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Panmunjeom

Panmunjeom in Gyeonggi province is a village on the de facto border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War was signed. The building where the armistice was signed still stands, though it is on the northern side of the Military Demarcation Line, which runs through the middle of the Demilitarized Zone. It is considered one of the last vestiges of the Cold War. It should not be confused with the Joint Security Area (JSA) nearby, where discussions between North and South still take place in blue buildings which straddle the Military Demarcation Line.

When booking your tour, be sure to clarify what exactly will be offered. The primary points of interest for most visitors from the south are the Joint Security Area and the Third Tunnel, but not all tour companies have clearance to visit these and you'll have to pay a small premium for those that do.

From the North you will be able to visit the original site of the Panmunjeom village and the Peace Museum that was originally built for and houses original copies of the 1953 armistice. From there it is a short drive to the JSA.

DMZ and JSA

• Camp Bonifas, at the southern entrance to DMZ. This is the US/South Korean military base standing "In Front of Them All" should an attack come. Visitors to Panmunjeom will change buses and get briefed here before entering the DMZ.

• Freedom House, JSA. South Korea's pompous propaganda palace facing the demarcation line. Visitors are usually taken to the Peace Pagoda next to it, which provides good views of the JSA and surrounding countryside. Accessible only from the Southern side.

• Panmun-guk, JSA. North Korea's pompous propaganda palace facing the demarcation line. Accessible only from the Northern side.

• T1 through T3, JSA. These are the conference rooms straddling the border: the neat lines of microphones and, outside, the low concrete bar mark the exact position of the line of demarcation. Both South and North Korean soldiers in intentionally intimidating poses stand guard in and around the rooms. You're free to walk around the conference room and can hop from South to North if you wish. Just don't try to leave by the other exit!

• Bridge of No Return, JSA. After the Korean war, some prisoners of war were given the choice to cross over the bridge or to stay on the side of their captors, hence the name. On August 18, 1976, a US attempt to cut down a poplar tree obstructing visibility of the bridge led to a battle with North Korean forces that left Capt. Arthur Bonifas and Lt. Mark Barrett dead in what was later known as the Axe Murder Incident. The bridge is now closed and a new bridge to the north is used instead.

• Taesong-dong, DMZ. South Korea's showpiece "Freedom Village" in the DMZ, containing a little over 200 farmers working under 24-hour military guard and a 100-meter flagpole. Entry into the village is not permitted, but you will pass by on your way to the JSA from the South side.

• Kijong-dong, DMZ. On the North Korean side, this is a former village built up with fancy apartment blocks and a 160-meter flagpole entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest — but nobody lives there, hence its common name "Propaganda Village". Entry into the village is not permitted, but it is clearly visible from the JSA (although binoculars will come in handy).

Outside the DMZ

On the South Korean side, sites outside the DMZ can be visited more cheaply and with less hassle.

• Imjingak, Paju. A four-story museum and observatory 7 km south of the DMZ, with views across the Kaesong River towards the DMZ and North Korea. The train line to Pyongyang passes nearby. This is the closest you can get to the DMZ without security clearance. The museum is open 9 AM to 6 PM daily.

• Second & Third Tunnel. Two of four tunnels secretly dug by the North Koreans that have been discovered so far.

Videos:

DMZ - Panmunjeom Impression 2
Second View form observation desk at Panmunjeom, JSA...South Korea DMZ JSA Panmunjeom

DMZ - Panmunjeom Impression
Video from observation deck at Panmunjeom...Korea Border War DMZ JSA Panmunjeom

38th Parallel
Video of my visit to Panmunjeom. The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and

North Korean Changing of Guard at DMZ
on the border in the Joint Security Area in Panmunjeom. This was shot from my camera during a visit in April 2007....DMZ Panmunjeom

Joint Security Area
A look at the Joint Security Area in Panmunjeom, Korea....korea jsa panmunjeom dmz

Border of North and South Korea
, which separates the soldiers of the two Koreas at Panmunjeom. The video was taken from within the UN security building....DMZ UN Panmunjeom

The DMZ at Panmunjom from the North
from the North Korean side led by Alejandro Cao de Benos of the Korean Friendship Association....North Korea NK DPRK KFA DMZ panmunjom panmunjeom JSA

North Korean Border Guard (KPA) @ DMZ - Sweating Hard
the North films us 24/7 and could be used for propaganda, so they say....DMZ panmunjom panmunjeom border north korean guard kpa

DMZ - Bridge of No Return
Panmunjeom, Bridge of No Return...South Korea DMZ JSA Bridge

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