Korea: DMZ Tour

I went to Seoul to tour the DMZ on a tip from a friend. I spent one day at the DMZ and one full day in the Korean War Museum. The rest of the time was spent shopping in Itaewon and Insadong. I have to give five stars to both the tour and the museum (and Insadong, but that's a different post.) I think I've been to a lot of museums and war monuments around the world, and I've never been as impressed as I was in Korea. I was mesmerized the whole time. I'm hoping to go back next month to see Panmunjeom, as I missed it this time around. That would be amazing.

I have lots of pictures to post, but here are the first two. It's the Freedom Bridge between North and South Korea where 12,773 prisoners were exchanged in 1953 upon truce of the war. South Koreans now leave messages for their estranged family members as a kind of memorial. I heard a surprising amount of talk about reunification during my time in Seoul. I had no idea how important it is to the Koreans. The one yellow flag posted on the bridge has an eager message that is easy to understand despite the difficult English: "We want a will be one as soon as make unification."