Kaesong & the DMZ

This is the main street in Kaesong, which is the largest town located closest to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) that separates North and South Korea. People walking or cycling is a constant scene in North Korea and I thought that this image best represented today's views (and probably every day’s views - there is virtually no private ownership of cars in North Korea).

We drove down from Pyongyang in the morning.  It’s a slow two-hour drive in a bus. The roads are exceptionally wide (6 to 8 lanes - see the extra blips) and mostly empty.  Someone said they are designed apparently in this way to enable planes to land and take off.
 
There is an edginess to visiting the DMZ albeit that the visit is conducted in quite a good tourist spirit (at least by the tourists).  It’s a deeply serious matter for the military. Ironically, this is one of the few places in the DPRK (maybe the only place) where photos of the military are allowed.  The guard who climbed onto our bus to lead us through the tour acted suitably gruff at first but warmed up quickly and when the visit ended an hour later he left with a broad smile and bearing an armful of gifts.
 
The first stop is the souvenir shop to enable visitors to buy propaganda posters, tee-shirts, caps and other paraphernalia.  There is nothing communist about the prices though (€35 for a poster).  However, in fair context, I think all of the posters had been hand painted.  There were of course lots of images depicting “One Korea”.
 
We were then driven to the building where the armistice agreement was signed on 27 July 1953 between the United Nations Command , North Korea and the  Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.  The armistice was designed to "insure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved." but to date no "final peaceful settlement" has been achieved.  So the parties are technically still at war.

The North's version of the conflict is (understandably) radically different to the conventional view.  For instance, our guide related how "the US had started the war, the plan had been hatched by junior officers, the US had suffered heavy losses and insisted on discussing an armistice, which took 718 meetings, over two years", and so on.  Next was a visit to the building looking over the blue houses in the DMZ - the classic view often shown in the media (see the extra blip).  There was no sign of any military on the other side although the demarcation line is very clearly marked.  The North Korean soldiers were marching constantly between the 4 blue buildings and great exertion and purpose although I could see no purpose to these movements at all.  Rather like a display of bantam cocks. About 30 minutes after we had stood on the balcony overlooking this scene one of the soldiers detached himself and came stalking up the stairs and barked at the guide and she turned to us and said it was time to go.

On the way out there is a granite block displaying in gold what is apparently Kim il Sung's last signature.  The North Koreans have a fascination with numbers in particular when it comes to the mythology created around the Leaders.  Kim was born on 15 April (15.4).  Consequently, this block is 1.54 meters wide and 4.15 meters tall.  The block we're told represents his constant struggle for reunification.
 
We drove back to Kaesong to visit the restored residence of the Koryo kings.  Kaesong was the capital of Korea until 1394 and the start of the Yi Dynasty having succeeded Pyongyang as capital.  Seoul took over as capital in 1394 until the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945. This issue will be a point of contention (no doubt among many points) if and when reunification comes about as the North claims its capital, Pyongyang, has greater (older) historical legitimacy than Seoul.  Lunch at the “Kaesong Folk Custom Hotel” was a traditional 'Royal Pansanggi' banquet consisting of about 12 dishes each in a small bronze bowl.  Dog soup was optional extra (which I skipped).

From a photographer's viewpoint:  good images are hard to capture in North Korea as most photography is done through the window of a moving bus (our driver was a star and made sure that the windows on his bus were flawless every day .. cleaner probably than most camera lenses!).  One tries to compensate by taking literally hundreds of images (about 600 every day).