i went to north korea and all i got was this newfound appreciation of civil liberties

i was technically in north korea for all of about 5 minutes, but in that brief time i felt the icy cold fingers of communism reach at my back, like a reanimated corpse desperate to eat my gutty works.

the uso in seoul operates a tour that offers foreigners (no south koreans allowed) the unique opportunity to visit the dmz and, as i said before, briefly step inside that storybook world of north korea. it was sort of like visiting the shire. or i guess mordor might be a more accurate (apparently my friend sean had similar feelings). it was like some place in a fantasy filled with strange characters and weird events. and then i was there. it was a little disorienting.

by far, the most bizarre part for me was looking into north korea's "propaganda village." a village made to seem so ideal that it would entice south koreans to flee north to the rich promise of the dprk. riiiiigght. the creepy thing about this village is that nobody really lives there. it's a ghost town. is it strange that north korea's offer of perfection to south koreans is abandoned and, ultimately, non-existent? is that kind of like a metaphor?

while the tour ran a bit long and dropped the ball on some promised souvenir opportunities (north korean money? soju??), it was definitely a highlight of my year. i'm not sure i could recommend it to everyone as it's mostly walking around and looking into things, not much hands-on experience is what i mean, if you have any interest in north korea and/or oppressive regimes it's for sure an informative and engaging experience.

jamie enjoying the previous night's subway sandwich

panmunjom, across the way is the north korean visitors center or something like that. we are, obviously, on the south korean side of the divide at this point.

that little spec is a north korean soldier. say hi to capitalism, bro.

inside the blue room, about to step on over to the "other side"

me and my new bud. we got some soju after this. the south korean soldiers are in a constant taekwando stance of aggression. they also have those aviator shades that make them look pretty tough too. i could probably take him.

its the line!

the propaganda village. that flag pole used to be shorter but then south korea built a flag pole that was taller in their "freedom village" so north korea responded by making their tower even bigger. they also have the world's largest flag on that pole. it weighs several tons and is interwoven with iron rods or something crazy like that.

this was at the third tunnel, which is one of several tunnels (many of which are believed to be still hidden) that north korea had secretively been digging into the south. i forget how many have been found, maybe five. seems low. but this sign sure is happy! nice and appropriate. look at that cute lil helmet just hanging off that purple m.

sean and jamie. my dmz travel buddies. admittedly both were way more into the experience than i was.

going into the tunnel. it was pretty steep.

and the ceiling was pretty low. had to stay hunched over the entire time.

north korean beer! don't worry friends, i'll be bringing back a bottle with me.

this was at the train station that theoretically goes into north korea (see the sign below). obviously it's not used as such today but if things get all peaceful it could be. part of it is still in use and runs about 3 times a day to some tiny town in south korea, but no stops into communist territory.