Author: Rick Chapo
is with NomadJournals.com - makers of rugged travel
journals.
Travel
Articles / Asia
/ South Korea
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