South Korea – the DMZ and the Infiltration Tunnels
We arrived at the infiltration tunnels as our last stop on the tour. There was to be no cameras on this part of thetour.
We watched a film about the specific history of the infiltration tunnels. All was good and well, and I enjoyed the explanation of the history of the war and some of the more current developments in the two countries’ relationship.
Apparently, there were talks of reunification in the 1990s, and since then South Korea has been the main sponsor of humanitarian aid to the North.[1] We did see the highways leading to North Korea on which food and supplies were shipped. There were also power lines, but the North Koreans rejected that as they would not pay for it. A factory type of structure served the purpose of disabling any radio communication from the West. It took one whole building to dismantle the possibility of capitalist influences.
Back at the infiltration tunnel museum I enjoyed the film until the very end, when the narration seemed to depict in present tense a peace that would not, in all likelihood, come anytime soon. “Today the DMZ is an area of peace and natural beauty…” There were images of beautiful wildlife that thrived at the DMZ because there was no human habitation there. “The two Koreas live in peaceful coexistence.” We just went through zones of tension where photography was strictly prohibited, where North Korean soldiers could intimidate by merely peeping in through the windows. I could taste the tension with every breath that I took. Any portrayal of peace at the DMZ seemed like wishful thinking to me.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the South Koreans discovered four infiltration tunnels. I could certainly imagine how fearful it was for the South Koreans to find those tunnels. Seoul was only about 70-100km away from the border. These tunnels together would allow one million soldiers to reach Seoul in over one hour’s time.
The north claimed that they were abandoned coal mines, or that South Korea built them. The museum exhibits explained the angle of the elevation and the origin could only be from the North. There was also no coal in that area. One caption said, “thus showing the dubiousness of the North Koreans.” Also discovered were arrows drawn in yellow paint inside the 3rd tunnel, all pointing toward Seoul.
We walked a very long corridor declining at a 45 degree angle to reach the entrance of the tunnel, then further to the first blockade, and tourists were not permitted beyond the yellow arrows. The corridor itself was 173 meters long, and one could only imagine how deep the tunnel was. It was believed that there were a total of more than 20 tunnels dug by the North as the South Koreans continued to search through the 241-km long demarcation line to find them.
These tunnels showed the plans and actions taken by the North to invade the South, and that certainly unsettled the South Koreans. Yet postmodern warfare would no longer take place at the border. Someone asked Officer Pearson, “what was the last event that happened here?” His answer was, “that we were on this tour now.” There might be some skirmishes at the demarcation line, and needless to say, spying never stopped, but the intimidation of the North was taking on a new form known as nuclearization, and it clearly preoccupied the South Koreans and had enormous implications for the world.
When I thought of the two Koreas, I imagined a couple that were married for years and after a fight they split up, each backed by supportive neighbors, but they were stuck living in their original house. The glamorous wife enjoyed her parties and she entertained her western guests in the beautifully decorated living room. The stubborn old man decided to stay in an unheated shed at the backyard and spent all day intimidating his wife and her western friends. Many years passed and the old man was looking to a more comfortable life now, for even his own friends have chosen the way of his wife. The neighbors stepped in again, wanting to negotiate for a peaceful resolution. The future was yet unknown, but I surely hoped that the couple would reconcile one day, so that the children in the backyard would never have to starve again.
Writer’s note:
This series on the DMZ was written in 2009, two days after my visit to the DMZ. The situation in the two Koreas have since taken on surprising turns, especially in 2017 and 2018 when North Korea began actively testing its long-range missiles. I have followed developments of the denuclearization plan that has been agreed upon between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the current administration of the United States in 2018. These entries on the DMZ were mostly preserved with minimal additional research in order to convey the situation as I learned it at the time of writing.
[1] I read on the newspapers later that South Korea has stopped its humanitarian aid program in the past few years due to strained relationships.
This is part of a series on the Demilitarized Zone at the 38th Parallel separating North and South Koreas. Please visit the other entries in this series below:
South Korea – The DMZ and the Bollinger Hall.