DMZ Unification Train, dreaming of running freely 

from Seoul to Cherwon and far beyond

Do you happen to know which station is the northernmost in Korea? It’s Woljeong station. It is just below the Southern Limit Line of Cheorwon district. Woljeong station was a temporary station of industrial railway between Seoul and Wonsan. But now there remain only relics of train as abandoned railway station. However, as a part of Gyeongwon Railway Restoration, they are rebuilding a new station there, which will be completed until 2017.

One more question. Do you know which station is northernmost ‘to go by train’ in Korea? The answer is Baekmagoji station. It’s right below Woljeong station. Baekmagoji station is located higher than Kaesong at latitude.

Last 10^th of August, DMZ unification train (DMZ train), full of people with hopes for unity, left from Seoul station to Baekmagoji station. DMZ Train Tour was designed for Security Tour Program by The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs along with Korail, KB Financial Public Foundation. The purpose of the tour is to share the need for unification. This time was the 5^th tour.

The train moves with hopes for unification

DMZ train is a little different from other trains. It is not just a means of transportation for destination. The journey itself can be a great trip. Boarding the train, separated into 3 cabins, I saw many pictures of security field displayed around the cabins. Participants took photos exploring the train around.

The train departed. Lee Keum-soon, President of Institute for Unification Education(IUE) and Jeong Eunchan, Professor joined in as mentors of this journey. Participants were about 130 people ; unification club members of university, members of the Korean Writers Association(KWA), veterans, and students on vacation. At first, people of different ages from various areas were very unfamiliar with each other. However, the atmosphere had been suddenly reversed by ‘This’.

Soon after, ‘Tong Tong Concert on communicating unification’ began. The host of the concert was Lee Keum-soon, President of IUE. She said, “We haven’t had true independence although we celebrate National Liberation Day every year. For real independence, we have to reunite. The mission of Education Center for Unification is to make unified hopes for unification.”

Without stage or place to sit, participants in swaying train listened attentively to the lecture. They asked lots of questions about North Korea. Questions were about wired and wireless communication service, agriculture, private education, etc. of North Korea.

Professor Jeong Eunchan, who had escaped from North Korea and took a doctorate in Korea, told a variety of stories about why she escaped and the present situation of North Korea. She said, “While IMF crisis hit the South Korea, North Korea also suffered the worst of the economic crisis. I was very shocked when I met South Koreans in China, crying for starvation of North Koreans. The meeting made me make up my mind to escape from North Korea.”

While we were sharing stories about unification for 2 hours, the scenery outside the window had changed into green fields. We got off the train at Baekmagoji station.

Cheorwon hopes to be the start-point toward the North, not the end-point of South Korea

Cheorwon was the developed city as comparable to Seoul in the past. Now Cheorwon, where had been fierce battles during the Korean War, has become a tourist attraction of security. Battlefield of Cheorwon, observatory, and the 2^nd Underground Tunnel can be reached only through the military checkpoint. Group visiting by Security Tour Bus deserves to be recommended.

We visited Baekmagoji battlefield first. They had fought in order to recapture nameless high ground. Enormous shells used during this battle had changed the terrain and dug up the ground. People named it as Baekmagoji (White horse lying on high ground). The reason is, changed terrain looked like a lying horse.

After having Korean cuisine lunch buffet at Duroomi center, we left for Peace Observatory by bus. We have to pass through a few military checkpoints until arriving at Observatory. We saw rice plants ripening rapidly in Cheorwon plains. It sounds fairly plausible that Kim, il-sung shed tears of blood over losing Cheorwon plains in the past.

At Peace Observatory you can see the DMZ, Pyeongang Plateau, and Propaganda Village in North Korea. Using high-tech binoculars and the terrain thumbnail, we can see the land of North Korea. Photography is prohibited at Observatory located in military facilities. However, I can recall vividly the North Korean mountains and fields thanks to detailed explanations.

Standing on the broken railroad, participants became perplexed for a while. Without Korean War, we could go to Mt. Geumgang by train along this railroad. But walking around the railroad tracks, we were deeply moved by the magnificent view of Hantan river. Maybe someday, could we climb Mt. Geumgang along this road?

Finally we visited Cheorwon Korean Workers’ Party Headquarter, which had been used by North Korea Labor Party from Liberation to Korean War. Only outer walls, other parts of the Headquarter had been destroyed by war, are standing upright. Participants looked around scratches by shells and trails of tanks carefully. Foreign students showed their interest in well-preserved traces of war.

Cheorwon Security Tour Program finished at Korean Workers’ Party Headquarter. Now it’s time to get on the DMZ train. When we got on the train at Baekmagoji station, the train changed direction for Seoul. Within the returning train all of us felt happy, sharing our own experiences about security field and corns prepared by Cheorwon-gun.

We arrived in Seoul at 6:30 PM. Cheorwon is located two and a half hours away from Seoul by train. It could take only 3 hours to reach Pyeongang-gun over Cheorwon beyond DMZ barbed-wire fence. Witnessing the mountains and plains of North Korea, right in front of me, I yearn even more for the North. I look forward to the day when DMZ unification train could run unimpededly to Woljeong station over Baekmagoji station, to Mt. Geumgang, and up to far-off Mt. Baekdu.