Last time on the Joyful Journey 123 blog, we were all about learning geography with the help of games – https://joyfuljourney123.com/have-fun-learning-geography-with-games/.
This month, we’ve been out on a real-world adventure to South Korea, which included a trip to the Goseong DMZ tourist area. DMZ is short for the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. It was an amazing homeschool learning experience!
What Is the DMZ?
At the end of the Korean war in 1953, the Demilitarized Zone was established as a buffer zone to prevent conflict breaking out between the two sides. You can find out more about the conflict and tragic division of Korea here – https://cove.army.gov.au/article/kyr-koreas-korean-divide-and-korean-war
When Korea was split, many families were separated across the border, and never saw each other again. There is a real life documentary about one such family with English subtitles – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi98KEYS8p0
You might need your tissues though!
Neither side can cross into the DMZ. It stretches from the West to East coast of the Korean peninsula, and is four kilometres wide. There are soldiers stationed at watch houses on both sides along the length of the DMZ. Seeing as the Korean War never officially ended, both the north and south mandate compulsory military duty. In South Korea, all young men must spend around 1.5 years in military training in preparation. So when you are travelling up near the DMZ, it is common to see many military personnel and vehicles in the community. This is a very unusual feeling for the common civilian!
Visiting the DMZ
So, if you are interested in seeing the DMZ, how do you go about it, and what can you see? There are a few DMZ tourist places in Korea. You can find more info about each one on this Korean tourism site – https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/thingsToDo/subDmzTours.do
I’m going to focus on the one in Goseong, which we visited this time. It is on the east coast, and the closest to North Korea. It is all the northernmost point of South Korea.
How Do You Get Into the Goseong DMZ Tourist Area?
The tourist area is around four kilometres distance from the start of the actual DMZ line. To get into the Goseong DMZ tourist area, you have to pay a small fee for an entry pass and watch some safety training. After this, you can drive your vehicle up to the tourist attractions and view North Korea. You are given a strict three hour window to get in and out again. If you go over, a soldier will call you on your mobile phone to check your whereabouts and remind you to get out.
The three hour time limit was really disappointing for us, because there is so much to do! Despite the tragic circumstances surrounding the separation of Korea, this place is a full tourist attraction. Which is both wonderful, and a little weird. I mean, we were sitting there sipping tea just kilometers from a terrifying dictatorship where everyday residents can’t possess a passport, and Christians get locked up in concentration camps! Yikes! So what is there to do?
Things To Do In the Goseong DMZ Tourist Area?
Just driving up to the tourist area is an experience. To your left is a beautiful beach blocked off by high barbed-wire fences. It feels like entering a different world.
The DMZ Museum
The first tourist location is the DMZ museum, and it is amazing! So much effort has gone into telling the story of the Korean war, the division of the peninsula, and the hope of peace in the future. Thankfully, almost every exhibit is in detailed English, and there are also QR codes that you can scan and listen to English audio commentary. So good!
There is a large cafe and souvenir store, which we enjoyed.
At the end there is a children’s experience centre where children can colour souvenir tote bags or t-shirts, or make personalised mugs. The fee for this experience is only a few dollars, so it’s very reasonable. Sadly, after enjoying this large and impressive museum, we realised we had already chewed through over an hour of our time. We couldn’t stay to enjoy the experience, but purchased a t-shirt and tote bag to colour at home.
Goeseong Unification Observatory
From there, we were off a short way up the road to the BIG attraction. The Goseong Unification Observatory, where you can see into North Korea. Both with the naked eye, and through powerful telescopes. Unlike the Seoul viewing area, you cannot see any North Korean villages or civilians here. However you can see the beautiful Mount Kumkang, which has long been considered a place of great beauty in Korea. You can also see Korean soldiers guarding their posts on their side of the DMZ, along with the North Korean flag flying.
It is a truly remarkable experience to look over into North Korea. It’s hard to explain why. It’s just another country after all. Perhaps it’s simply knowing how hard life is on the other side of that DMZ. Maybe the astonishing and unfathomable history of the place does it.
By this stage, we had almost exhausted our three hour limit, but there was still another small museum to visit! Not to mention a train restaurant that looked so fun to dine in!
6.25 War Experience Exhibition Hall
We decided to try our luck and stretch the time to see the final museum, which showcased life in the military and some more military history. Then, the phone call arrived. Where are you? We quickly wrapped up and scooted back to our car and got out of there. It’s still a little sad that we missed eating in the train restaurant. If we were to do it again, we would probably opt for that option, rather than the DMZ museum cafe.
So, if you ever visit Korea, we can highly recommend visiting this region and seeing the DMZ tourist area at the northernmost point of South Korea. If you’ve already visited a DMZ tourist site, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!
