One of the things I was frequently asked when I first told people I was planning on traveling to South Korea was if I would be visiting or touring the DMZ, the area of no-man’s land that lies between North and South Korea. And my answer to this was always no. For me, with my limited time in the country,   South Korea had many more interesting features to it than just the border with its slightly different neighbours.

However, I have found myself back in Seoul a little earlier than first imagined and therefore have some time to explore the ‘extra’ things not on my original itinerary, including some DMZ-type activities.

The main activity on the agenda today is driving out to Imjingak Resort, which isn’t really a resort but a type of community park near Paju, built in 1972 and open to the public as a sort of remembrance and consolation to the families divided by the Korean War.

The park sits on the banks of the Imjin River and contains a host of art installations, statues and monuments, as well as an observation deck with a gondola that crosses the river to Camp Greaves. This is also the resting site of the ‘Peace Train’, the last train to cross the North/South Korean border used to move supplies during the war. I don’t know the full story behind it, but it is riddled with bullet holes. Additionally, Freedom Bridge is located here, a former railroad bridge connecting the two Koreas across which POW’s were exchanged.

Not being Korean, and with there being simply too much history between the two countries to try and fully make sense of, I don’t at all feel qualified to say anything on this subject. All I relay to you is my experience here at the park today, which honestly doesn’t feel wholly connected to the divided countries.

I was surprised by the overall feeling of Imjingak, for rather than being the solemn place I expected (maybe like an outdoor museum), there is plenty of joy and frivolity going around and a definite air of sheer tourism. I also only recall seeing maybe a handful of foreign people like myself here, everyone else is Korean, and well, I guess I was surprised by the light-hearted nature of everyone given what this place is here to represent. And just like everywhere else I have visited, the main preoccupation here is with taking the perfect selfie and picking up a souvenir.               

In the first instance, when I arrive, I am overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people I find here and simply assume this must be an incredibly popular place to visit. Though I slightly revise my initial thought once I enter the park, for today appears to be the local annual soybean festival here at Imjingak!

If you need soybeans, this is the place to be. And yes, pretty much all of these stalls are just for soybeans (though I did spy a tank of fish and, of course, food stalls on my way through). While this was interesting and all, it was of absolutely no use to me personally, I certainly didn’t need to be toting tons of beans around with me. So off I went to take a gander at what else was here and this is some of what I found…

I debated for a little bit if I wanted to pay the money to take the gondola across the water to Camp Greaves, a former US military base that was handed back to the South Koreans in 2007 and now serves as part of the Imjingak ‘experience’. The camp is technically not in the DMZ (it is 2 miles away from it), but it does sit in past the Civilian Controlled Line (CCL), which is a border line that establishes a buffer zone before you get to the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Due to this, before you board a gondola, you actually have to complete a security form and present your ID in order to be granted a ticket to visit Camp Greaves.

You can choose to make your trip through the skies in a gondola with a see-through floor (of course I did) and then when you arrive there are only a couple things really to do here; visit the Korean War art installation (well put together and very moving, though you will get the most from it by using a translator app to understand all of the exhibits, the letters from the soldiers to their mothers at home are particularly moving to read), check out all of the barbed wire and wonder what the rest of the camp looks like, post yourself a postcard, look at the old aviation no-fly signs, stare back across the water at the main park, and then you are about done.

Oh, and of course you can’t miss the seasonal opportunity to take this photo….

Because nothing says Christmas more than greetings from an area filled with mines and reindeer.

Overall, I just really didn’t know how to take in my Imjingak experience. I just didn’t fully understand what I was supposed to feel by being here. It was all a little too mixed for my liking. It almost had a theme park atmosphere to it all and I just didn’t really like that. Honestly, the most poignant part of the whole trip was the art museum piece at Camp Greaves which was certainly worth seeing. I also should point out that maybe my time here might have felt different had I arrived on a different day with less people and without a festival taking place.

There is a second part to my border adventures, so I am just going to go ahead and tell you about that now, although technically they took place on different days, but we are running with a theme here, so let’s just go for it.

I am going to tell you now something that blew my tiny little mind when I discovered it, and probably makes me sound really ignorant, but please remember I am just really discovering South Korea for the first time so I hope you can cut me some slack.

Here goes.

You can see North Korea from South Korea.

You don’t have to step foot into the DMZ, you don’t have to pay for any fancy tours; the country is not hidden a million miles behind a border never to have eyes laid on it. You simply need to drive out of Paju in the northern part of Seoul, along the 77 highway, and look to your left out across the river…and that’s North Korea.

You’ll get the hint by the fact the road along here is lined with fencing and barbed wire.

The river here serves as the border between the two countries and if you in fact want to take a closer look directly into North Korea, just pop along to Odusan Unification Observatory where they have helpfully installed some telescopes to help you with this.

The observatory I feel was a better experience than visiting Imjingak, I took away a lot more from this trip. There are exhibits inside that are worth making the effort to really look and and take the time to let them sink in. I spent a good deal of time wandering the exhibits spread across the three floors.

The first place to visit is an area depicting the timeline of historical events showing the division of the two countries and the attempts made at reconciliation in the past. For people who don’t know much about the background of these events, it is an interesting and enlightening trip through time.      

The two exhibits that have most impact however are the Displaced Families and the My Hometown collections. The first is a room full of photographs of families that have been split across the two countries and have not been able to see or contact each other since the division. The second room is covered in small tiles containing illustrated or written memories by people who were forced to leave their homes in the northern part of Korea when the war began and have not been able to return home to their hometowns.

I encourage you to take a moment to let the thoughts of these things settle, and to maybe consider how you would feel or cope should that happen to you.  

It’s at this point you wander up to the rooftop and out into the bitter wind (in winter anyway) and are then able to stand and take a look through the telescope. And this is what you see…

Yup, that’s a little North Korean town. And yes, those are people working in the fields. And you’re right, you can see them very easily from South Korea. Surprised? Well, I totally was.

And then this thought seeps into my head…what must it be like, to live here in South Korea, maybe just down the road from this observatory, but to have originally have been from the northern part of the country before it was divided, to be able to come here and look across at a place you can never return to and maybe still have people you love living there? Just a short boat ride away, or a swim if you’re feeling particularly motivated. How gutting that must be.  

And this here is one of the best examples of why I think it is important to travel.

How easy is it to sit at home and view the world through the television, nodding or tutting away at the things we see, forming opinions about subjects we will never be touched or inflicted by?

But when you travel, and see these things front and centre with your own eyes, it gives you pause, moments to think and evaluate. And I swear, I promise, it changes you. It makes you a little more open, a little more understanding. It certainly doesn’t make you an expert on anything, but what it hopefully does is make you appreciate the ‘human experience’, the realisation that everyone truly has their own lives, struggles, thoughts, and ways of life that are completely different and independent of your own.

And that is an immense and powerful thing.

I don’t know if the two Koreas will ever become one again. I don’t know if it will ever be possible. I don’t know if that would be a good thing or not. I don’t know if that is something the Korean people truly want or care about.

What I do know is that I think the world is a better place with less division and more understanding. More empathy and compassion. I think it’s hard given the fact most of us are just trying to make our way through each day and survive, but I hope that everyone finds just a moment each day to do something nice or say something kind to someone else. I think that’s a good place to start and build from.

In that spirit, I wish everyone a day where you smile and laugh at least once and reach the end of it safe and healthy.

I shall see you next time for tales of books, films, and open spaces!