 South Korean sentry stands duty in Panmunjom, at the precise divide between the two Koreas |
by Philip Game
Within sixty kilometres of Seoul, a conurbation of twenty million, Stalinist troops, pumped up with fear and loathing, stand ready to shoot on sight to defend an improverished and irrational hermit kingdom.
South Korea has created theme park attractions at key points along the Demilitarised Zone: shiny monuments and lookout towers, lush green parks and an enormous train station where no tickets are ever sold. Yet reality sinks in when armed US troops board the bus en route to Panmunjom.... later to point out sites where their compatriots have been savagely murdered whilst performing routine patrol.
It's become, by default, one of the world's most exclusive eco-system reserves: the 'Dee Em Zee', strewn with land mines, has for half a century been a refuge for the wild creatures of the Korean Peninsula.
Back in Seoul, on this balmy summer evening, rock concerts and food festivals are underway in parklands across the city; an occasional white-gloved policeman appears positively inoffensive. The contrast is somewhat surreal.
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