Editor’s note: While Sam Spector and I had different experiences in Seoul, we both agree on one thing: a visit to the DMZ is unique and not to be missed. You can read about mine here. For more of Sam’s writing, click here to visit his index page.

I once went to one country because of my wife’s fascination with a different country. Wait, what?

My wife has long held a fascination with the reclusive nation of North Korea. We have watched many online documentaries of the world’s most closed-off and secretive nation. While going to North Korea would certainly be one of the most fascinating and surreal experiences on the planet, we did not and cannot go there. The United States government banned American citizens from visiting North Korea with an American passport since 2017 following the imprisonment and death of American student Otto Warmbier and the imprisonment of numerous other American citizens on trumped-up charges that required diplomatic intervention. So while we did not go to North Korea, we journeyed to South Korea and visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5 mile wide, 160 mile long zone that runs primarily along the 38th parallel dividing North and South Korea according to the armistice line from the Korean War. Despite the name, this area is potentially the most militarized area in the entire world, with literally millions of landmines planted along the area.

The DMZ is located approximately 1.5 hours north of Seoul. There are many daily tours from the South Korean capital, but we picked a unique one where we were joined by a North Korean defector who told her story. She told us a harrowing story of how she grew up entirely exposed to North Korean propaganda and was made to fear the outside world. However, through people smuggling South Korean music and movies into North Korea, she was exposed to understanding what freedoms were available outside the authoritarian dictatorship. Through great risk and incredible expense, she was able to save up money and get to China and get someone to smuggle her to South Korea, despite knowing that should she be caught, not only would she be sent to a labor camp for years, but that she would lose her life savings. Additionally, whether successful or not, her family could face repercussions to deter others from trying to defect. Her life was not easy coming to South Korea, as due to discrimination she struggled socially and in terms of employment. Telling her story gave us a great insight into what life was like in North Korea, the risk that comes with defecting, and the challenges defectors face. When asked if we could take photos or if it would put her life in danger should the photos surface online, she laughed and said that when she left North Korea she was so skinny and malnourished, but now she was so fat, that nobody would recognize her online and so she was not in danger if we wanted to take photos. Though I regularly meet people from all corners of the world, this was the first, and possibly only, time I will meet a person from North Korea and hear their story. It was a special privilege that reminded me of the opportunities I have had to meet Holocaust survivors, hearing a story of a survivor overcoming incredible odds with tremendous courage.

After crossing the beautiful Imjin River, a tributary of the Han River that flows from North Korea across the DMZ, we arrived at the Imjingak, a park with a focus on reunification of North and South Korea. An area where we had hoped to visit was the Joint Security Area (JSA), where North and South Korean soldiers famously face off feet apart. At this place, you can go into a room where negotiations take place that is right on the border and physically step into North Korea. However, since 2023, the JSA has been closed to tourists after an American soldier, who was facing a dishonorable discharge and criminal charges, took a tour and then ran across the JSA to escape consequences. He was held by the North Koreans for the next 10 weeks before being returned to the United States; however, as the one American family on our tour, it was rather embarrassing that one of our compatriots was the reason nobody is allowed to have this amazing experience anymore, and a good reminder that we are ambassadors when we are tourists. At the Imjingak, make sure you get a picture in front of the famous multicolored DMZ sign as well as the M48 Patton Tank that is on display from the Korean War. There are numerous places in the area that are somber monuments reminding people of the horrors that the Korean people experienced prior, during, and after the Korean War, with pain lingering to today.

One such monument that reminds visitors of the continued anguish is the Displaced Family Memorial. The partition of the Korean Peninsula separated some 10 million family members from each other. Another monument shows two girls sitting next to train tracks, each with an empty chair next to them. This monument is a reflection from World War II, when teenage girls and women were used as sex slaves, often called “comfort girls”by the Japanese military during the occupation of Korea. The empty chairs represent the nameless women who were abused or killed during this time. One other monument shows the remnants of an actual locomotive that has over 1000 bullet holes in it, showing the tremendous violence that occurred during the Korean War, a conflict where over 5 million were killed in a 4 year period. In this area is also a wooden bridge that is dubbed the “Bridge of Freedom” as it was over this bridge that thousands of prisoners of war were exchanged following the war. This bridge holds a special significance to the Korean people as not only a place of liberation, but a physical connection between North and South Korea. Nearby, there is a rather unique souvenir that you can purchase, which cannot be found in other places. You can purchase crisp North Korean monetary bills that were smuggled across the border and reflect scenes from North Korean history and portraits of the Kim ruling family.

Along the DMZ there are many miles of barbed wire fence, often with cameras or active guard towers on the other side of them. Along the fence, there are ribbons that are tied with prayers for reunification. The DMZ is also a place where there is a lot of psychological warfare between the two nations. At times, South Koreans have sent balloons to North Korea that are full of literature and flash drives with K-Pop songs or Korean films on them. In return, the North Korean military has sent balloons to South Korean towns that often contain garbage or feces. When these incidences occur, the two nations utilize their loudspeakers. The loudspeakers sometimes blast music or propaganda messages that can be heard from miles away in the villages of North and South Korea as they try to drown each other out. On top of the hill is the Dora Observatory, which calls for peace and reunification on the outside. The building is largely dilapidated and there is a nice new observatory built next door. From this observatory, you can look out into the world’s most reclusive nation, including the North Korean propaganda town Kijong-dong, or Peace Village. The town was built in the 1950s with brightly colored apartment high rises to display North Korean prosperity at a time when South Korea was impoverished, thus promoting a positive image of communism. However, closer inspection shows these buildings are largely shell buildings without people living in them. With that said, at times you can see lights on or North Korean military vehicles driving through the town. The town also contains a 160 meter flagpole with a giant North Korean flag on it. To be able to look into North Korea and hear their loudspeakers was a surreal experience knowing that you were catching a glimpse of the most secretive and mysterious nation on the planet.

Finally, another place you can visit is the Third Infiltration Tunnel. North Korea has built tunnels, four of which have been discovered, to be able to one day invade South Korea. A North Korean defector who had worked on building the tunnels revealed their location to South Korean authorities. With the Third Infiltration Tunnel, after showing your passport, you may visit. Visitors must wear a hard hat and walk down a steep incline that goes down 73 meters and is a mile long. The tunnel is only 2 meters in height and width, leading taller people to crouch the whole way. As there are many tourists, it is fairly congested and hot, and takes a long time to visit. I definitely do not recommend this for people who experience claustrophobia. About 170 meters from the North Korean border, the tunnel has been shut off by the North Koreans; you must then turn around and go up the steep hill and eventually arrive to the top sweating and out of breath. Allow about an hour for this experience.

While I wrote that I was slightly disappointed by Seoul, a city that felt overhyped and also I did not enjoy as much as Busan, visiting the DMZ was easily the highlight of staying in the South Korean capital and made the whole visit worthwhile. To truly understand Korea and modern geopolitics, and get one of the most fascinating travel experiences of your life, book a tour to the DMZ when you visit Seoul, and make sure to add the option of hearing the testimony of a defector from North Korea.

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