Friday, March 29, 2024
KOREAN HISTORYTRAVEL

Visiting the DMZ on Liberation Day

updated 2021. The flags are out on August 15th to celebrate Liberation Day  (광복절 gwangbokjeol). It’s the day that Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in 1945 after the second world war – then separated into two countries.

North and South Korea celebrate Liberation Day in their own way – here there are ceremonies and speeches. It’s a national holiday, but 2021 is still all about the coronavirus and so we are having a quiet day at home.

Back in 2017 we stayed at home too, but for very different reasons. There are often tensions on Liberation Day. And that year, relations with the north were so bad that the SK government was organising emergency drills. These involved anybody who was out on the streets at the time having to take shelter in nearby subway stations. More about that later.

On top of that, relations between the USA and North Korea were so bad that Kim Jung Un threatened to bomb Guam. Then he decided to fire missiles over Japan – but that’s not so unusual.

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The weather on Liberation day – Aug 15 2017 – added sympathetic background to the gloomy mood. It was a cloudy day with heavy rain showers and a huge thunderstorm. If the air raid sirens went off, we were to take cover in the basement of our apartment. Happily that wasn’t necessary!

President Trump had said he would respond to attacks from North Korea with ‘fire and fury’. But Pyongyang is only 121 miles from Seoul (as the crow flies). North Korea is so close. But it can feel like a million miles away, until you go to the border.

The North Korean Border

There are organised tours to the DMZ. But locals go to the Unification Observatory in Goseong-Gun, Gangwon Province on the northern most part of the east coast, to gaze at the North. (For drama fans – this is the beach where the North Koreans get into the South in the drama Crash Landing on You, 2019)

unification observatory

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There are rules to follow to get to the observatory. First, you have to go there by car (no walking or cycling).  Then you have to stop off at the Tongil Security Park to fill in an application form and pay the 3,000 won entrance fee.

After that, you have to watch a video about how the country became divided. We happened to arrive just in time to catch the 12 o’clock showing.  And finally, before driving to the observatory there is the option of popping into the souvenir shop.

It sells all sorts of local products from the east coast and Gangwon Province such as seaweed, mushroom flour, noodles, and honey. One of the most popular gifts to buy (according to the lady on the counter) is the DMZ liquor. A blend of soju, brandy, honey and other ingredients. (yes, we bought a bottle)

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At the Observatory entrance, soldiers make sure that drivers turn off the black box in their car. They also check the boot of each car.

And what can you see from the observatory?

Mountains.

Telescopes (500 won) are available to get a closer look but all there is to see is a nice beach and some mountains in the distance. It’s not really about the view, it’s more about the significance of the place. And it’s an opportunity to ponder over the geographical closeness of the two countries.

DMZ

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So with the north so nearby, back in 2017, concerned expats on Facebook groups were asking about what to do in the event of an attack from the North.

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‘Preppers’

Koreans were pretty much carrying on as usual. Problems with the north have been going on FOR YEARS after all. But behind the scenes some people – ‘preppers‘ – were surreptitiously preparing EMERGENCY PROVISIONS.

A Korean lady told me that she took advice from a website and bought 60 litres of water (recommended amount for 2 people). And tins of fish and veg; 36 packs of ready cooked rice, medicine including pain killers, antiseptic creams, creams for burns, bandages, iodine, a wind up radio, and gas masks. She wanted to buy the most expensive masks which cost around 200,000 won each. But they were SOLD OUT. From several companies. So she had to buy the next best one instead.

north korea

It’s an uneasy relationship with the north. On the one hand there is the threat of war. But people are curious too about what’s going on up there. There are TV shows starring North Korean defectors who shed light on the life they left behind to come to the South.

TV SHOWS WITH NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS cover all sorts of topics about life in the North. In one show, North Korean ladies spoke about life in the army. And how they had to march with their legs so straight out in front of them that it made their knees hurt.

view of geumgansan from south Korea. liberation day is a time to reflect on the separated north and south

Emergency Drills

So with the heightened tension it seems the Korean government felt the need to organise some sort of emergency drill. And so on August 23 there was a NATIONAL EMERGENCY DRILL carried out at 2pm.

But it was a rather half-hearted affair which involved making anyone out and about take cover in the nearest subway station when the siren went off. I was in central Seoul just before 2pm and saw a group of helpers with armbands getting ready to usher people into the subway.

So I quickly headed for the coffeeshop where customers didn’t have to evacuate. Still, it’s disconcerting to hear a siren.

Some say there is no point having a drill because it will only cause panic and nothing is going to happen anyway. Or if there’s a nuclear attack there is nothing we can do. So what’s the point? I asked a man in his 30s what he would do if he was sitting in his apartment and the air raid siren went off.

He looked at me for a moment and then said, ‘nothing!’

Every year seems to bring new challenges. I wonder what next year will bring?

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