North and South Korea are divided by the Korean Demilitarized Zone, supposedly the most heavily militarized border in the world. The 2.5 mile wide DMZ between the two Koreas can be visited by tourists in Korea. The first time we came to Korea we took a tour to the DMZ the day before we left for South East Asia. Unfortunately the day we went was very foggy so we couldn’t see far from the observation point we were taken to. We were able to see lots of guard towers with armed soldiers in them looking out over the DMZ. At some point South Korea discovered the North tunneling under the DMZ to prepare for an invasion but the tunnels were discovered before they were finished. At least one of the tunnels is now open to tourists which we also got to go in. I definitely want to go on another tour of the Korean DMZ sometime, there are more areas that visitors have access to that we didn’t get to see on our tour.
Watch tower over the DMZ
If I remember correctly (it's been a few years now) this is a memorial on a closed off bridge called either the Bridge of Sorrows or Reunification Bridge.
And this is that bridge, it was apparently the place where prisoners of war were exchanged between the two Koreas after the Korean War ended in a cease fire agreement.
This is one of the tunnels discovered by South Korea being dug by the North. You can enter it now but when you reach the end of the tunnel on the South side you reach more barbed wire and blast doors. We were told that there is an area with mines followed by another blast door following the end of the tunnel. There were also cameras pointed at the door and down the tunnel. There was a strict no camera rule, but I was able to get my camera inside the tunnel and get a quick picture without anyone noticing.
The observatory we were taken to had a photo line, if you crossed it with your camera out they would take your card and delete the photos.
Not that we could have taken photos of anything important anyway because of the fog.
A train destroyed during the war.
