P'anmunjom-ni Things to Do

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A week after visiting the DMZ on the north side, I came back again as part of South Korean tour and these are some views of the North Korean Peace Pavilion. The third photo is of the building from the other side i.e. the side you don't see if looking from South Korea.

This photo was taken from the balcony of the Peace Pavilion which is located on the north side of the Joint Security Area. Before the building was built there was just a simple small Korea pavilion overlooking the area even though the large Peace Pavilion was on the north side.

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Some photo's of the South Korean guards standing outside the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) building at the JSA (Joint Security Area). They stand in a taekwondo pose so as to be an imposing fret on the North Korea guards, who look like they simply ignore them.

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Some photo's of the North Korean guards standing outside the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) building at the JSA (Joint Security Area). You will notice a raised piece of concrete next to the guards. It measures 40cm wide and 7cm high and was placed here to show the MDL, (Military Demarcation Line), which separates South and North Korea. It was brought in 1976 following the Axe Murder Incident when the whole of the JSA area was a neutral area, where members of either side had free movement.

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In the middle of the JSA (Joint Security Area) are five small buildings known as conference row. The central building is known as the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) where talks between North and South Korea take place. The other buildings are for the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission and the United Nations Command. These buildings are set squarely on the MDL, (Military Demarcation Line), which separates South and North Korea, and bisects the centre of a green-felt-covered conference table inside the MAC Conference Room. You'll get the chance to sit at this table whilst visiting it from the northern side which you're not allowed to do on the southern side. You'll also get the chance to walk over the MDL from the north into the south where you'll find two North Korean soldiers guarding the southern door. More North Korea soldiers will stand guard outside whilst you're inside and they may be joined by southern soldiers who only turned up after we exited out of the building because tourists from the south were about to visit after us.

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After visiting the Armistice Talks Hall & Peace Museum, we got back on the bus and made our way further south towards the JSA (Joint Security Area). Our bus parked behind the North Korean Peace Pavilion that looks over the JSA. We were then lead around to the side of the building were their is a signature plaque with Kim Il Sung's signature on it the day before he died in 1994. Then we were led around to the front of the Peace Pavilion and down some steps and into the central MAC (Military Armistice Commission) building (see next tip).

The Joint Security Area is the location where all negotiations since 1953 have been held, including statements of Korean solidarity, which have generally amounted to little except a slight decline of tensions. The MDL, (Military Demarcation Line), which separates South and North Korea, runs through the conference rooms and down the middle of the conference tables where the North Koreans and the United Nations Command (primarily South Koreans and Americans) meet face to face. The building opposite the Peace Pavilion is the South Korean 'Freedom House'.

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After visiting the visitors centre, we got back on our bus along with our lieutenant colonel from the KPA (Korean People's Army) and proceeded out of the compound through a narrow passage which was lined on both sides with anti-tank devices. We then stopped on the way to the DMZ at a small compound with a few buildings known as the Armistice Talks Hall and 'Peace Museum'. There is also a cinema hall. These buildings were built in a matter of a few days so that the armistice talks and agreement could be signed on 27th July 1953. The Armistice Talks Hall just contains are table and 10 chairs which were all used in the talks. The Peace Museum is a larger building with a table on which there are two copies of the Armistice Agreement in glass cases along with UN and North Korean flags.

Outside the Peace Museum is this plaque with an inscription of the North Korean version of the ceasefire. It reads:

It was here on July 27, 1953 that the
American imperialists got down on
their knees before the heroic Chosun
people to sign the ceasefire for the war
they had provoked June 25, 1950.