My life as an ARMY Wife: DMZ

On Saturday Clayton and I went to the DMZ. The Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea. To be honest I was a little scared. Before the tour you have to sign a form warning you that you could be injured or even killed. I posted a lot of pictures of the DMZ. It has probably been to coolest thing we have done yet. Sorry I look rough, we had to get up at 4:30am to make it to the USO in Seoul. There were a lot of places where we were not allowed to take pictures but when we were allowed we were firing away. The tour took us to a few different points within the DMZ. We started at the UN buildings where all meeting are held. From there we went to one of the guard towers which is actually surround on 3 sides by N. Korea. We went by the bridge of no return to an observatory which actually had the best views but photographs were not allowed. At the end of the tour we went to a tunnel that they found in 1978 that was dug by N. Korea in an effort to sneak into S. Korea. Since then they have found roughly 10 more tunnels. The USO now operates the tunnel so tourist can visit. We were able to walk to the N. Korea border in the tunnel. It was pretty neat however it was roughly 5 tall and 5 feet wide. I had to duck down, Clayton and to squat down. It was pretty funny. Pictures weren't allowed here either.

In this picture Clayton and I are actually standing in North Korea. We are standing inside the UN Building, right behind the South Korea Soldier is the door to N. Korea.

We were getting a brief about the UN building. The table is right in the middle of the room. The flag marks the division of S. and N. Korea. This building is still being used for all the peace discussion between North and South Korea.

Here we are being told no pointing, do not try to make contact with any N. Korea soldiers, stay in line and do not take photos until you are told it is okay.

The Bridge of No Return. It was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The name originates from the fact that prisoners were giving the choice to remain in the country of their captivity or cross over to the other country. But if they crossed the bridge, they would never be allowed to return.

So it was a typical Korean day ... hazy and humid. That is a picture of the propaganda village in North Korea. All the building here are empty because no one is living there. Its only function has been to blast propaganda to anyone around for 6-12 hours a day. I believe it was 2004 when they reached an agreement with South Korea and the propaganda stopped. The flag you see in the picture is one of the largest flags in the world. It weights almost 600 pounds dry and has steel beams within it so the flag does not tear under its own weight.

There is another village in the DMZ, called the freedom village. It is on the South Korea side and people actually do live there. After Seoul hosted the Olympic games in 1988 they donated the South Korean flag to the village, at that time it was the largest flag, so N. Korea had to out do them and that is when they got their HUGE flag. Families that live in the freedom village live tax free in very modern houses. Most families in S. Korea farm 1-3 acres, those that live in the DMZ farm an average of 17-20 acres meaning they make a lot more money. The village is guarded by military and they have a curfew with set times to have windows and doors locked as resident have been kidnapped before. (I don't think I'd want to live here.)

Another picture of the North Korean Flag. It has to be real windy to be able to blow the whole flag.

A N. Korean watch tower. Kinda of hard to see here, but if you look at the left corner of the tower there is a Soldier standing there.

All the blue buildings belong to the UN. Grey belong to N. Korea.

Four North Korean Soldiers

He brought his buddy out to watch us.

Busted. I swear he was watching me the hole time. A few people got in trouble by the American soldiers for pointing.

The S. Korean soldiers stand half behind the building in case they get shot at. We on the other hand were just out in the open looking like complete TOURISTS.