Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

Categories: Asia | Travel

The village of Panmunjom is located in the demilitarized zone of Korea. This is the only tourist destination where tourists are forced to sign a declaration that they are notified and are fully responsible for "injury or death that may occur as a result of enemy action."

Panmunjom is a small village 55 km north of Seoul, which is the de facto border between North and South Korea. It was here that in 1953 a peace treaty was signed between these countries. However, since the parties have not reached peace, they are still in an official state of war, and about a million people guard this demilitarized zone. This 4-kilometer strip of land in Korea is the most militarized region in the world: emplacements, mines, barbed wire and anti-tank weapons are just a few of the "sights" that can be seen here.

(Total 9 photos)

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

1. 1 km east of the abandoned village is an almost circular piece of land where both sides periodically meet for discussions and skirmishes. Although most of the time the soldiers just look at each other across the border.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

2. Soldiers have not been allowed to cross a certain line and defect to the enemy since 1976 due to the so-called Ax Murder Incident. Back then, two American soldiers were killed with an ax by North Korean soldiers when the Americans were simply trying to cut down a tree.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

3. This is a very dangerous place, but what is most interesting, it attracts tourists. Every year, thousands of tourists come to this village to see the last front of the Cold War. It's like a strange amusement park, where the main attractions are death and cataclysms.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

4. The 62-kilometer drive to this village is still "fun". You are driving along the deserted Liberty Road, approaching the border. The main goal of the road is to drive tanks along it as quickly as possible, if a war suddenly breaks out. Both sides of the highway are fenced with barbed wire, and there are observation towers every few hundred meters.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

5. There are machine guns on the neighboring hills, sandbags for defense on the median lanes, and some bridges over the highway have huge concrete blocks that can be blown up to block traffic on the roads.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

6. One of the attractions of Panmunjom is a trip to the blue one-story building, where representatives of both sides periodically meet. The conference table, covered with green velvet, stands right on the border line, and microphone cables running in the middle of the table are considered the international border.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

7. When tourists are brought into the building, four soldiers from the American UN detachment stand on the roof of the building, and North Korean soldiers can go to the windows and look into the building.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

8. Tourists are warned not to look at the soldiers or show them any gestures that they might not like. There is a strict dress code for visiting the village. Do not wear blue jeans, shorts or any other provocative clothing.

Panmunjom is the only place where tourists can be killed

9. “I'm not sure that this DMZ can be recommended as a holiday destination,” says journalist Kevin Sullivan. “But those who are in South Korea on business or on vacation should visit this place. It's one of the weirdest and most amazing places you can get on a tour bus."

Keywords: Military base | Military | Border | Korea | North korea | Tourism | South korea

Post News Article

Recent articles

How did the word “spam” appear and what did it mean before?
How did the word “spam” appear and what did it mean before?

Everyone knows that annoying advertising letters sent by email are called spam. But few people thought about what this word means ...

20+ amazing facts about everything that expand horizons
20+ amazing facts about everything that expand horizons

Always interesting to learn or discover something new and interesting. The thirst for knowledge and curiosity is what animates our ...

Why do you dream of losing teeth and is it worth being afraid of such a dream
Why do you dream of losing teeth and is it worth being afraid ...

I bet you've had a dream at least once in which your teeth fall out. This is one of the most popular queries in search engines and ...

Related articles

Prostitution during the Vietnam War in photographs of the 1960s and 1970s
Prostitution during the Vietnam War in photographs of the ...

During the Vietnam War, a whole sex industry for American servicemen emerged. Moths gathered in bars where Americans often had fun ...

Two against all: a touching love story of a Nazi and a Jewish woman
Two against all: a touching love story of a Nazi and a Jewish ...

On March 30, 1943, 46-year-old Willy Schultz shot another German soldier and voluntarily surrendered to Soviet partisans. And all ...

Color photographs of the First World War that were taken as if yesterday
Color photographs of the First World War that were taken as ...

More than a hundred years have passed since the end of the First World War. Many generations have passed since then. When you look ...