All Quiet on the Southern Front

A South Korean Soldier in the JSA

On Monday I received a call from my father, telling me to hang up while he had my grandmother call me. My grandmother, well known for her eccentricities, had apparently been losing sleep over North Korea's recent press. I use the word "apparently", but really the whole situation was anything but. Here in the south, very little anxiety or concern has been felt over North Korea's new stance on US or SKs involvement in their nuclear testing. Is there a threat? It's hard to say.

Four weeks ago, I visited North Korea. I stood on North Korean soil, took a picture of a North Korean soldier, and bought some barbed wire at the gift shop. I paid in American money.

South Korea has made one of Seoul's (even though the site is really 30min outside of Seoul) largest attractions the DMZ. There you can see the third infiltration tunnel (click the link, it'll explain far more than I will before my bedtime), and voyage into the JSA. The JSA is closed to many nationalities, including the South Korean civilians. As a US citizen, though, I got a guided tour, complete with three separate stops to three separate gift stores. Among the stores' wares are pieces of DMZ barbed wire, T-shirts, and authentic Korean handicrafts. 

I definitely did not feel like I was standing on the border of two warring countries. Instead, it felt more like I was visiting South of the Border, a tourist trap between North and South Carolina. 

Outside the third infiltration tunnel, we watched a video. The video condemned the North Korean propaganda machines that once blasted the south with messages of "Never pay taxes again, come to North Korea". While the video condemned the North, it nonetheless broadcasted its own message of harmony between the two nations in such an idealistic way that it was laughable. The video included a little girl running with butterflies and talked about the "extinct" animals alive at the DMZ. It made no mention of the land mines. 

In conclusion, to all of you reading this in the US, I went to North Korea. No, not the real North Korea- the touristy kind with cafeterias, and world peace statues. North Korea was a good time, and that's what South Korea wants me to think. They don't want me running off to live there mind you, but they want the people living in South Korea to be at ease. The truth is, that the South and the North have been at war for almost 60 years. People can't live in a state of constant fear, so the government doesn't play up every tantrum North Korea has.  Is North Korea a real threat? Absolutely. Is it more of a threat this week? Maybe, but either way, noone here seems worried.

Kaesong: North Korea's Propaganda Village, and an Industrial Tie to the South