Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Several important historical sites are found in the province, including the island of
Ganghwa-do, a former royal retreat littered with temples, tombs, and palace ruins, and Su-
won's Hwaseong Fortress, an impressive network of gates, walls, and parapets that's been
declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Icheon and the neighboring county of Yeoju,
southeast of Seoul, have been renowned for centuries for the quality of their ceramic arts.
Though somewhat more troubling, a tour of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas
is a good way to gain a better understanding of the conflict still gripping the peninsula.
DEMILITARIZED DAY-TRIPPING
The 248-kilometer (154-mile) Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and
South Korea may be bristling with land mines, tank bunkers, and well-armed sol-
diers, but that hasn't stopped it from turning into one of South Korea's top attractions.
Each year thousands of visitors, most of them local, make their way to the Zone
for an up-close look at one of the region's perennial flash points. With its steady
stream of tour buses, tongue-in-cheek signage, gift shops hawking conflict-themed
merchandise, even a nearby amusement park, many are surprised to find the DMZ is
less trip wire than tourist trap, but it's still a one-of-a-kind experience that military
history enthusiasts or anyone with even a passing interest in geopolitics won't want
to miss.
There are a few ways to see the DMZ. The truce village of Panmunjeom and
the Joint Security Area, where the armistice ending the Korean War was signed and
still one of the only sites for North-South exchanges, can be visited only by trav-
elers on a group tour. The general consensus is that the tour offered by Koridoor
(
www.koridoor.co.kr
)
, endorsed by the U.S. military-affiliated United Service Or-
ganizations (USO), is the best, as it's partially run by military personnel and takes
visitors places some other tours can't, such as one of the infiltration tunnels dug un-
der the zone by North Korean soldiers. Guests must agree to be on their best behavior
and stick to a dress code that forbids tank tops, sandals, or excessively baggy cloth-
ing, among other things. Most tours leave Seoul in the early morning and return the
same day, in the evening.
If that sounds like too much hassle, it's possible to visit other sites close to the
DMZ on your own. Imjingak, a park set up near the city of Paju to explore the theme
