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We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I found a picture of the bridge, and I'll show you. Someone must have secretly shot it. The location was 37°54' 6.83" N and 126°44' 39.21" E. After getting out of the U.N. checkpoint, our bus passed the line. Just at that time, two soldiers on the bridge greeted us with a salute.
The left signboard says "Panmunjom and the third tunnel." Our bus, of course, went into the left lane. I thought that I should visit the third tunnel next time while seeing this sign. We were prohibited to take pictures since then. It was at the center of Panmunjom that we were allowed to take pictures again. So, for a while, I can't post pictures here; be patient without pictures, please.
37°53'33.97"N and 126°44'57.30"E
Our bus had passed a lively place and I took these pictures in haste. I didn't know exactly our tour plan and I thought our destination would only be Panmunjom. I really wanted to drop in here. I magnified this picture on the small display on the back of my digital camera and read the letters "임진각". I asked our guide to stop by here on the return journey. She replied, "임진각 is scheduled as a resting place later". I was relieved to hear her words.
(Vocabulary)
in haste 大急ぎで, あわてて
(37°53' 19.85"N and 126°44' 51.87"E)
A sailboat appeared out of the blue ahead. Though I didn't know what it was, I took a picture. I thought that it must become a good landmark when I search our route after coming back to Japan. As I had planned in the bus, I looked for it on Google Earth and found it. Then, I found a similar picture and downloaded it. I'm going to show you it with my picture below. I'll attach my picture to Google Earth later.
(Vocabulary)
out of the blue 突然, 不意に, 思いがけなく
Finally, we ended up viewing the ground of North Korea. I'm showing three pictures in this entry. What do you think when you see these pictures? The first one is the view at 37°48'46.82"N 126°41'8.15"E. As I heard before, the mountains and hills in North Korea didn't have trees and exposed their ground surface. When North Korea was hit by a harvest failure and starvation in the 90's, people ate the bark of trees and the stripped trees died off. Besides, trees are cut also for fuel in the winter, but they never plant trees after cutting them down. It's miserable, I thought, from the bottom of my heart. Both Koreas are ruled by the same people, so how did this difference build? As the road was quite wide enough for traffic, the bus zipped along in top gear. The road was four lanes in each direction until the check point at the entrance of the Unification Bridge. I hope this route will be main artery connecting both Koreas.
In the third picture, our guide is questioning us. Why do some hills have trees? The answer is, those hills are under the control of the military. There are hidden depots. Tanks, ammunition and similar things are concealed under the trees.
(Vocabulary)
harvest failure 凶作
belt along / in top gear / progress smoothly / zip along 快調に進む
Our bus came to just under the Odusan Unification Observatory. I asked the photographer, whom I wrote about in a previous entry, to take this picture of the observatory through the windshield. He gave an explanation to us at that time. According to him, the wire fence by the river is called the Civilian Control Line (CCL). Odusan Observatory is located inside the CCL and everybody, including Korean people, can freely visit it without previous permission. On the ohter hand, there is another one, called Dora Observatory, a little ahead of us and it is outside of the CCL. If I want to visit Dora Observatory, I seemed to be required to have previous permission and to show my passport at the entrance. Dora Observatory is under the control of the South Korean Army. One more thing, I have something on my mind about his words. It is "including Korean people" in his explanation. Why did he need to especially say this phrase. I understood his words at Panmunjom a little while later.
For reference:
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/travel2/kyonggi/328
http://www.utravelnote.com/korea/see/odusan
(Vocabulary)
CCL:Civilian Control Line 民間人統制線 민간인통제선
Dora Observatory 都羅展望台
have something on one's chest/mind 気になることがある
I shot this picture through the window of the MOVING bus. It was nicely shot, better than I expected. This long lasting wire fence is supposed to interfere with entering from the river.
The water surface you can see in the picture is of the Han River which runs through Seoul City. We went up north along this river. Additionally, there is Imjingan River, which is the river on the border between both Koreas, which runs over the hill in the right of the picture and these two rivers meet right under the hill. Odusan Unification Observatory just stands on the hill. I found a picture showing around my present point from the observatory and I'll show you it, too.
(Vocabulary)
Han river 漢江 한강
Imjingan River 臨津江 임진강
( 37°46'5.22"N and 126°41'2.95"E) 
An observatory was coming into my sight. I've watched this facility on TV. I checked it also on Google Earth, and I thought I'd pass near it on this trip. I expected to see it again with the naked eye. So, when I found it through the windshield, I was delighted to remember the road I had checked on Google Earth. This observatory is called "Unification Observatory". The object of this observatory is North Korea. It seemed to be one of the tourist attractions, but we didn't drop in at this time. It might be due to time constraints. You can see wire fences and a lookout for invaders. (37°45'58.24"N and 126°41'8.47"E)
(Vocabulary)
constraint 制約, 拘束
time/budget constraints 時間［予算］の制約
I took many pictures on the way to Panmunjom through the window. I'll show you some of them with the location where each picture was taken from now on. Each picture will also be attached on Google Earth later.
Both pictures were taken at the location of 37°44'8.23"N and 126°41'19.00"E. The road was wide with four lanes each way. Besides, there was free space between both directions. It looked to be just waiting for groundbreaking. When I asked about it, our guide told us that ex-president Kim Dae-jung wanted free traffic between both Koreas and prepared this space for increasing traffic in the future. However, no one knows when the day will come.
The sign in the second picture says, "Last 24 kilometers to Imjingak." I'm going to explain about Imjingak later.
(Vocabulary)
four lanes each way 片側４車線
groundbreaking (新築の際の) くわ入れ
groundbreaking ceremony 起工式
The letters on the bridge girder is "대한민국 대표도시 변화와 경쟁의 파주". It means "大韓民国代表都市 変化と競争の坡州" in Japanese. You know, we entered Paju City. I could confirm the exact shooting point on Google Earth. You can also see an observation post and wire fence in this picture. This post can be seen on Google Earth. Try it. It's fun.
Our seat was diagonally behind the driver to the right so we could enjoy wider view than other tourists through the windshield. We were really lucky. Besides, our guide was just on the left of us and the person in front of us, sitting on the auxiliary seat was a professional photographer. He couldn't speak Japanese well, but could communicate with us mainly in English and a little Korean. He could barely speak Japanese, at least, not enough for guidance. No-one could use English but us. Finally, we ended up hogging the conversation with him. My daughter is also a good English speaker. We enjoyed chatting all the way to the destination. He was just like an exclusive guide for us. We were really lucky again and it made this bus trip gorgeous. One thing, I'm sorry that I forgot to write his name and POC down. I wish I could ask him to show us Korean stuff on our next visit.
(37°43'27.97"N 126°41'19.49"E)
(Vocabulary)
shooting location 撮影場所
bridge girder 橋桁
observation post 監視所（敵を監視できる位置にある）
diagonally backward right 右斜め後ろに
auxiliary [名]の前でのみ (仕事の従事者が) 補助の
hog the conversation 会話を独占する
POC point of contact 連絡先
We dropped in at the Jayuro Resting Place and were told to go to the toilet. I didn't need to urinate, but I was interested in the Korean public toilet so I used it. I didn't have enough time to stop by any stall here, but I felt the resting place was just like in Japan. I took the first picture to save the name of the place for future reference.
I searched for the place on Google Earth after coming back to Japan. I couldn't get the positioning data on site, but judging from the view from the sky, it would be here, 37°41'57.90"N 126°41'2.03"E. I chased our course on Google Earth which was fun. I'll add the positioning data I could confirm in the later entries. If you use Google Earth, referencing the position of places, it would make you happy.
As you can see in the second picture, our tour group consisted of two buses. The No.1 bus was for Japanese people only and the guide was bilingual in Korean and Japanese. The No.2 bus was for English and maybe Chinese-speaking people. The guide looked Chinese and was bilingual in Chinese and English.
I found I could read most phrases on the public signs. It was very helpful, and made me confident and motivated me to learn more Korean.
(Vocabulary)
on site 現地で
for future reference 後で参考にするために
motivate sb to sth 人をやる気にさせる
途中でJayuro休憩所、いわゆるサービスエリアに寄った。トイレ休憩だ。バスを降りて５分ほどうろうろしてみた。日本とよく似ている。
帰国してからグーグルアースでこの場所を探して緯度と経度のデータを得た。是非これを参考に空からこの場所を見て欲しい。
我々のグループは２台のバスに別れていて、１台は日本語、もう１台は英語と中国語（？）のグループだった。
看板に書いてあるハングルはほとんど読めるので自信が付いたし今後の励みにもなる。
You can see wire entanglements and a guard post in the picture. It is built along the Han River. According to the guide, it is for the protection of the invasion of North Korean agents. I paused to realize that Korean War didn't end and was still continuing. Our guide was a real professional and explained recent Korean history concisely. There were several arch-shaped constructions over the road. I couldn't shoot them, but they apparently weren't bridges. Our guide explained that those constructions would be blown up to become barricades once the war reoccured. A barricade was supposed to buy five minutes in times of emergency.
(Vocabulary)
(barbed-wire) entanglements / wire entanglement / wire fence 鉄条網
agent 工作員
pause to realize あらためて～を実感する
guard post 監視所
construction 構造物
blow up 爆破する
buy precious hours 貴重な時間を稼ぐ
in times of emergency 有事の際に
写真の左の方に鉄条網と監視小屋が見える。北朝鮮工作員の漢江からの潜入を防止するための設備だ。この国は未だ戦争中であることを痛感した。写真には撮っていないが、有事の際にはバリケードとなるアーチ状の構造物もあった。北が侵入してきた際にこれを爆破してバリケードとすることによりひとつあたり５分の時間を稼げるらしい。
I know that the title is not suitable for this blog, but I have something I want to say about this incident.
When I was waiting for the next class in my high school, the teacher of social affairs stormed into the classroom. I was a high school student preparing for the next year's entrance examination for universities at that time. It was a hot day in August. Most high school students were on summer vacation in Japan, but we were called and given special lectures for the examination. The teacher told us that the U.S. aircraft carrier, Midway, went up north on the Yellow Sea. Within the next couple of days, or even today, the war might start again in the Korean Peninsula. The Korean Peninsula is a neighbor of Japan. If the war broke out there, the influence on Japan would be immeasurable.
We asked him what caused that serious situation, and were surprised with his explanation. The object of the conflict was a poplar tree standing in the JSA (Joint Security Area) at the border between South and North Korea. I vividly remember when I heard of this incident in my last high school year.
The story was like this;
The U.S. and Korean soldiers cut poplar trees down in JSA. North Korean soldiers didn't want them to cut the trees and interfered with them. It lead to the cruel murder of two U.S. soldiers by an axe, so the incident is now also known as The Hatchet Incident and The Poplar Tree Incident. The killings and the response three days later (Operation Paul Bunyan) heightened tensions between North and South Korea as well as their respective allies, China and the United States.
JSA is located in a small area called Panmunjom (판문점) and used to be controlled by the U.N. and North Korea before the incident. However, JSA is separated strictly between North Korean and the U.N. ruled area now. I had been eager to visit Panmunjom since my high school days, and finally I visited Panmunjom.
You can see a bridge over Han River in the left side of the picture. If I had my GPS, I would have recorded the site where I took the pictures. I'm really sorry I didn't take it.
(Vocabulary)
within the next couple of days 一両日中
poplar ポプラ
JSA (joint security area) 共同警備地区
このタイトルがこのブログにふさわしくないことはわかっているが、どうしても話しておきたいことがある。
次の授業を待っていたとき、社会科の先生が教室に飛び込んできた。高校３年生で受験を翌年に控えた夏のことである。暑い夏の日だった。アメリカの空母ミッドウェーが黄海を北上し戦争準備に入ったというのである。一両日中には朝鮮半島で戦争が始まるだろうと。もしそうなれば日本への影響は計り知れない。その原因を尋ねると、ポプラの木を切ったからだという。なぜそれが戦争になるのか？話はこうである。
アメリカと韓国の兵士が共同管理区域（ＪＳＡ）にあるポプラの木を切った。共同管理区域は南北朝鮮の国境にあり双方により管理されていた。ところがその木は北朝鮮にとっては切り倒したくはなかったため戦闘に発展し、二人の米国兵が殺害された。そのためこの事件は斧殺人事件、ポプラの木事件とも呼ばれ、南北朝鮮間とそのそれぞれの同盟国、米国と中国の間に緊張をもたらした。
今ＪＳＡは完全に二つに分けられ、その場所は板門店と呼ばれる。この場所にずっと前から、３０年以上前から行ってみたかった。そしてやっとそれが実現した。
写真には漢江にかかる橋が写っている。ＧＰＳを持参していたら正確な場所がわかるのだが残念ながら特定できない。道は漢江沿いに北上している。
We were ready at the tour bus terminal on the second floor of the Lotte Hotel. As you can imagine, I felt at ease to see "Lotte Hotel" rather than "롯데 호텔".
The second picture shows us and our bus. We were bound for Panmunjom (판문점). I'm going to tell you what Panmunjom is like later. It might become a long story, but come with me, please.
We looked for a coffee shop or an eating house near the Lotte Hotel, but couldn't find one. Finally, I went into the hotel and decided to have breakfast in a buffet style restaurant in the basement. To tell the truth, I don't like such a restaurant, but there was no choice. There are two reasons why I didn't want to choose that restaurant. One is that breakfast in such a restaurant costs a lot. Another, is that breakfast is standardized in hotels. We were in South Korea, so we wanted to have a Korean breakfast.
About 80% of foods were westernized as I expected, and more than 50% of the customers were white or black. Fortunately, however, there were some Korean domestic foods. We tried some of them. In the picture you can see rice gruel containing abalone, which is one of the famous Korean cuisines. It was also my first experience to handle Korean chopsticks and a spoon. The Korean spoon was just like ours, but the chopsticks were made from metal.
(Vocabulary)
gruel オートミールの粥（かゆ）= porridge
abalone アワビ
The first picture shows the Lotte Hotel and the Lotte Department Store. The next is the street just in front of the hotel. Some street stalls were being prepared. We were hungry before breakfast, but our travel agents who we had met the day before advised us to refrain from eating food from these stalls. Even if they were cooked, Seoul was attacked by yellow sand a few days before and might be contaminated with it. I obeyed their words, but my daughter was reluctant and stayed near the stall. Then, a breezy stall man gave her some of his products. It made her happy. These trifle things would make foreign people favorable towards South Korea.
(Vocabulary)
reluctant to do 気が進まない、不承不承の、心残りがする
breezy a breezy person is happy, confident, and relaxed
The title is the name of a subway station in the heart of Seoul. It was located just in front of the Lotte Hotel, which was, I thought, the most well-known hotel in South Korea. Free papers were set up the stairs from the station, and I took some of them, but they were beyond me. I couldn't understand even 10% of the content. I thought, I've got a new goal in the study of Korean. I'd like to be able to roughly read Korean papers by my next visit. The grammar of Korean resembles that of Japanese, so if I have five minutes, I can learn a few words. Such a piece of time is enough for learning Korean. The sign in the third picture says "Lotte Hotel".
Our hotel was gorgeous, and I'd never stayed in such a luxurious one before. The present strong yen and weak won were very helpful for us. This hotel was above our level of living. However, there was only one demerit. The location was terrible for us. It might be good for business people, but the hotel was far away from the Lotte Hotel, where most of the tour buses started from. We had to get there by 8:20am after finishing our breakfast. There is no time difference between Japan and this country which was also helpful for our trip. The last picture was taken from the window when the train was on the Han River. The left side was the south of Seoul and was called Gangnam-Gu (江南区). We were going to the center of the city in the north of the river.
(Vocabulary)
time difference 時差
Han River 漢江（韓国・ソウルを流れる川）
I arranged the stuff I bought at a convenience store on the desk. It was fun to read Korean letters on their labels. These drinks are also on shelves in Japanese convenience stores so I knew their names. I was interested in how they were expressed in Korean. "Pocari Sweat" is well known in Japan. Other drinks are also commonly seen in Japan. Other stuff on the shelves also attracted me. Some were copies of Japanese products. I tried some of them during my stay. Some were good and others were below an acceptable standard.
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