While in Seoul, a visit to the Demilitarized Zone or the DMZ was one of the must do's in our list. There were many tours offered to the place. Many were privately run and for profit but the best one available was offered by the US Army in Seoul. Luckily for us, we were there at a time when the US military did have tours available. While I would have liked to have visited farther inland into North Korea, a visit to the DMZ which was shared by the two Koreas, was going to do. I was very happy just the same to have seen it even for just a short time.

The very first stop of our one day tour was at a military camp where we had to sign release forms. Then we were briefed as to what we could and could not do while visiting very important military sights

At one point during the trip, I got seated next to a Texan Mexican-American military personnel based in Seoul. He had married a Japanese lady and had lived longer in Asia than in the US. He was very friendly and when he found out that I was a teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area, he encouraged me to work in the American schools in Seoul and teach the children of military men and women serving there.

From Panmunjeon, we were all ushered into the Freedom Building as one group. I can remember, we were all very quiet just as we were advised to be by our American soldier-guide. I just couldn't believe our luck when something went wrong with our camera just as we were about to go inside the premises. I believe Marc took these pictures included in this blog with our very old one hence the less than spectacular clarity of the images.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I stood on the steps of the Freedom Building and faced North Korea. I can remember very vividly, all of us were oh so quiet. Not one spoke as we all stared at the North Koreans just a few feet away. I thought, "Anything could happen."

Just as we were taking pictures, so were the North Koreans for sure.