KOREA: THE DMZ

The DMZ is the 4km demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.

To give you a very brief history lesson, Japan lost it's 35year rule of Korea after WWII and was split according to Soviet communist rule in the north and US allied occupation of the south. 
The Korean war began in the early 50's when both sides aimed to unify the nation, however a crazy US general pushed UN forces too far north and China got scared that democracy was getting too close so joined forces with the North to push communist rule back down to where the DMZ lies today.
I was staying in a great little hostel called Bridge Backpackers in Seoul and the owner - a sound Australian guy called Greg recommended a tour to the North Korean border he'd done many years earlier - an official US military tour gaining you behind the scenes access and even a briefing on ‘how to act’. For example not like the Russian tourist who in 2013 ran though the two blue buildings into North Korea as a joke. Ah ha hahah. Yeah nice one, you could have been shot with lazers from space and sparked off an invasion you IDIOT.
Anyway, the tour is about 100bucks but well worth it - it a great family day out! You're taken into the tunnels below the DMZ the story of which goes a little something like this; 
In the 90's the South Korean military discovered a secret tunnel near Seoul suspiciously originating from North Korea and capable of accommodating the deployment 3000men in 2hours. Just to put that into perspective, it’s the same volume as 1100 Arabian silverback camels in just under 3 hours (pregnant females in a little over 4). 
Anyway, when ‘The South’ called ‘The North’ on their little red telephone asking for an explanation, the stroke of genius from the north was to take a couple of days to respond during which time they went down and painted the tunnel black, afterwards claiming that it was a coal mines.
Nice try kim Jong ill - but YOU LOOOOSE!
A golden goose could even spot that wasn't coal, that’s igneous rock! Since then several others have also been discovered and I’m not sure if they’re sticking with the coalmine story but needless to say - it didn’t help one little bit with North / South relations - a complex political dynamic which I often compare to the emotional juxtaposition between the two Aussie hit soaps ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Home and Away’.

We also spent some time on the border between the two famous little blue sheds - but not making any sharp movements as North Korean soldiers were watching with binoculars. That was actually quite thrilling.
The guards are also interesting. Because of the mutual agreement to be unarmed on the DMZ (after the 1957 axe murder incident where some South Koreans were massacred for no reason), the guards are all martial arts experts and capable of killing a man with a lethal blow - despite looking like mannequins (or South Korean scarecrows - which ARE mannequins. Yes, that’s another story but they use shop dummies pimped up with last seasons outdoor colours, really. They're the most advanced scarecrows I've ever seen).
And down in the tunnels - the yellow circles on the walls you can spot in the video (link at bottom) are dynamite holes. SPLAT.
Anyway, I can only speak for myself, but I'd love to go on a proper tour around North korea. Kim Jong Un if you are reading this please invite me. I promise I will not get drunk and shit in your corridor like Dennis Rodman, but I would like to see your frozen father like Dennis did. Thanks.

Tracks:
”Glad to meet you” 반갑습니다
"Korea does what It is Determined to Do!"