In our last one month in Korea, we have been welcomed by the warmth of the people, ordinary, energetic Koreans who have an uncanny zest for life.
But just a few miles north of Seoul lies a line that has scarred this nation. The eerie silence here on the Demilitarised Zone or the DMZ heightens the senses of any visitor - foreigners and Koreans alike, and makes them acutely conscious of the scars that the Cold War has left behind, a far cry from the energetic pace of Seoul.
From Imjingak, our next stop on our DMZ trail was the Dorasan Station.
Immediately after the surrender of Japanese in the Second World War, the Allied forces moved in to occupy the Korean peninsula. The Americans came in from the south, while the Russians came in from the north, effectively dividing the peninsula into two. By 1948, two separate governments had been set up, both claiming to be legitimate and neither side accepted the border as permanent.
The conflict snowballed into an armed conflict when North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union and China invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. The United Nations got into the act and dispatched forces to Korea. The fighting ended in July 1953, when an armistice agreement was signed, creating the DMZ formally dividing the peninsula in two halves. Technically, North Korea and South Korea are still at war as no peace treaty has been signed.
The DMZ was established as a de facto border under the armistice agreement - a buffer zone between the two Koreas, running along the 38th parallel. The DMZ is about 250 kilometres long, approximately 4 kilometres wide. And, contrary to its name, the DMZ is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
The armistice divided not only the peninsula, but also divided people - families got split up across the DMZ with no means of communication and limited avenues to meet. Reunions of divided families do happen, but for a brief period of time. While South Korea follows a lottery system for selection of families, the North Koreans select divided families that have a history of being regime-loyalists.
But South Korea lives in the hope of, one day, reuniting with the belligerent North and in that hope, it has built infrastructure on its side of the DMZ, the Dorasan Station being one example.
Dorasan Station is located on the Gyeongui Line, which once connected North and South Korea. The rail line and the station has now been restored...
This elderly Korean gentleman got very emotional as he touched the map of the Gyeongui Line...
The refurbished Dorasan Station...
It's a lovely afternoon with lovely colours of autumn in full splendor...
Interior of the station...
Commuter trains between Seoul and Dorasan operate, mainly catering to tourists, quite literally, these are the trains to nowhere...
Unification is the theme here. Freight trains between Dorasan Station and into Kaesong Industrial Region in North Korea, about 19 kilometres from here, taking materials and getting back finished goods. Kaesong was started as a collaborative venture between the two sides, allowing South Korean companies to set up manufacturing facilities in the North, employing local workforce. This was South Kore's attempt to help in the North's economic development...
However, Kaesong has been witness to arbitrary clampdowns by the North and as a result, the freight rail service doesn't operate anymore...
A plan of the station...
South Korea hopes that this station will one day become their gateway to Russia and Europe, connecting on the Eurasian and Siberian rail networks...
DMZ souvenirs are a big craze...
Dubya, George W. Bush visited Dorasan during his presidency...
As we move out of Dorasan Station, the colours of autumn are in full bloom, and probably the colours of re-unification will bloom here one day!
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