Visit korea & Seoul city tour

Course

• 

  The Unification Bridge

  The bridge is more like a symbolic bridge built back in 1998, wishing unification between two Koreas.

  It was built by Hyundai Business Group of South Korea. Underneath the bridge you can see a river which is called Imjingang, coming down from North Korea. The bridge also has a nickname which is the “Cow Bridge”. The founder of Hyundai whose name was Jung Juyoung crossed this bridge and went to North Korea back in 1998 with precisely 1,001 cows. Since then, we have been calling it the cow bridge. Of course all the cows he took with him were part of humanitarian donations for North Korean people.

• 

  ID Check

  If you look outside, you can see some soldiers wearing a green color camouflage uniform. They are South Korean soldiers or ROK soldiers currently serving their mandatory military service for 21 months. All men in South Korea have to serve the military mandatorily for 21 months, but it’s not required for women. I also served for 26 months a long time ago right after college, and it was longer than right now. Military service is getting shorter and shorter. However, the situation is a lot more terrible in North Korea. First of all, it’s mandatory for both genders, men and women. Men have to serve for 10 years while women serve for 7 years, but this is just for normal kinds of soldiers. For a special forces like Marine Corps and Airborne, they have to serve for 13 years. 

• 

  Slideshow and briefing at Camp Bonifas
  Republic of Korea and United States Forces Korea soldiers conduct the United Nations Command DMZ Orientation Program tours of the JSA and surrounding areas.

  
  Camp Bonifas is the command post of the United Nions Forces inside of Panmoonjeom.
  At this location, solders who are in charge, boards the bus and examines your attire and identification once more.
  At the JSA national security center inside of the Camp Bonifas, they give a briefing about the Panmoonjeom visitation.
  There is a golf course called Par 3 One Hall Gold Course made of artificial turf inside of the Camp Bonifas. It is called ‘the most dangerous golf course’ because surrounded around the three sides of the club are minefields.

  
   
• 

  Joint Security Area

  Buffering hostilities from the north and south, the heavily guarded premises of Panmunjeom are located in the middle of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and remain reserved strictly for political engagements. Providing the only road connecting the two countries, it is here where the historical signing of the Armistice Agreement took place between Communist forces and the United Nations Command (UNC) in 1953 after a succession of peace talks that lasted more than two years.

• 

  Freedom House

  The current building was constructed on July 9, 1998. It was built by the founder of Hyundai to host reunions of families separated during the Korean War. However, since North Korea has worried about sending their people through the division line of JSA, the house has been used only for Red Cross staffs and the liaison officers of South Korea.

• 

  Military Armistice Commission Conference Room

   The armistice agreement of 1953 provided the establishment of the Military Armistice Commission (MAC), an agency to supervise implementation of the truce terms. A conference row was built to hold meetings of MAC representatives from the United Nations Command (UNC) and the North Korean People's Army (KPA).

   The conference row consists of seven buildings set squarely on the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The line is marked on the ground between the buildings on conference row by several 17”×5” concrete slabs.

   The three blue buildings are managed by UNC, and four gray buildings, by KPA. The central blue building is the MAC Conference Room, where talks take place between both sides. The MAC room has a line, which bisects the center of a conference table in the middle of the room

   First, you will stand right in front of the conference row to take photos of North Korean soldiers, who are posted in front of their visitor center. Then, you will be escorted into the MAC Conference Room, where you can cross the division line even though you are prohibited from opening the door toward north direction.

• 

  UN Guard Post 3

   GP 3 is the nearest spot you can watch and picture the scenery of North Korea,  surrounding you at three sides

   The guard post is located on a small mound, standing out into the north territories. It commands a fine view of many important facilities of North Korea. Straight ahead of you about one Kilometer away, you will glance the scary “Peace Museum” of North Korea, where they are displaying the two axes used to murder two American officers.

   If you look at your right hand side, there is a guard post of KPA where they are checking and filming your every movement. You can return their favor by picturing them back, but you are not supposed to point them with your fingers or to make any gesture which can be interpreted as a signal of another war.

   If you turn your head to the left, you can find UN Guard Post Four, which is only twenty meters ahead of the focal point of Axe Murder Incident. If you look far away along the direction, there are the propaganda village, Gaesung Industrial Complex, and a radio signal jamming tower.

• 

  Bridge of No Return

  The Bridge of No Return is a small bridge where POWs were exchanged after the war.

  There were two operations for it: Operation Little Switch as a test case for prisoner repatriation and Operation Big Switch for a general exchange of prisoners.

   All the POWs were carried to the both ends of the bridge and they were given a choice. Once they chose to cross over the road, they could not make a turning back, hence the name “Bridge of No Return”. About thirteen thousand UNC prisoners returned to their countries, and about eighty nine thousand KPA and Chinese prisoners returned to their communist nations.

• 

  Imjingak Park

  Imjingak, located 7 km from the Military Demarcation Line, is now at the forefront of tourism related to the Korean War. It was built in 1972 with the hope that someday unification would be possible. Three-storied Imjingak is surrounded by several monuments, Unification Park and North Korea Center.

  400 kinds of photos and documents showing the stark reality of North Korea are displayed in the North Korea Center of Unification Board. Outside Imjingak, there are 12 kinds of tanks and crafts on display that were used during the war.

  Mangbaedan Alter, which stands opposite of Imjingak, is famous for the place where people from North Korea visit and perform ancestral rites by bowing toward their hometown every New Year's Day and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). The Bridge of the Freedom, South Koreans crossed when they came back to their mother country from North Korea, stands behind Mangbaedan Alter.

  In front of Imjingak is the Gyeongui Train Line which was destroyed during the Korean War in 1950. It has been under construction since 2000. Every year many events for unification are held at Imjingak. Imjingak is now one of the famous tourist spots for foreigners in Gyeonggi-do because it is possible to visit without going through any security check points

• 

  Lunch(Bibimbap)

  Bibimbap (Korean pronunciation: [bibimbap], sometimes anglicized bi bim bap or bi bim bop) is a signature Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed rice". Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce, or doenjang, a salty soybean paste. A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The hot dish is stirred together thoroughly just before eating. In South Korea, Jeonju, Jinju, and Tongyeong are especially famous for their versions of bibimbap. In 2011, it was listed at number 40 on the World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN Travel

• 

  Amethyst Center

  Before we finish this tour in Seoul, as the very last part of this tour, we will make a brief stop at a place where you can get the national stone of Korea. It is among the most famous local products produced from Korea. One of the attractions of this jewel is not only the color and the beauty but also the infrared from Amethyst will make you relax and your blood circulation better. It’s a purple color precious stone as well as birthstone of February. It’s made from granite and it takes millions of years to change from granite to this particular kind of stone. Can anybody take a guess what this is? This is amethyst. Back in Seoul, we will stop by an amethyst factory which owns an amethyst mine. There, you can get a decent quality Korean amethyst at factory price which is almost half of the regular price. It could be a very good surprising gift for your loved ones especially for female, like your wife, daughter, or mother, if you have any. We will stay there for about 20 minutes and we will visit the very last place of downtown in Seoul called Itaewon where all of you will be dropped off. 

• 

  Myeongdong Sending
  Myeong-dong Street is a one kilometer area from Myeong-dong Station to Euljiro and Lotte Department Store. Myeong-dong is the busiest region in Seoul and is the leader in Korean fashion trends. Not only will you find large shopping malls and famous brand name shops where you can find clothing and shoes, but fast food chains, cozy cafes and specialty restaurants fill the alleys.

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Course

• 

  The Unification Bridge

  The bridge is more like a symbolic bridge built back in 1998, wishing unification between two Koreas.

  It was built by Hyundai Business Group of South Korea. Underneath the bridge you can see a river which is called Imjingang, coming down from North Korea. The bridge also has a nickname which is the “Cow Bridge”. The founder of Hyundai whose name was Jung Juyoung crossed this bridge and went to North Korea back in 1998 with precisely 1,001 cows. Since then, we have been calling it the cow bridge. Of course all the cows he took with him were part of humanitarian donations for North Korean people.

• 

  ID Check

  If you look outside, you can see some soldiers wearing a green color camouflage uniform. They are South Korean soldiers or ROK soldiers currently serving their mandatory military service for 21 months. All men in South Korea have to serve the military mandatorily for 21 months, but it’s not required for women. I also served for 26 months a long time ago right after college, and it was longer than right now. Military service is getting shorter and shorter. However, the situation is a lot more terrible in North Korea. First of all, it’s mandatory for both genders, men and women. Men have to serve for 10 years while women serve for 7 years, but this is just for normal kinds of soldiers. For a special forces like Marine Corps and Airborne, they have to serve for 13 years. 

• 

  Slideshow and briefing at Camp Bonifas
  Republic of Korea and United States Forces Korea soldiers conduct the United Nations Command DMZ Orientation Program tours of the JSA and surrounding areas.

  
  Camp Bonifas is the command post of the United Nions Forces inside of Panmoonjeom.
  At this location, solders who are in charge, boards the bus and examines your attire and identification once more.
  At the JSA national security center inside of the Camp Bonifas, they give a briefing about the Panmoonjeom visitation.
  There is a golf course called Par 3 One Hall Gold Course made of artificial turf inside of the Camp Bonifas. It is called ‘the most dangerous golf course’ because surrounded around the three sides of the club are minefields.

  
   
• 

  Joint Security Area

  Buffering hostilities from the north and south, the heavily guarded premises of Panmunjeom are located in the middle of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and remain reserved strictly for political engagements. Providing the only road connecting the two countries, it is here where the historical signing of the Armistice Agreement took place between Communist forces and the United Nations Command (UNC) in 1953 after a succession of peace talks that lasted more than two years.

• 

  Freedom House

  The current building was constructed on July 9, 1998. It was built by the founder of Hyundai to host reunions of families separated during the Korean War. However, since North Korea has worried about sending their people through the division line of JSA, the house has been used only for Red Cross staffs and the liaison officers of South Korea.

• 

  Military Armistice Commission Conference Room

   The armistice agreement of 1953 provided the establishment of the Military Armistice Commission (MAC), an agency to supervise implementation of the truce terms. A conference row was built to hold meetings of MAC representatives from the United Nations Command (UNC) and the North Korean People's Army (KPA).

   The conference row consists of seven buildings set squarely on the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The line is marked on the ground between the buildings on conference row by several 17”×5” concrete slabs.

   The three blue buildings are managed by UNC, and four gray buildings, by KPA. The central blue building is the MAC Conference Room, where talks take place between both sides. The MAC room has a line, which bisects the center of a conference table in the middle of the room

   First, you will stand right in front of the conference row to take photos of North Korean soldiers, who are posted in front of their visitor center. Then, you will be escorted into the MAC Conference Room, where you can cross the division line even though you are prohibited from opening the door toward north direction.

• 

  UN Guard Post 3

   GP 3 is the nearest spot you can watch and picture the scenery of North Korea,  surrounding you at three sides

   The guard post is located on a small mound, standing out into the north territories. It commands a fine view of many important facilities of North Korea. Straight ahead of you about one Kilometer away, you will glance the scary “Peace Museum” of North Korea, where they are displaying the two axes used to murder two American officers.

   If you look at your right hand side, there is a guard post of KPA where they are checking and filming your every movement. You can return their favor by picturing them back, but you are not supposed to point them with your fingers or to make any gesture which can be interpreted as a signal of another war.

   If you turn your head to the left, you can find UN Guard Post Four, which is only twenty meters ahead of the focal point of Axe Murder Incident. If you look far away along the direction, there are the propaganda village, Gaesung Industrial Complex, and a radio signal jamming tower.

• 

  Bridge of No Return

  The Bridge of No Return is a small bridge where POWs were exchanged after the war.

  There were two operations for it: Operation Little Switch as a test case for prisoner repatriation and Operation Big Switch for a general exchange of prisoners.

   All the POWs were carried to the both ends of the bridge and they were given a choice. Once they chose to cross over the road, they could not make a turning back, hence the name “Bridge of No Return”. About thirteen thousand UNC prisoners returned to their countries, and about eighty nine thousand KPA and Chinese prisoners returned to their communist nations.

• 

  Imjingak Park

  Imjingak, located 7 km from the Military Demarcation Line, is now at the forefront of tourism related to the Korean War. It was built in 1972 with the hope that someday unification would be possible. Three-storied Imjingak is surrounded by several monuments, Unification Park and North Korea Center.

  400 kinds of photos and documents showing the stark reality of North Korea are displayed in the North Korea Center of Unification Board. Outside Imjingak, there are 12 kinds of tanks and crafts on display that were used during the war.

  Mangbaedan Alter, which stands opposite of Imjingak, is famous for the place where people from North Korea visit and perform ancestral rites by bowing toward their hometown every New Year's Day and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). The Bridge of the Freedom, South Koreans crossed when they came back to their mother country from North Korea, stands behind Mangbaedan Alter.

  In front of Imjingak is the Gyeongui Train Line which was destroyed during the Korean War in 1950. It has been under construction since 2000. Every year many events for unification are held at Imjingak. Imjingak is now one of the famous tourist spots for foreigners in Gyeonggi-do because it is possible to visit without going through any security check points

• 

  Lunch(Bibimbap)

  Bibimbap (Korean pronunciation: [bibimbap], sometimes anglicized bi bim bap or bi bim bop) is a signature Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed rice". Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce, or doenjang, a salty soybean paste. A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The hot dish is stirred together thoroughly just before eating. In South Korea, Jeonju, Jinju, and Tongyeong are especially famous for their versions of bibimbap. In 2011, it was listed at number 40 on the World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN Travel

• 

  Amethyst Center

  Before we finish this tour in Seoul, as the very last part of this tour, we will make a brief stop at a place where you can get the national stone of Korea. It is among the most famous local products produced from Korea. One of the attractions of this jewel is not only the color and the beauty but also the infrared from Amethyst will make you relax and your blood circulation better. It’s a purple color precious stone as well as birthstone of February. It’s made from granite and it takes millions of years to change from granite to this particular kind of stone. Can anybody take a guess what this is? This is amethyst. Back in Seoul, we will stop by an amethyst factory which owns an amethyst mine. There, you can get a decent quality Korean amethyst at factory price which is almost half of the regular price. It could be a very good surprising gift for your loved ones especially for female, like your wife, daughter, or mother, if you have any. We will stay there for about 20 minutes and we will visit the very last place of downtown in Seoul called Itaewon where all of you will be dropped off. 

• 

  Myeongdong Sending
  Myeong-dong Street is a one kilometer area from Myeong-dong Station to Euljiro and Lotte Department Store. Myeong-dong is the busiest region in Seoul and is the leader in Korean fashion trends. Not only will you find large shopping malls and famous brand name shops where you can find clothing and shoes, but fast food chains, cozy cafes and specialty restaurants fill the alleys.