We got up early and braved the cold with four, yes, four layers of wool and a hot pocket in each shoe. Maybe a little too much since our bus was only two minutes away and we had an hour drive to go to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. This was an opportunity we didn’t feel we could miss while we were here. To see North Korea from a safe distance. But still keep in mind that it is a war zone as the two countries are very much at war, but have had the DMZ to keep peace for the last 70 years.

We went to the observatory tower where you could see the propaganda village right behind the North Korean border. A village with empty buildings with no windows just because they know that they’re being watched.

The next stop was the third tunnel. The third tunnel that South Korea discovered where North Korea has attempted to infiltrate their country. They believe there are many more that haven’t been found yet. We got to walk down the tunnel and a few meters from the border, behind three blocking walls, but you could see a small glimpse of North Korea on the other side.

The final stop was unification village for lunch. We also picked up some rice ginseng beer and other curiosities.

Overall, the impression was that South Korea is dreaming of and striving for bringing the two nations together, with an overarching theme of hope, peace and unification in the DMZ. But rather ironically, all the soldiers are armed in the demilitarized zone. And with North Korea not budging, the prospects of a united country look bleak.

A fun story the tour guide told us on the way back was that up in 2018 North Korea would have massive speakers blasting propaganda over the border. This bothered the South Koreans living and working in the DMZ to the point that they decided to retaliate. So they put up their own speakers and blasted back. What did they play? Opa Gangnam Style! This went on until North Korea shot one of the South Korean speakers, which violated the DMZ agreement. The leaders of the two countries had to meet and then agreed to stop shouting at each other. I guess Gangnam style does qualify as terror then…