JSA Tour

Itinerary

1. Hotel(Seoul)

   

2. ID Check

   If you look outside, you can see some soldiers wearing a green color camouflage uniform. They are South Korean soldiers or ROK soldiers currently serving their mandatory military service for 21 months. All men in South Korea have to serve the military mandatorily for 21 months, but it’s not required for women. I also served for 26 months a long time ago right after college, and it was longer than right now. Military service is getting shorter and shorter. However, the situation is a lot more terrible in North Korea. First of all, it’s mandatory for both genders, men and women. Men have to serve for 10 years while women serve for 7 years, but this is just for normal kinds of soldiers. For a special forces like Marine Corps and Airborne, they have to serve for 13 years. 

3. Slideshow and briefing at Camp Bonifas

   Republic of Korea and United States Forces Korea soldiers conduct the United Nations Command DMZ Orientation Program tours of the JSA and surrounding areas. Camp Bonifas is the command post of the United Nions Forces inside of Panmoonjeom.At this location, solders who are in charge, boards the bus and examines your attire and identification once more.At the JSA national security center inside of the Camp Bonifas, they give a briefing about the Panmoonjeom visitation.There is a golf course called Par 3 One Hall Gold Course made of artificial turf inside of the Camp Bonifas. It is called ‘the most dangerous golf course’ because surrounded around the three sides of the club are minefields.  

4. Joint Security Area

   Buffering hostilities from the north and south, the heavily guarded premises of Panmunjeom are located in the middle of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and remain reserved strictly for political engagements. Providing the only road connecting the two countries, it is here where the historical signing of the Armistice Agreement took place between Communist forces and the United Nations Command (UNC) in 1953 after a succession of peace talks that lasted more than two years.

5. Freedom House

   The current building was constructed on July 9, 1998. It was built by the founder of Hyundai to host reunions of families separated during the Korean War. However, since North Korea has worried about sending their people through the division line of JSA, the house has been used only for Red Cross staffs and the liaison officers of South Korea.

6. Military Armistice Commission Conference Room

    The armistice agreement of 1953 provided the establishment of the Military Armistice Commission (MAC), an agency to supervise implementation of the truce terms. A conference row was built to hold meetings of MAC representatives from the United Nations Command (UNC) and the North Korean Peoples Army (KPA).  The conference row consists of seven buildings set squarely on the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The line is marked on the ground between the buildings on conference row by several 17”×5” concrete slabs.  The three blue buildings are managed by UNC, and four gray buildings, by KPA. The central blue building is the MAC Conference Room, where talks take place between both sides. The MAC room has a line, which bisects the center of a conference table in the middle of the room  First, you will stand right in front of the conference row to take photos of North Korean soldiers, who are posted in front of their visitor center. Then, you will be escorted into the MAC Conference Room, where you can cross the division line even though you are prohibited from opening the door toward north direction.

7. UN Guard Post 3

    GP 3 is the nearest spot you can watch and picture the scenery of North Korea,  surrounding you at three sides  The guard post is located on a small mound, standing out into the north territories. It commands a fine view of many important facilities of North Korea. Straight ahead of you about one Kilometer away, you will glance the scary “Peace Museum” of North Korea, where they are displaying the two axes used to murder two American officers.  If you look at your right hand side, there is a guard post of KPA where they are checking and filming your every movement. You can return their favor by picturing them back, but you are not supposed to point them with your fingers or to make any gesture which can be interpreted as a signal of another war.  If you turn your head to the left, you can find UN Guard Post Four, which is only twenty meters ahead of the focal point of Axe Murder Incident. If you look far away along the direction, there are the propaganda village, Gaesung Industrial Complex, and a radio signal jamming tower.

8. Bridge of No Return

   The Bridge of No Return is a small bridge where POWs were exchanged after the war. There were two operations for it: Operation Little Switch as a test case for prisoner repatriation and Operation Big Switch for a general exchange of prisoners.  All the POWs were carried to the both ends of the bridge and they were given a choice. Once they chose to cross over the road, they could not make a turning back, hence the name “Bridge of No Return”. About thirteen thousand UNC prisoners returned to their countries, and about eighty nine thousand KPA and Chinese prisoners returned to their communist nations.

9. Imjingak Park

   Imjingak, located 7 km from the Military Demarcation Line, is now at the forefront of tourism related to the Korean War. It was built in 1972 with the hope that someday unification would be possible. Three-storied Imjingak is surrounded by several monuments, Unification Park and North Korea Center. 400 kinds of photos and documents showing the stark reality of North Korea are displayed in the North Korea Center of Unification Board. Outside Imjingak, there are 12 kinds of tanks and crafts on display that were used during the war. Mangbaedan Alter, which stands opposite of Imjingak, is famous for the place where people from North Korea visit and perform ancestral rites by bowing toward their hometown every New Years Day and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). The Bridge of the Freedom, South Koreans crossed when they came back to their mother country from North Korea, stands behind Mangbaedan Alter. In front of Imjingak is the Gyeongui Train Line which was destroyed during the Korean War in 1950. It has been under construction since 2000. Every year many events for unification are held at Imjingak. Imjingak is now one of the famous tourist spots for foreigners in Gyeonggi-do because it is possible to visit without going through any security check points

10. Lunch

11. Amethyst or Ginseng Center

    The colour of Amethyst is as unique as it is seductive, though in fact this gemstone of all gemstones is said to protect its wearer against seduction. Korean Amethyst is extravagance in violet since it has been formed from granite stone base since 5000 years. Moses described it as a symbol of the Spirit of God in the official robes of the High Priest of the Jews, and the Russian Empress Catherine the Great sent thousands of miners into the Urals to look for it. It was said to protect crops against tempests and locusts, bring good fortune in war and in the hunt, drive out evil spirits and inspire the intellect.  Ginseng is renowned for its effectiveness as a great healer for living ever so young.Especially if you eat ginseng when you lose your energy, it really helps to regain energy.Korea is acknowledged by the world because of the quality of ginseng as if it is the birthplace of ginseng.You can experience various kinds of ginseng products like gingersnap, extract, ginseng preserved in honey, and other great quality of products made in Korea.

12. Lotte Hotel or Itaewon

    

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