Ben in Korea - Dec 2008

This is a picture of Propaganda Village, the fake North Korean town they built years ago to try to impress South Korea. No one actually lives here, and a few years ago they stopped blaring propaganda incessantly over the loudspeakers. The flagpole is 600 feet tall.
This is building T 2 where the Ceasefire was signed in 1953 and where all meetings between the two parties are held to this day. It sits right on the border of North and South Korea. Those are two South Korean guards.
This is the "Welcome House" where the North Koreans watch the South Koreans from and occasionally venture out to harass them. You can see a guard looking at us through his binoculars. He's in front of the leftmost door.
A North Korean guard post. Behind, you can see the North Korean hills which are competely stripped of trees to fuel fires. See what Communism gives you!
This is Freedom Bridge where 12,000 American and South Korean POW's walked to freedom in 1953. Also, about 80 Americans were released across this bridge in 1969. They were the sailors from the USS Pueblo which was seized in 1968 by North Korean commandos.