How good is demilitarisation - part 1 - No Scoffing

Well it seems demilitarisation may not be that good - cause although all the literature espouses the positivity of the demilitarisation zone in Korea it is far from demilitarised, in fact it is totally militarised.

This is not a history lesson of the Korean War, but an observation on visiting the 4 klm zone that separates the North (DRK) from the South (ROK) and the utterly weird experience it is.

We should probably have been alert to the formalities of a trip to the DMZ by the pre-trip instructions we received to bring our passports and a dress code that was more restrictive than some weddings I have attended.

Before we could enter we had to sign what was essentially a code of behaviour contract. In fairness they are concerned about any offence or insult to the North that might inflame tensions or set back the relationship. So the code had what you might expect - you know, don’t yell out obscenities about Fat Kim (though not in those exact words), but my favourite was Clause D; No Scoffing Allowed. Really, you expect an Australian to go 2  - 3 hours without scoffing! So we had to scoff very discreetly.

On arrival the Korean military enter our tour bus, check all passenger passports and do a headcount - twice. The bus crawls along a small way and then a US soldier enters the bus, and not to be outdone he also does a passport check, and a headcount. But he goes one step further: in that manner that only a humourless military soldier has he asks three questions: are any us of drug or alcohol affected, then if any of us are carrying weapons, I mean really, who is going to say yes. But he has saved his most bizarre question for last - do any of us plan to defect to North Korea today: Tom laughed, but no it was not a joke.

What more can I say.

Under strict control we visited the most sensitive part of the DMZ, the Joint Security Area. Among the photos to follow are pictures from the Conference Room, made famous for the many peace talks held within. The room straddles the demarcation line; the north sit on their side of the wide conference table, in northern territory, and the south on the south side. They literally enter the room from doors that access their own countries, it is surreal.

South Koreans eagerly monitoring their northern neighbours.

I think the following hilarious and pertinent observation from Zach, the eldest son of our travelling companions Cathy and Terry summed it up: North Korea has the largest concentration of artillery in the world, even if it is really old and held together with whatever passes for duct tape in the North.