On the next leg of our trip to the DMZ, we headed from Dorasan Station to the Dora Observatory, to get a glimpse into North Korea.
A stone marker commemorating the valor of Korean soldiers...
"End of Separation, Beginning of Unification"
The Dora Observatory...
Zooming in into Kijong-dong village across the DMZ...
Kijong-dong is one of the two villages that are permitted within in the 4 kilometer-wide DMZ, the other is on the southern side of the divide - Daeseong-dong...
The North Koreans maintain the official position that Kijong-dong has a 200-family collective farm, besides other facilities such as schools and a hospital. However, observers from the south say that it is a ghost town. The village which was built in the 1950s is believed to be a part of a propaganda campaign to encourage South Koreans to defect to the northern side...
This village is the scene of what some have called the "flagpole war". In the 1980s, the South Koreans built a 98.4 metre tall flagpole with a 130 kilogram flag of South Korea in Daeseong-dong. The North Korean government responded by building a taller flagpole (160 metres high), known as the Panmunjeom flagpole, with a 270 kilogram flag of North Korea in the Kijong-dong village...
The difference between the two sides of the DMZ could not be more stark. While the southern side is lush green, the northern side is devoid of vegetation...
Peering into the north...
Going by the level of activity across the DMZ, it seemed to be a place under a lot of despair...
No comments:
Post a Comment