General information
| Destination |
|---|
| Seoul, South Korea |
Program details
Joint Security Area (JSA) is the only portion of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), where South and North Korean soldiers stand face-to-face. You can feel the heightened tension of the most hostile area in the world. Technically speaking, two Koreas are still at the state of war. JSA, or Panmunjeom in Korean, is the official conference area between the two parties. It has been renowned since an armistice agreement was signed there in 1953.
More than sixty years ago, the armistice was signed after the three year Korean War. It was intended to serve as a temporary ceasefire agreement, soon to be replaced by a permanent peace treaty, which has not been realized yet.
Can you imagine how long time the armistice was negotiated in the middle of the three year war? It took two years with 765 meetings. However, the signing of the armistice took only twelve minutes with no handshake, no saluting, and no ceremony. The representatives of the North Korea and the UNC (United Nations Command) were stone-faced and indignant with each other. They walked into the room from the opposite doors and withdrew using the same door respectively as soon as they signed the paperwork.
The resentfulness was just a prelude of all the shouting matches and countless fistfights at an official conference room between the representatives of two sides. Don’t you want to visit the conference row and enter the central room of the seven conference buildings? You can even step over the division line which is marked in the middle of the room.
At the UNC Guard Post Three outside of the conference room, you would find yourself surrounded by North Korea at your three sides. There you can take photos of the north mountains and villages at the nearest distance.
You will eventually pass by the focal point of the most brutal incident of JSA, which is called the “Axe Murder Incident” of 1976. Two officers of US army were axed to death under a huge popular tree. The tree had to be pruned because it was in between two UNC guard posts, blocking the line of view between the two points. The officers were carrying shot guns on their waist belts, but they did not use them to be brutally murdered with the axes for the tree trimming job. This is only one episode of the sixty year old tragedy of JSA.
Visit JSA and face in person the longest and bitter confrontation of the world history, still going on in the conference theater.
Meeting/pick-up point: Pick up at hotels in the Seoul area.
Duration: Seven hours.
Start/opening time: Variable (according to military situation).
End/closing time: At 7pm.
Languages: English.
Others: If there's an unannounced military training or official event in JSA the tour may be canceled on the day of the tour with short notice. Anyone who suffers from a weak heart, claustrophobia, or asthmatic symptoms is not allowed to enter into the tunnel.
Restricted nationalities for this tour: Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria.