DMZ Seoul South Korea 4/5/24

Seoul South Korea DMZ

The final stop in South Korea is the port of Incheon, about an hour to an hour and a half from the city of Seoul. While we did not get to see these sights, the number one attraction in the city is Gyeuongbokgung Palace, which once had 7000 rooms now 6000 and the name means “Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven”, or there is its sister palace, Changeokyung, with a spectacular secret garden to visit. After the palaces, head to the nearby Bukchon Hanock Traditional Village if you’d like to see a slice of Korea 600 years ago. There are multiple Buddhist Temples such as Jogyesa or Bongeunsa to see or Jongmyo Shrine, a Confucian sanctuary that you need a tour to visit. We chose to visit the DMZ which is one of the few active remnants of the cold war, or the War Memorial of Korea with its many exhibits.   It was important to Mickey to see this area, as his father served in the Korean War.  Our guide GoGo was very reverent in his guiding us to the DMZ zone.  While I cannot say that I was happy to visit, I am glad we went.  It is very sobering to know that the South Koreans are under constant threat from North Korea.  It is also remarkable that South Korea has gone from one of the poorest countries to one of the richest countries per capita. What great spirit these people have.  As stated before, the people don't identify as North or South Koreans, just Koreans.  They look forward to reunification someday.  Tomorrow, we spend the day on the Yellow Sea as we head for China.

GoGo our tour guide

The DMZ 

The Peace Train

The Memorial statue as you head into a garden park commemorating the war and heroes

The next few slides are from the park at the memorial

Some sobering pictures and reminders of the constant threat from North Korea

The Gondola Ride - passing over the river and the fertile farmlands that are worked by the South Koreans and produce the purest crops as they are raised naturally.  There are still active mines in the river today left over from the war.

These pictures are from the 3rd tunnel.  Four tunnels have been found that North Korea has dug to allow access for their armies and attack Seoul.  The tunnels have been found from the 1970's to 2010.  It is believed that there are more out there yet to be found.  This is the 3rd tunnel - no pictures allowed inside - Mickey went down into the tunnel...I waited for him at the top.

These pictures are from the observation point.  The picture on the left is North Korea and the right is South Korea.

There is never enough time to really see the sites off of a cruise- driving through downtown Seoul on our way back to the ship - would have loved to spend a bit of time there, but no go.  A day at sea, and then Beijing...