Impressions of South Korea

February 18, 2017 Paul Groves




Day 45 of 111. Incheon, South Korea

The two strongest impressions of South Korea were the large number of condominiums indicative of the very high population density and the amount of barbed wire and observation posts along the coasts, the river, and the DMZ. It was obvious from our observations and from the information of our tour guide that the threat of aggression from North Korea is a constant and real concern.

Our tour today was to the DMZ and the Third Infiltration Tunnel which is a tunnel built by the North Koreans as a secret way to send troops to attack Seoul, South Korea. The tunnel was discovered in 1978 with information from a man who left North Korea to South Korea. A tunnel was dug down to find the infiltration tunnel and there are tours of the tunnel. It was a very cold day, but even colder as we went down a small tram for a 300 meter ride to the actual tunnel. The tram went down a tube two meters by two meters. We were given hard hats to wear which really proved invaluable as many of us were hitting our heads on the trip down as well as when we followed the tunnel to the Demarcation Line between North and South. We had to walk bent over for much of the trek.

We were not allowed to take pictures in the tunnel, but there were several interesting photo opportunities in the small park above the tunnel.

The very bottom picture shows two large towers. The black tower on the left is a flagpole for North Korea and the blue tower on the right is a flagpole for South Korea. This makes the border between the two countries.