A Saturday Visit to the DMZ and North Korea (JSA and North Korea)

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Last week I wrote about Panmunjon, but I couldn't show any photos because of security concerns imposed by the military. However, at the JSA and North Korea I could take some photos. Thus in this post I'll take about the JSA/North Korea I have a few photos to help out.

So when going to the JSA remember to have your ID card/passport ready. You'll first go to Camp Bonifas, and from there take another bus to the JSA, which by the way passes by Panmunjom.

Now once you get off the bus at the JSA, you'll be led to the visitor's center. We assembled into two lines. The first line was for the USO tourists, and the second line was for us. We received the safety briefing, with yet again warnings about where we can and can't take photographs. Inside the visitor center, and Camp Bonifas we couldn't take any photos. However, once outside into the actual JSA area we were allowed to take photos, with some restrictions of course.

So that's talk about the photos below. On the South Korean side of the border you have the ROK soldiers (MPs) facing their North Korean counterparts. They stand at Jeunbi (Ready Stance from Tae Kwon Do) in order to intimidate the North Koreans. Also the soldiers on both sides are taller than average soldiers. Again to intimidate, and create the illusion that each side's soldiers are like super soldiers. If you look in the far distance you can see a North Korean soldier observing us from the North Korean Peace Museum.
An interesting note, you'll rarely if ever see the North Korean soldiers right across from their South Korean counterparts anymore. Rumor has it, it's because it was too easy for North Korean soldiers to crossover, and defect.

Please note: The silver buildings are the North Korean buildings. The one on the right is called the Recreation Room, but nobody on the south side ever see rec equipment go in or out, or play in the room for that matter. We can't go in those buildings. IMG_8752.JPG]()

Now the "bump" you see between the two blue buildings is the North/South border. Now let's talk about how to get into North Korea.

To get into North Korea is really just a simple little trick. Once inside a blue conference room (As pictured above) you can literally walk to North Korea by going past the conference table. That's all there is to it, and if you really want to brag about the "number of times you went into North Korea" just go past the table to South Korea, turn around and go past the table again to North Korea. Repeat as desired, or until your time is up.

So speaking of time up, my time is up. It's time for me to get back on the bus, and go to our next stop OP Dora, and the Third Infiltration Tunnel.