DMZ

Today was one of those that we will not soon forget. We met the bus early this morning-7:30-with passports in hand and headed for the Demilitarized Zone. When we arrived there, we had the normal briefing by the soldiers telling the group some of the history of the conflict and some of the things that have happened since the cease-fire. A couple of examples are the 1976 Axe Murder of Commander Bonufus and some of his men that occurred while trimming a tree in the zone, and the Bridge of No Return, where people being held in the North and the South crossed after choosing which side they wanted to stay on.

After our briefing we drove across the grounds to the Freedom House. This is a building that looks directly into North Korea. Normally, the only non-military people there are the fellow members of the tour group. Today, the North was giving a tour! This is a VERY rare thing to have happen. Because of this, security was extra tight and our picture taking was held to a few brief moments. I did get pictures of those who were taking pictures of us. I also got pictures of the North Korean soldiers, which I've never seen that close-up before in either of my two previous visits.





The next part of the tour took us to one of the checkpoints where the view into North Korea is very clear. From here you can see Propaganda Village as well as the enormous North Korean flag. This flag weighs over 400 pounds!! The South Korean flag is made of a much lighter material and flies beautifully.



After leaving the DMZ and stopping for a very delicious tofu lunch (I loved it, I'm not sure about the kids!!), we went to the Korean War Museum in Seoul. It is an outstanding museum that shows not only the North/South conflict, but many wars throughout the ages. They do a nice job of showing what an average Korean had to go through before and after the war, facing being a refugee and being hungry. They also have a lot of original documents that were sent back and forth between the Untited States and South Korea.

In this picture, a group of the kids are stading in front of a replica war ship. Further down you'll see the grounds of the museum which has a lot of different aircraft and other machinery. Going to this museum really brought our DMZ experience full circle.









The kids are doing great and having a good time. Tomorrow we're off to a very famous palace in Seoul-one of my favorite stops, and we are also going to learn to do some traditional paper art at a folk village.