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Alright, so, for clarification, this is the
DMZ and this is the DMV—the department of
motor vehicles for non-Americans—and they’re
totally different things. One is a scary,
dangerous place where one can see cold, heartless
people on the other side and the other is
the area of land separating the Korean Peninsula.
On a vaguely related note, remember World
War Two? Imperial Japan had Korea but then
the US dropped a little boy and fat man over
Japan so at least the imperial part of Japan
wasn’t a thing anymore and the US and USSR
swooped in and took hold of different parts
of Korea. Basically, the USSR held this part,
the US held this part and the two country’s
troops eventually left but the south was still
American influenced and the north was still
Soviet influenced and Stalin got all Stalin-y
so two sides got to warring. Territory changed
hands a bunch of times but despite their old
college try the two countries ended up looking
pretty much exactly the same as before—minus
the couple million dead people, of course.
But at least they ended up with this—the
demilitarized zone. This 2.5 mile, 4 kilometer
wide buffer zone straddles the border between
North Korea, the country run with the level
of expertise of a high school drama club,
and South Korea, the country that I will say
nothing but nice things about since they actually
have internet access. There are plenty of
military members within the Korean DMZ but
they’re restricted both in number and what
they can do so it’s more of a somewhat militarized
zone. To the south of the DMZ, though, are
mostly loads of South Korean and American
troops sitting around to make sure the northerners
don’t pull a fast one and pop over the border
for some recreational Sunday war while to
the north of it is somewhere between a zillion
and a bajillion troops and a full metric ton
of artillery guns pointed at the south. Just
south of the Joint Security Area, the bit
you probably most recognize from the news,
is the main touristy part of the DMZ—that’s
right, the touristy part. One of the most
fortified borders in the world between two
country’s still technically at war is a
tourist destination. Just read the comments
are I’m sure you’ll see plenty from people
who have been exactly here. There’s even
this cute little train that takes people to
the war zone.
While the DMZ is largely devoid of humans,
two villages were allowed to remain under
the terms of the armistice agreement—Daeseong-dong
in the south and Kijŏng-dong in the north.
Daeseong-dong is a largely normal village
albeit with a heavy military presence given
its location. A small quirk of the town is
that, in an effort to keep people there despite
the very real threat of being kidnapped by
the north, residents pay no taxes and don’t
have mandatory military service like other
South Koreans. In Daeseong-dong, back about
40 years ago, the South Korean government
built this rather nice 323 foot, 98 meter
flagpole large enough to be seen by the north.
As one does, The North Korean government responded
by building this 525 foot, 160 meter flagpole
in their beautiful town of Kijŏng-dong.
Kijŏng-dong has hundred of families, schools
from nursery to high school, even a hospital,
but wait. Enhance, enhance, enhance! Where
are the windows? You can see window panes,
but no glass. And why can’t you see anything
inside? This makes about as much since as,
“the for the fact it was to be for that
wood can.” And why in this village of supposedly
hundreds or thousands can you only see three
people outside? And if an airplane wore pants
would it be like this or like this? This super-real
North Korean town is looking awfully... fake.
You see, in addition to the real technical
war going on, there’s also been for the
past few decades a propaganda war by each
country trying to get the citizens of the
other country to defect. They’ve both employed
a variety of techniques including blasting
propaganda messages from loudspeaker over
the border and launching balloons carrying
leaflets. They’ve stopped and started these
propaganda campaigns numerous times as relations
have warmed and cooled, including a stop since
May, 2018, but on a longer term basis both
country’s have been somewhat successful
in convincing those from the other country
to sneak over the border—North Korea included.
This fake town that can clearly be seen from
tourist viewing platforms and military outposts
is just one of the DPRK’s propaganda techniques.
In the only place where most foreigners can
see the secretive country with their own eyes,
they’re presenting themselves in the best
way they think they can. Unfortunately they
failed to consider that a: telescopes exist,
and that b: towns are supposed to have people
in them. The only people you see are caretakers
that some say are just North Korean military
members in plainclothes who sweep the streets,
tend the fields, and turn the lights off and
on. The South has essentially concluded at
this point that Kijŏng-dong’s only real
residents are a few DPRK soldiers who man
the border security installations around the
town. Having fake buildings to keep up appearances
is cool and all if you’re, like, Disneyworld,
but when you’re a country with millions
starving it’s not a good look so if you
become a maniacal dictator, don’t do this.
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