Lessons Learned... Continued.

Ballinger Hall is where the military tells us proper behavior while we are on the tour...no pictures, until we are given permission to take them by the MP, no gestures or talking to NK soldiers, no walking anywhere unless given permission to do so, etc. and you sign a waiver saying you understand that you are taking a risk with no guarantee of safety by visiting this facility.
"In Front of Them All" is the motto for this camp because of their proximity to NK. About 10 miles.
They have a one hole golf course here that was photographed and dubbed by Sports Illustrated
as "The most dangerous golf course in the world" because of its location.
The DMZ is protected by many countries. With South Korea providing the most men. It is mandatory in this country for all men to do 2 years of active duty service beginning at age 18.
The US is second in the number of military personel stationed here. The U.S. men that serve here have to score a higher apptitude, and be very physicaly fit to get assigned duty at this place, and they serve for only one year at this post.


North Korean soldier standing guard of the "NK Welcome Center"


There are cameras all over the place on both the NK side and the SK side. The MP told us we could "go ahead and take pictures of this guy", and he said "I guarantee they are taking pictures of you right now. If you are on facebook they will know who you are in about 30 minutes."
In 1994 a Russian from NK was taking a tour on the NK side and decided to make a run for freedom down those stairs. It ended up in confrontation with four people loosing their lives. Three were North Koreans trying to keep him there and one was an American soldier.
The guy made it across to safety and freedom.
The soldiers stay half hidden incase any NK decides to take a shot at them.
The blue barracks are where meetings take place.


Tyler and I standing next to a ROK (Republic of Korea) Soldier. We are standin in North Korea on this side of the building. These guys don't smile, and we were told not to talk to them.


This table is in the middle of the room. It is where both sides will spend time negotiating when they meet. Those are microphones in the middle of the table.

Korea is the only divided country in the world.

Sculpture depicting the world trying to put Korea back together again.

There are over 2 million land mines placed along the border of the DMZ on the SK side to keep the NK soldiers out.

I had such a great appreciation for the work our military does after visiting this place.

Their special forces unit that is assigned to the DMZ has to be able to be dressed and combat ready within 60 seconds at any given moment. The record is 43 seconds.

I thought about the song "War, What Is It Good For?"

And decided that sometimes the answer to that question is Liberty and Freedom. {Priceless.} After that, maybe absolutely nothing.