King Kongmin's Tomb, The Demilitarized Zone, Kaesong and Sariwon
Pyongyang to Kaesong
Getting out of the Yanggakdo Hotel
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| People's Democratic Republic of Korea |
I was excited at the prospect of seeing some of the country beyond Pyongyang, but first we had to leave the hotel.
Returning to our room after breakfast we picked up our cases and headed for the lifts. The hotel had a bank of eight lifts but at any one
time three would be out of order and at peak times the rest would be overloaded. A
man with an armband stopped overcrowding on the way up, but there was no such
person on the higher floors and Chinese tour groups have a cavalier one in, all
in approach to elevators. The lifts bounced alarmingly when they halted and
sometimes inserted worrying little extra stops between floors.
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| The Yanggakdo Hotel, Pyongyang, 47 storeys of scary lifts |
Being on the 8th floor we found all the descending lifts packed. Eventually we stopped an ascending lift, rose all the way to the
47th floor and came down again. It was crammed and groaning audibly
by the time we reached the ground and we were very glad to disembark. Getting
downstairs had taken twenty minutes. L hates being late and it was, of
course, my fault because I had dismissed the idea of allowing half an hour for
what should have been a 30sec journey. I was happy to point out, when
eventually we joined the group, that we were not the last to arrive.
The Unification Highway
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| North Korea with Pyongyang, Sariwon and Kaesong with Panmunjon ringed |
By contrast leaving Pyongyang was quick and easy. Swiftly crossing the traffic free city, we were bowling down the four-lane Unification
Highway shortly after 8 o’clock. It was slightly less busy than the M6. In two
hours we saw several busloads of tourists, but counting cars required the
fingers of only one hand.
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| Heavy traffic on the Unification Highway south of Pyongyang |
We glimpsed towns and villages across fields full of rice, maize and, occasionally, grazing cattle. The few people we saw were either cycling or
walking at a steady pace. North Koreans do this a lot, but we rarely spotted
anyone actually working.
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| A town hides behind the trees and maize, Unification Highway South of Pyongyan |
We paused at a service station for a break. Tea, coffee and souvenirs stalls – obviously there for our benefit as they accepted only euros
- were set up in the car park rather than the buildings.
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| Beside the highway, near Kaesong |
The Tomb of King Kongmin
Reaching the Kaesong area, we left the highway and for twenty minutes followed an un-tarmacked but well made road winding gently through low
hills. Our bus struggled painfully with the relatively mild gradients.
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| The road to King Kongmin's tomb |
Our destination was the tomb of King Kongmin (1330-1374) the 31st ruler of the Koryo dynasty. A rising path led to two grassy domes under which lie the remains of the king and his Mongolian queen.
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| The path up to King Kongmin's tomb |
Guarded by two Confucian sages and two warriors on each side ......
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| Confucian sages and warriors, King Kongmin's tomb, Kaesong |
...the graves lie behind large stone altars.....
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| Large stone altar, King Kongmin's tomb, Kaesong |
flanked by statues of tigers for strength and sheep for generosity (not the first sheepy attribute that comes to mind).
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| Tigers for strength? Was someone having a laugh? King Kongmin's tomb, Kaesong |
The best preserved of the Koryo tombs, it was intact until (the North Koreans say) the Japanese dynamited the entrance in 1905 and looted the contents, which they
took to Japan and subsequently lost. Only Kongmin’s coffin remains; we saw it
later in Kaesong’s Koryo museum.
The mountain opposite is known as ‘Oh My’ mountain. The story goes that King Kongmin was having difficulty finding a location for his
tomb that combined good feng shui with the sort of view he was prepared to
spend eternity studying. Fed up with the failure of his geomancers (in one
version he had them all killed) he struck a death or riches deal with a young
hopeful who recommended the very spot where the king now lies. Kongmin climbed
the mountain opposite to get a good view, telling his soldiers that if he was dissatisfied
he would wave a white cloth and they should lop off the young man’s head. He reached
the top and liked what he saw, but it had been a stiff climb and he took out a
cloth to wipe the sweat from his brow. Misinterpreting the signal, the soldiers
carried out their orders. When the king returned ready to bestow riches on the
young man he found him a headless corpse. ‘Oh My!’ he said and the name stuck.
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| 'Oh My' Mountain from King Kongmin's tomb, Kaesong |
Whether the force of his reaction loses something in translation or whether life was cheap in medieval Korea (as it often still is
in the modern DPRK) I can only speculate.
The Demilitarized Zone and the Border
We drove down the mountain and followed a tarmac road to the Demilitarised Zone on a route that afforded some glimpses of ordinary Korean life.
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| Ordinary life in the DPRK? Kaesong |
After a more normal tourist activity arriving at the DMZ jolted us back into the alternative reality of the DPRK. The poster apparently says ‘One Korea’ not ‘Up Yours’.
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| One Korea (apparently) |
Leaving the bus, which was taken away to be searched (I have no idea what they expected to find) we joined several other busloads in the
gift shop which sold exactly the same items as everywhere else. We bought a
Panmunjom tee-shirt for our grandson - Koreans are small people and none came near
fitting me. [update: it looked fine but the seams unravelled the first time it was washed.]
Eventually we were called through into the next room where a
North Korean officer briefed us on the geography of the site before sending us
outside to walk in single file back to our buses. The roadway was in a trench
of sorts and as we passed a gap in the wall it seemed natural to suggest we
dash across at irregular intervals in case of snipers. We didn’t, and there
weren’t any, but the DPRK plants strange ideas in your head.
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| Briefing from a DPRK officer, Kaesong |
It was a very short ride to the room where the armistice was negotiated and an assortment of people from several tour groups arranged
themselves around the very table used during the talks.
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| The table used for the armistice negotiations, Panmunjom |
We then moved across to the room where the armistice was signed – it was only an armistice, there has not yet been a peace treaty and
the war is still active (very much so in the North Korean mind). We saw the
table where the Koreans signed, with their flag and their copy…
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| Where the North Korean signed the armistice, Panmunjom |
…and the table where the Americans signed. The cowardly Americans, having been soundly defeated for the first time in their history, did
not even have the courage to bring their own flag but hid behind the banner of
the United Nations. That is what they told us, but it was, technically a UN not
an American operation - and who (if anybody) won is another matter. Around the
room a display of pictures expounded North Korea’s somewhat idiosyncratic narrative
of the war (see the war museum for details).
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| Where the Americans signed the armistice, Panmunjom |
The Border Between the Two Koreas
They would have liked to have lined us up in fours and marched us to the border, but the randomly assembled group of tourists was
having none of it. As we walked a Korean guide a little behind me said, ‘Of
course we should be changing the peace talks into victory talks very soon,’ to
which a quiet English voice replied ‘To which side?’ The reply was a slightly
baffled but very firm ‘To us.’ North Koreans don’t do irony
We paused to examine a monumental signature of Kim Il Sung and listen to a lengthy lecture about the stone’s dimensions, all of which have
some sort of significance (it is 7.7 metres long Kim as visited on the 7th
of July etc). ‘Who cares?’ was my response; mathematicians love numerology like
astronomers revel in the complexities of astrology.
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| Monumental signature of Kim Il Sung, Panmunjom |
We looked down on the border from the balcony of a building specially constructed for the purpose. Five huts, the blue belonging to the
north, the grey to the south (or perhaps the other way round?) straddle the
concrete threshold that marks the great divide. Beyond is South Korea but,
disappointingly, there was no one there to wave to. The North Korean soldiers
on guard are unarmed (this is a demilitarised zone) and Wikipedia tells me the
South Korean guards (and we saw none) wear sunglasses so as not to provoke
their DPRK counterparts by making eye contact. I found it a strangely exciting
and deeply weird place to be.
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| The border runs through the middle of the huts (the grey ones are just out of shot), Panmunjom |
Nothing remains of the old village of Panmunjom, but the building where the currently suspended peace talks take place is now referred to as
Panmunjom.
Lunch in the DMZ
Returning to our bus, we drove a short distance to a restaurant inside the DMZ where we were to have lunch. The food in North Korea
had not so far been memorable, but this was by far the best meal we were to have.
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| Restaurant in the DMZ |
Chicken soup with noodles was a modest start but then we turned out attention to the brass bowls laid out before us. They contained
mushrooms, a vegetable referred to as ‘mountain herbs’, bellflower root (a new
one to us and very good) with chilli, cucumbers, beansprouts, fish and rice
balls in a sweet sauce, beef and a fried egg. There were also extras we had ordered
the day before, €30 for a ginseng chicken for as many as chose to chip in or €5
for a portion of ‘sweet meat’. Suspecting (correctly as it turned out) that ‘ginseng
chicken’ would be an expensive way of eating ordinary chicken, we were among
the minority opting for the rich spicy stew containing strips of what the
Koreans coyly call ‘sweet meat’ which is actually dog. I must confess this was
not the first time we had eaten dog – that was in a Korean restaurant in China
in 2004. After that we said ‘never again’ but it was the local speciality and
Kaesong cuisine is said to be the finest in Korea. There is, once you move beyond
the psychological hang-up, nothing very special about the meat, nor was there a
lot of it, but it was in an excellent sauce. The meal was accompanied by rice
wine drunk from a small brass receptacle that was regularly refilled.
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| 'Sweet meat' and other goodies, Panmunjom |
Kaesong
The Koryo Museum
Well fed, we took a short trip back into Kaesong to Seonggyungwan, founded in 992 as a Confucian educational institution and now the
Koryo Museum. It was burned down by the Japanese in the 1590s so the oldest buildings
we saw are sixteenth century. It is considered Kaesong’s first university and outside we were able to watch students
from the current Kaesong University cycling past.
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| Kaesong University students |
Some old buildings have interesting painted beams….
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| Painted beams, Koryo Museum, Kaesong |
…and there is a mock-up of the tomb of King Kongmin - though I am not sure if we saw the promised coffin - but overall it is rather short on artefacts from the Koryo period (918 – 1392).
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| Mock-up of King Kongmin's tomb, Koryo Museum, Kaesong |
Kaesong is also the home of the Kaesong Industrial Region – recently reopened after a Kim Jung Un inspired spat – where North Koreans work
in South Korean owned factories. There was no chance they would let us near
that and instead we went to Sun Hill.
Sun Hill, Kaesong
Sun Hill (‘Sun,’ as ever refers to Kim Il Sung) overlooks Kaesong’s main street. I am not sure why we went there, did we really need to
see another statue of Kim Il Sung or were the guides just killing time?
(Sometimes I am ashamed at my own cynicism, what could be more uplifting than another
heroic statue of the Eternal Leader?). None of us opted to walk up the steps to the
statue and bow, but a truckload of soldiers arrived carrying floral tributes
and did it for us.
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| Kim Il Sung on Sun Hill, Kaesong |
The hill opposite is said to resemble a pregnant woman lying on her back and has inspired several folk tales. The outline is moderately
convincing, but I wonder who thought it a good idea to plant a communications
tower in her navel.
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| The main street of Kaesong from Sun Hill with the pregnant woman and her communication mast in the mist beyond |
Killing Time at Kaesong Folk Custom Hotel
Our next visit was to Kaesong Folk Custom Hotel, a hotel built like a traditional Korean village. It was newish, but empty and showing signs of becoming run
down. We were not entirely sure what it was for or what we were doing there, but we
were entirely at the mercy of the guides and by now it was becoming obvious
that filling time was important to them. We started to edge out of the
gate, take pictures of the streets outside and observe the ordinary citizens of
Kaesong. The imminent danger of mingling soon persuaded them that it was time
to move on.
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| Kaesong from the 'Folk Custom Hotel' |
North to Sariwon
We drove back towards Pyongyang, re-joining the still empty Unification Highway and again pausing at the service station. Since the morning
the stalls hade been dragged across the road to the car park on the other side.
This time cold beer was an offer – though not to me, I arrived as the last was
sold. Still, we were thirsty and €0.50 seemed a reasonable price for a warmish
beer, which we shared.
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| Is this woman setting a good example? |
Emboldened by drink I persuaded Lynne to pose in the middle of the road beneath the service station bridge, just like you don’t at Newport
Pagnell.
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| Under the service station bridge, Unification Highway |
Sariwon and the 6th of May Hotel
A little further north we turned off and entered the city of Sariwon. The tower blocks were more rundown than in Pyongyang, yet it still had
the same wide, empty streets. The few people we saw walked at a steady pace, or
rode or pushed bicycles. I was surprised by how many people we had seen pushing
their bikes, not just here but in Pyongyang, too. Soembody suggested that Perhaps Kim Il Sung had recommended
the ten thousand paces a day regine and it was the only way for bike owners to make up the number. It was a joke, but in the DPRK you sometimes wonder. If there were any private cars on the streets would we see their owners pushing them?
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| Sariwon |
We arrived at the March the 6th Hotel in Sariwan.
The foyer boasted a magnificent painting of Kim Il Sung receiving visitors of all nationalities and ethnicities. In another time and
another place we might have seen Queen Victoria greeting representatives from
the nations of the empire.
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| Kim Il Sung meetis thanked by the people of the world, May 6th Hotel Lobby, Sariwon, North Korea |
Our room was on the 3rd floor. There was no lift so I lugged our suitcase up the stairs – which was better than waiting 20 minutes for one
of the dangerously overcrowded lifts at the Yanggakdok.
The room was a good size, clean enough and with the softest beds we had met on the trip (including China). There was a thermos of hot water
so we hauled a couple of seats onto the balcony and had a cup of tea. Other
members of our group ventured onto their balcony to find it filled with empty
beer bottles.
The bathroom was cunningly designed with a solid plastic shower screen placed so that the toilet could only be sat on sideways. There
was no hot water, but after a group request was met with a surprised response
(‘What do you want that for?’) we were promised it would be available for an
hour in the morning. [They delivered on the promise,
which was when I noticed that the drain had been placed on the opposite side of
the room from the shower head, so the whole bathroom flooded. At the end of the
hour the hot water went off – and so did the cold.]
We had better draw a veil over dinner, but the beer was excellent and only €0.60 for a 75ml bottle, so the quality of the food could betolerated.
Part 1 Return to Beijing: Some Things Change, Some Stay the Same
Part 2 Beijing (2) : Xicheng and Beihai Park
Part 3 Beijing to Pyongyang
Part 4 Pyongyang (1): A Day for Bowing
Part 5 Pyongyang (2): A Day for Waving
Part 6 Panmunjom and the DMZ
Part 7 Sariwon and Nampho
Part 8 The Nampho Barrage and back to Pyongyang
Part 9 Last Day in Pyongyang (1), Gifts and the Metro
Part 10 Last Day in Pyongyang (2) Serious Study and Juche Thought
Part 11 By Train out of the DPRK
Part 12 Datong
Part 13 Pingyao, Preserved Ming City
Part 14 Pingyao to Taiyuan and the Bullet Train back to Beijing
Part 15 Beijing (3): A Duck and a Rant
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North Korea, Execution, Human Rights and Our Visit
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