{"id":363,"date":"2010-05-10T10:39:09","date_gmt":"2010-05-10T02:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mdnphoto.com\/blog\/?p=363"},"modified":"2010-05-10T10:39:09","modified_gmt":"2010-05-10T02:39:09","slug":"dmz-tourism-north-korea-and-hopes-of-reunification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/2010\/05\/10\/dmz-tourism-north-korea-and-hopes-of-reunification\/","title":{"rendered":"DMZ Tourism: North Korea and Hopes of Reunification"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war01.jpg\" alt=\"A tourist poses with a DMZ sign in front of the DMZ Pavillion.\" title=\"A tourist poses with a DMZ sign in front of the DMZ Pavillion.\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-373\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"paragraph\">\n<p>Easily the most heavily guarded border in the world, the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with the Military Demarcation Line at its center marks the last line of engagement between North and South Korea when an armistice agreement ended open fighting in 1953. Since then the DMZ remains an open sore on the Korean peninsula and a constant reminder of the tenuous relationship between the ethnically bound but politically split countries. Although numerous incidents have taken the lives of military personal in the DMZ over the years, South Korea now heavily promotes the DMZ as a tourist destination within easy reach of Seoul. Domestic and international sightseers spend the day in the Joint Security Area within plain sight of North Korean guards before hitting up gift shops, the DMZ Pavilion, unearthed North Korean incursion tunnels and other noteworthy sites. Tours then end in Dorasan Station, a modern but unused train station built near the DMZ as a gesture by South Korea to express their wish for peaceful reunification. Such hopes continue to be set back, however, as South Korea is now blaming North Korea for the sinking of a naval ship in March that took the lives of 46 South Korean sailors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war02.jpg\" alt=\"The North Korean guards, in grey uniforms, stand off at the Military Demarcation Line marked by the conrete strip at their feet.\" title=\"The North Korean guards, in grey uniforms, stand off at the Military Demarcation Line marked by the conrete strip at their feet.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-364\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war05.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war05.jpg\" alt=\"A North Korean gaurd post overlooks the Joint Security Area.\" title=\"A North Korean gaurd post overlooks the Joint Security Area.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-367\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war04.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war04.jpg\" alt=\"Tourists descend 73m\/240ft below ground to see the Third Tunnel of Aggresion that was discovered in 1978 by South Korea.\" title=\"Tourists descend 73m\/240ft below ground to see the Third Tunnel of Aggresion that was discovered in 1978 by South Korea.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-366\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war06.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war06.jpg\" alt=\"Tourists at the DMZ Pavilion watch a film detailing the past of the DMZ.\" title=\"Tourists at the DMZ Pavilion watch a film detailing the past of the DMZ.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-368\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war03.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war03.jpg\" alt=\"A strict photo line is enforced at the Dora Observatory overlooking North Korea and the Military Demarcation Line in order to protect sensative South Korean gaurd posts.\" title=\"A strict photo line is enforced at the Dora Observatory overlooking North Korea and the Military Demarcation Line in order to protect sensative South Korean gaurd posts.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-365\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war08.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war08.jpg\" alt=\"The &quot;Bridge of No Return&quot; in the Joint Security Area crosses the Military Demarcation Line and was once used for prisoner exchanges between North and South Korea.\" title=\"The &quot;Bridge of No Return&quot; in the Joint Security Area crosses the Military Demarcation Line and was once used for prisoner exchanges between North and South Korea.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-370\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war07.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war07.jpg\" alt=\"Tourists watch a train cross Freedom Bridge on its way into the Joint Secuitry Area.\" title=\"Tourists watch a train cross Freedom Bridge on its way into the Joint Secuitry Area.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-369\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war09.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100506_north_korea_dmz_war09.jpg\" alt=\"A painting in Dorasan Station depicts a train breaking through the DMZ and reunifying North and South Korea.\" title=\"A painting in Dorasan Station depicts a train breaking through the DMZ and reunifying North and South Korea.\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-371\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Easily the most heavily guarded border in the world, the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with the Military Demarcation Line at its center marks the last line of engagement between North and South Korea when an armistice agreement ended open fighting in 1953. Since then the DMZ remains an open sore on the Korean peninsula and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[132,232,269,297,308,366,402,426],"class_list":["post-363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-society_category","category-travel_category","tag-dmz","tag-korea","tag-military","tag-north-korea","tag-peace","tag-south-korea","tag-tourism","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}