The Korean Demilitarised Zone

**mesodan** · 05-02-2013, 03:08 AM

Some photo's from the USO tour to the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) at the border between North & South Korea.

Any and all feedback appreciated.

**mesodan** · 05-02-2013, 03:15 AM

1. At Dora Observatory, situated on a hill on the South Korean side of the DMZ. Had an awesome view into North Korea but unfortunately this is as far as the camera's were allowed to go

.

2. Dorasan Railway Station. Built ~6 years ago with ambitious plans to have passenger trains crossing over to North Korea and then connecting onto the Siberian rail network. Currently unused however with the tense relationship between the North & South.

3. At the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the border of North and South Korea. Panmungak, the main North Korea building in the background with a lone North Korea Soldier standing out front. About -15C when I took this

!

4. Our guide in the JSA, Private 1st Class Martinez. Personnel assigned to the JSA must score high in Army aptitude tests (to weed out the trigger happy grunts I guess

).

5. The R.O.K. (Republic of Korea) guards must be at least 177cm tall and have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do or Judo. They stand with a modified taekwondo stance with fists clenched. The two guards near the corner of the buildings have only half of their body exposed to present less of a target for the North Koreans.

6. One of the R.O.K. guards in the main conference room on the border. The conference rooms that are straddled on the border are the only places in the JSA where both sides can meet.

7. Just the view from the window from the main conference room. The concrete marker on the ground on the far right delineates the border between the two countries so technically I'm in North Korea at this point

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8. Another of the R.O.K. guard's at the main conference table where the two countries meet for diplomatic talks. The border runs through the table, with South Korean territory on the left and North Korea on the right.

9. A memorial in the JSA where two US officers were killed in 1976 by DPRK solders after attempting to trim a poplar tree that obstructed the view from one of the observation points. In response the US & South Korea launched a 'show of force' with Operation Paul Bunyan. This involved a 23 vehicle convoy with 16 engineers with chainsaws, 120+ security personnel, 27 helicopters, several circling B-52 bombers and F-4 fighter escorts behind them, and one aircraft carrier stationed just offshore. Fortunately the tree was cut down to its trunk without further incident

!

10. The sun setting over the North Korean propaganda (i.e. potemkin/fake) village of Kijŏng-dong. The flagpole is the third tallest in the world at 160 meters tall.

11. The 'Bridge of No Return' where prisoner swaps occurred after the end of the Korean War and after the Pueblo Incident. Also as seen in the movies 'Die Another Day' and 'Salt'

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12. Back at Camp Kim in Seoul

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**SteveB** · 05-02-2013, 06:16 AM

That would be an interesting experience. I bet you didn't come away feeling relaxed and safe about the state of the world politics.

**Jos** · 05-02-2013, 07:28 AM

Hell yes, you do get around Dan! Great to see, I like the way the guards hang their handbags on the door knobs! Must be one hell of a job standing there glaring across the divide all day thinking bad thoughts at the enemy.

**rjd** · 05-02-2013, 11:50 AM

What a trip and set of shots!

**Woolley** · 05-02-2013, 12:15 PM

Thank you for posting these, extremely interesting and great shots.

Pauline

**Russ** · 05-02-2013, 01:16 PM

Scary stuff. Why weren't you allowed to take a pic of N Korea?

**Jordan Moss** · 05-02-2013, 02:53 PM

Fantastic images.

**mesodan** · 05-02-2013, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by SteveB

That would be an interesting experience. I bet you didn't come away feeling relaxed and safe about the state of the world politics.

Yep, quite an unnerving place Steve! It's only an hour or so away from Seoul where 23 million people live too, so almost 'on their door step'.

Originally Posted by Jos

Hell yes, you do get around Dan! Great to see, I like the way the guards hang their handbags on the door knobs! Must be one hell of a job standing there glaring across the divide all day thinking bad thoughts at the enemy.

Cheers, Jos

. I think the handbags are for their soju to keep them warm

. Yep, the glare is apparently mandatory

. They had some guards at the train station too who used to smile for photo's, but apparently some chinese tourists complained and they had to go back to scowling

.

Originally Posted by rjd

What a trip and set of shots!

Thanks, Rob

. Had to time it with my NZ summer trip so was in the depths of winter and got down to -18C!

Originally Posted by Woolley

Thank you for posting these, extremely interesting and great shots.
Pauline

Thanks, Pauline

. Was a great experience. We got to go down one of the tunnels North Korea dug under the border into the South. 74 meters down below the rock. Unfortunately no photo's allowed though

.

Originally Posted by Russ

Scary stuff. Why weren't you allowed to take a pic of N Korea?

'Military Secrecy' apparently. So the the North Koreans don't look online to see how well their artillery positions are camouflaged I guess

.

Originally Posted by Jordan Moss

Fantastic images.

Cheers, Jordan

. Definitely recommend it for anyone who gets to visit this part of the world, only a day trip from the capital, Seoul.

**Adam** · 05-02-2013, 05:12 PM

Cool stuff. I like the way the guys are half hiding from the snipers - it doesn't help the guy in the middle though

**Jos** · 05-02-2013, 05:47 PM

Yeah he must be the staunchest, capable of catching bullets with his teeth. I wonder if the guys half and half sort of go blind after a while with one eye seeing a blue building and the other on the guy at the door across the way. Perhaps they swap left to right at half time.

**mesodan** · 05-02-2013, 07:49 PM

That must be why the sunglasses are mandatory, so they can blink their eyes a bit but still look staunch

.

**sooshee** · 05-02-2013, 09:02 PM

Get around much Dan?

Great set of pics. I would be nervouse carrying a long lens there in case it's mistaken for a bazooka lol.

**nzmacro** · 05-02-2013, 09:58 PM

Gees these shots tell a story and a half huh. Phew how lucky we are. Great shots and they have a job I don't envy.

All the best and NZ is a great place

Danny.

**mesodan** · 06-02-2013, 03:29 AM

Originally Posted by sooshee

Get around much Dan?

Great set of pics. I would be nervouse carrying a long lens there in case it's mistaken for a bazooka lol.

Thanks, Clarence

. One lady had a 70-200 f4L, but luckily no random pot shots from the other side of the border

.

Originally Posted by nzmacro

Gees these shots tell a story and a half huh. Phew how lucky we are. Great shots and they have a job I don't envy.

All the best and NZ is a great place

Danny.

Cheers, Danny

. They have compulsory military service in South Korea, so saw alot of young guys about in camou and buzz cuts ready for 'action'.

**RPM** · 06-02-2013, 06:11 AM

Great series. Nice whites on the snow given those buildings would have been acting like big blue fill reflectors.

**Paul.** · 06-02-2013, 08:54 AM

This is your best series yet, I loved it. I looked at all four corners of every picture. Great narrative too mate. I've learned something today

**mesodan** · 06-02-2013, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by RPM

Great series. Nice whites on the snow given those buildings would have been acting like big blue fill reflectors.

Cheers, Raymond

. I looked up the average temp for this time of year before I left and it was -2C, so wasn't really expecting snow. Got a bit of a shock though when the temp was -18C on my first morning

. Had to wear two hats!

Originally Posted by Paul.

This is your best series yet, I loved it. I looked at all four corners of every picture. Great narrative too mate. I've learned something today

Thanks, Paul

. Quite a surreal place to visit. The goal now is to try and visit from the other side of the border

.

**SteveB** · 07-02-2013, 01:22 PM

The goal now is to try and visit from the other side of the border

.

We looked into that a few years back. We were going to be in China and you can (? could) do a 5 day trip ex-Beijing that included the Mass Games if you timed it right. That would be quite something to see. Propaganda overload.
The restrictions were nuts. No camera lenses over a certain length (100mm IIRC), no video, no talking/contact with the locals, etc. If you did anything that disrespected the regime or leaders, you'd be thrown out of the country and your guide would be given prison or hard labour. Having seen "Team America" I don't think I could last 5 days without getting the guide locked up. I also think that it's probably not a stamp you want in your passport if you ever plan on going to the US.
Keep your eye out for the North Korea episode of a BBC doco series called "Holidays in the axis of evil". It's quite old now but it gives you an idea of what the trip would be like.

**Lia** · 07-02-2013, 02:07 PM

Excellent stuff Dan..i very much like this kind of photo journalism type photography with some info attached.

**mesodan** · 07-02-2013, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by SteveB

We looked into that a few years back. We were going to be in China and you can (? could) do a 5 day trip ex-Beijing that included the Mass Games if you timed it right. That would be quite something to see. Propaganda overload.

Yep, the tours sound like a highly controlled and polished 'glimpse' of North Korea. I would still love to go though, just to get a taste of the whole 'deity worshipping/dictatorship' thing.

Originally Posted by Lia

Excellent stuff Dan..i very much like this kind of photo journalism type photography with some info attached.

Thanks, Lia

. Very different from all the other tours I've been on, so much more 'real' if that makes sense.