Trip to the USA

Well, today I am wrapping up my trip to the US. I won't spoil the upcoming posts, but a lot has happened and I am happier than ever. I took a ton of pictures which I will be posting soon, so keep checking back.

NK News: Jong-Un Warned to Not Touch Jong-Nam

Kim Jong-Nam (38)

People close to Kim Jong-Un have said recently that Jong-Un planned to attack his older brother Kim Jong-Nam, pictured here. Jong-Nam, known for his loose lips about his discontent with the current North Korean regime, was exiled to China in 2001 after trying to visit a Disney Land in Tokyo with a fake passport, indicating he was from the Dominican Republic. Sources close to Jong-nam said Jong-un's aides tried "to do something to Kim Jong-nam, who has a loose tongue abroad," but it seems China warned them not to lay a hand on him on Chinese soil. All of this comes after Jong-nam said Sunday that he is against hereditary rule in North Korea. He also actively refuses to return to North Korea.

The Demilitarized Zone: An Unforgettable Silence

In July, I was invited to go on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone with a few co-workers. Ever since I attended the tour, I have been wanting to do an in-depth write up about my thoughts of the area and the history. My tour of the DMZ has stood out as one of the most eye-opening experiences in my life, so naturally I feel inclined to share it with the world. I'll start off with a little bit of history and then go into the tour and it's contents.

I've Heard of the DMZ, but what's the history behind it?

Map of the DMZ

The DMZ, demilitarized zone, is a buffer zone 2,000m on each side of the military demarcation line (MDL), totaling 4km from north to south. The MDL is the 'line' that cuts the ground portion of north and south Korea roughly in half at the 38th parallel. It runs 248km from east to west and, along with the Northern Limit Line (NLL), are used as the center-point of ceasefire activities between the two nations. The NLL is the used to cut the sea portion of north and south in half, allowing for each country to have fishing grounds and lanes to their respective islands.

The DMZ was put into place in 1953, when North and South Korea, along with NATO, signed  the armistice agreement. The DMZ was used to push back each side's troops 2,000m on either side of the DMZ to prevent aggression and outbreaks of violence. The MDL pinpoints the exact line where the two fronts were separated. Behind the 2,000m buffer, both North and South house a large number of troops, estimated at over two million troops on the North and two hundred and fifty thousand on the South side. Throughout the many years the DMZ has been in-place, there have been numerous acts of aggression, mainly from the Northern side. You can find a list of these on the DMZ Wikipedia Page.