DMZ

My mother was asking me to explain exactly what the DMZ in Korea is and tell her a bit about the tour I'm going on next weekend, so I did some research. The Korean DMZ, as defined on www.korea-dmz.com is:

[The 38th parallel was created after the end of the Second World War when the U.S. and the Soviet Union divided the Korean Peninsula for their military stationing each in South and North Korea. Later, with the conclusion of an armistice formally ending the Korean War, this military line was transformed and hardened into today's Demilitarized Zone.]

Then, I found this article, which I am highly tempted to just copy because of its wonderful first hand description, but will merely link. It makes me a bit more guarded about taking the tour, but certainly drives home the understanding of why it is a tour which requires a dress code and utmost solemnity. It is a bit eerie that tour buses unload and walk you around areas where there are hostile soldiers dug into bunkers and mines so close at foot, as it were. It's not like trying to make the fuzzy-headed guards at Buckingham try to smile. The indication is that if you giggle at one of these soldiers, you might get shot. yikes