Friday, May 16, 2014

Day Two - DMZ

We spent most of today on a bus tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) just north of Seoul. We were accompanied by a woman who defected from North Korea in 2010. 
The tour guests had multiple opportunities to ask questions of the N Korean defector who escaped via China with her sisters, mother and daughter.

Shrine for visitors in the south to pray to their ancestors in the north.

Prayer ribbons for peace tied to the perimeter fence.



View of the North and South on each side of river. Note the lack of trees in the north side. Firewood is their main source of heat.





9 comments:

  1. There is so much I can say about this part of the tour. I know that a few individuals did not care for this. Due to a countless number of reasons. Personally I think it was highly needed in this cultural experience class. I think that my generation forgets that there are war torn countries and families separated by this sad and unexpected events. While visiting Haiti as a preteen for a missions trip I came face to face with the realities of what civil war can do to a country. It can really tear the very fabric of our humanity as human beings. At the time being so young and ignorant I didn't understand how I could live in such a blessed position and yet only south of me there are people suffering. South and North Korea are very much similar to Haiti to me. I can see how the hope for reunification is so vital it is really an idea that is in the hearts of Korean people of both North and South. Being able to experience this and hopefully the class can come to the realization how important it is to be well educated in the past as to be able to prevent it in the future. I advocate for the weak and people whom can not speak up when they need someone there to voice a strong opinion. I hope that we (as a generation) can do this for the South and North Korean people alike. Starting with a better understand of conflicts between a divided country.

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  2. Although this tour was a little long for me, I thought it was a really culturally valuable experience. It lead me to understand a lot more about South Korean culture and views on North Korea/war. This was a really emotionally jarring experience for me but I don't think that's a bad thing. Hearing from the North Korean defector was definitely difficult but very informative and impressive. She was so brave to defy her country and husband in search of a better life for she and her child. I wonder if any of us would have the courage to do something like that in her position?

    I definitely could've gone without going down into the tunnel. Boy, I had no idea what I was getting into with that! Otherwise, I thought the tour was great!

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    1. This was probably the most difficult part of the trip for me emotionally. I agree that hearing from the North Korean defector was very difficult. I wish I could be as courageous as her. I don't know what I would have done in her position. I can't even fathom what she went threw in that country. She took a very courageous risk to better her life and her family's life. I'm so glad she was able to make it to South Korea safely and is able to share her stories with others. People need to hear what is going on in North Korea so hopefully it can change.
      -Erin Adair

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    2. Very true. I wished that we could've spent all day with her, so I could ask her more questions when I had more time to think of them.

      -- Addison Rhea

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  3. The DMZ tour was probably the most valuable trip during our stay. I think more people need to experience this. This tour was very informative. I had a pretty general idea of what is going on in North Korea and their relationship with South Korea but I guess I never realized the severity of their situation. Just the other day after the rest of you left for the U.S. I saw on the news that North Korea attacked a South Korean boat. I just don't understand in our current day that this is still happening. It makes me sad for all of the innocent people of Korea. It also helps me realize that I am very fortunate for everything I have, especially my freedom. I hope one day soon this divided country wil no longer be divided.
    -Erin Adair

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    1. Erin I agree with you. It's amazing how we are in 2014 and this is still happening! I just don't understand how he could live with himself seeing all those poor people starving and dying. I know it made me feel kind of hopeless when learning about everything that is going on over there.

      -Cecilia Nunez

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  4. I guess that I will be the one to disagree with everyone -- I did not think that the DMZ tour was very informative (except for the North Korean defector. I loved talking to her), nor did I enjoy it. Everything was focused way too much on the horrible propaganda of North Korea. Which, yes, is important -- but they took it so far and left out so much other information. I expected that we would learn more about how Korea split, why it split, more information about the Korean War, and the current talks being conducted with Kim Jung Un.

    -- Addison Rhea

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    1. Hi Addison, I totally understand your feelings about this. You should see that showing the real whole picture of the truth is not in conformity with the interests of South Korea. We should expect the same situation in North Korea too(showing only chosen infromation). That is why we are and should go places to see to understand and to dig out the truth by ourselves. I've seen the infromation provided by the other side(north korean and p.r.china and r.o.china) and combine information from both sides you could see much more.

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  5. The DMZ is another very important part of our trip too. I know I probably see this whole thing differently compare to my classmates. Growing in the other side of the world allows me to access different information. My interest in IT gave me the ability to break our firewall and see things beyond the wall. For me, after seeing all the different information from different sides, I don’t believe things easily. Maybe I am being too pessimistic, but I think most parties like public media or politicians are giving us filtered information. All these people have their own interest which make them tell lies instead of truth. It is not that honest people doesn’t exist but they could not survive well in the existing social environment. During lunch that day, I heard someone saying she wants to kill all the communist after watching the North Korean video. I completely do not want to defend North Korea’s atrocities because my motherland suffered similar situation decades ago and we know how bad it is to be in a society like that. However, killing all of the communist is still too extreme and unacceptable for me. It is like kill all the muslim because of Osama Bin Laden, kill all american because of the damage to Iraq. We have a old quote saying “知己知彼 百战不殆” which means “if you know the enemy and yourself well, you need not fear the result of hundreds o battles.” Might not be accurate but it could be used here. We all the human should try to know each other more before we show our attitude, no matter it is friendly or hostile. I have been living in the east and west for quite some time now, I see most common people doesn’t really care about detailed international political relations, people just want a peaceful and happily life. All the distrust and misunderstanding are wasting a lot of resources that belongs to all human being. Last year, we spent 17,000,000,000,000 U.S. dollars around the world on military and relative technology while there are one person dying every 4 seconds because of starving. Most of the died are children no more than 5 years old. I hope in the future whoever in charge of a big country could think really careful before make any kind of decision.
    We are still young, maybe it is too early for us to think about those big issues, but we have advantage in time. We have more time to see to learn and to travel. I hope one day all of you could have a chance to visit Beijing to see what it is really like, not from media but by yourself. I think I could be a pretty good tour guide. :D

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