DMZ offers different view of Olympics
160-mile-long no-man’s land as full of tension today as it was when it was created 65 years ago
NEAR THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE, South Korea – Yeah, I never thought I’d be typing that dateline when I was a neophyte sportswriter covering the Freeport (Ill.) High School Pretzels (real nickname) in 1978. A lot of people can say they’ve been to the Grand Canyon or the Eiffel Tower.
The DMZ? It’s not likely your next-door neighbor has visited the 4-kilometer strip that runs from one side of the Korean Peninsula to the other, a 160-mile-long no-man’s land that intersects the 38th parallel and splits the country in half.
To the south, a thriving democracy, Hyundai, Samsung, triple-decker golf driving ranges and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
To the north? An impoverished people and Kim Jong-un. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Not your garden variety third-world dictator. Bit of a megalomaniac. Threatens nuclear war from time
to time. Referred to derisively by President Donald Trump as “rocket man.”
Anyway, I jumped at the chance to tour the demilitarized zone, a 90-minute bus ride from the Gangneung Media Village, my home away from
home during the Olympic Games.
This is where ideologies are separated by mere meters and barbedwire fence. It’s where soldiers from both countries maintain a constant vigil, eyeing each other warily through binoculars and telescopes and all the military spy technology known to man.
The DMZ was established as part of an armistice agreement signed on July 27, 1953, which ended the Korean War.
The tension, however, lives on.
Large numbers of troops are stationed along both sides of the line, and there have been sporadic outbreaks of violence over the years.
We were warned that it is illegal to take photos of South Korean soldiers or military facilities.
A no-nonsense soldier boarded our bus at a checkpoint, glanced at paperwork we’d filled out and studied us for a few seconds before deciding we weren’t evil empire operatives and waved us through.
We then spent an hour at an observation building, looking through telescopes and hoping to see some sign of North Korean activity.
I saw a rugged landscape of tree-covered mountains, Pacific Ocean waves lapping a sandy shoreline and railroad tracks but few other signs of civilization.
It was disappointing to learn we were behind the Civilian Control Line, an additional buffer zone to the DMZ.
That’s right, a buffer zone for the buffer zone.
Near the observation building was an impressive display of unexploded ordinance left over from the war and turned into sculptures by artists.
There are still many thousands of land mines buried along the DMZ but our tour guide cheerily told us we didn’t have to watch our step.
Our tour also included a stop at the DMZ Museum, opened in 2009. There, we learned about the 2.8 billion propaganda leaflets that have been dropped by both countries on either size of the DMZ, the dueling loudspeakers blaring propaganda at all hours of the day and night and the four tunnels that have been discovered under the South Korean side of the DMZ, one as recently as 1990.
Pyongyang explained them away as coal mines, though they were blasted through solid granite.
Though the governments are enormously distrustful of each other, and for good reason, insular North Korea is allowing its citizens to participate in the Winter Games.
The nation’s Olympic delegation includes a 230-member, all-female cheerleading squad, athletes, artists and politicians.
North Korea’s participation comes after months of tension — and the threat of possible nuclear war — with South Korea and the United States.
Is this a watershed moment, a softening of policy, a breakthrough in relations?
Hardly. Though many Koreans on both sides still hope for unification, younger South Koreans are mostly against it. And Kim, who is believed to have ordered the assassination of his half-brother, didn’t earn his reputation by extending olive branches.
The DMZ isn’t going away anytime soon. As our tour guide explained, “We’re the only country in the world divided in two.”
Obviously, she’s not a keen student of recent U.S. politics.