Korean Adventures

Well, since Jenny hadn't updated this in a while, I decided I would start blogging here as well (shout out to Hook for blogging on his and Laura's site) and share some of the wonderful sights that I've been seeing here in Korea. As most of you probably already know, the 13 FS is halfway through a six-month AEF deployment to Suwon AB, Korea. Not exactly what we had in mind when we were practicing our CAS procedures in the desert over Nellis, but things could be a LOT worse.

I thought to start I would post some of the pictures and video of some of the sights the bros have been checking out while here in Korea. The first set of pictures is from our trip up to the DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone, the 4 KM buffer zone between north Korea and the ROK. Seeing as how these two countries are still "technically" at war (which I'm sure if you've been reading the news, isn't that hard to believe), the place is pretty heavily guarded.




This first picture is of me looking across the Han River into North Korea. What can I say? Koreans are short ...






These second two pictures are from the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom. Over my left shoulder you can probably make out a NoDAK soldier giving us the squirrely eye. What you DON'T see is the other four or five guys hidden in the windows taking pictures of all of us. Creepy. The blue building over my right shoulder is where the North Koreans and the South Koreans/US have their meetings/conferences. No kidding, if you look, you can see the concrete slabs that run through the courtyard behind me that denote the border between the two countries. Inside the conference room, the conference table is also arranged so that the table is perfectly on the border between the two countries.


Here is the table I was talking about ... this big guys is one of two South Korean guards posted in the room. In order to qualify in the South Korean Army to be a guard in the JSA, you have to be at least 6'1". In a country full of midgets, these are the biggest Koreans I've seen.

Finally, this is the North Korean village across the border. The flag pole you can see, and the NK flag on it, are both in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the largest pole (gross) and flag, respectively. They blare propaganda music from loudspeakers trying to lure South Koreans to come over to the North. Funny thing is, most of the buildings are only building faces - no backs, just the facade. Anybody defecting is going to find himself mighty lonely, but then again, it's all a big show here on the ROK.

That's all for today, but tomorrow I will try to post some less weird, and significantly more "normal" activities to do in Korea. CP!

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