What it's like for a traveler near the Korean border in these crazy times

Subway stations in South Korea have gas masks, medicine, bottled water, and other supplies to help citizens survive a disaster, like an attack by North Korea. Short instructional videos play in the subway cars that show what to do if chemical or biological weapons are used.

*Disaster supply cabinet in a subway station, Seoul, South Korea.*

*Disaster preparedness image at the DMZ near the Korean border.*

One local woman told me she’s lived with the constant threat of death by North Korea all of her life and she can’t really take it too seriously. Others are always freaked out by the possibility of annihilation and they stock up on food and water in bunkers.

At the most intense ‘demilitarized zone’ on the planet, the threat of snipers against DMZ tourists is real enough some areas are closed. Constant news reports talk about ‘escalating tensions’ with stuff that sounds like it’s from a kindergarten fight — with loudspeakers blaring from each side of the border. But it’s grown ups with different ideologies on how to govern their countries. And sometimes gunfire really does erupt.

Presently, the North accused the South of sending drones with propaganda leaflets right into the heart of Pyongyang – its capital. An embarrassment for the North’s military, which didn’t detect the drones, apparently. In response, North Korea blew up roads that were once symbolic hopes of a unified Korea.

‘Warning shots’ have been fired at the border a few times this year, including during our stay.

North Korean propaganda leaflets landed in Seoul’s Yongsan District for the first time during our stay, too — exactly where we went sightseeing the very next day, where the presidential residence is located, and where the United Nations was hosting an event at the Korean War Memorial (the statue at the top of this post is from the memorial site).

Everywhere in South Korea, we see young people in fatigues and uniforms, evidence of conscription.

Before we got to the Korean peninsula, the North grabbed our attention when it test fired nuclear capable missiles into the East Sea during our stay in Japan. We learned North Korea kidnapped Japanese children from northern fishing villages so North Koreans could learn about the culture. And I read about spies from the North as a threat everywhere – not only in the South.

And now the North is extending its military outside this region by sending troops to fight against Ukraine. In return, Russia could give it technology to further its nuclear reach.

East Asia feels like a powder keg — more than any other place we have visited so far, including:

Romania, where drones from the Russian-Ukraine war sometimes fell
Serbia and the United Arab Emirates, where Russian families with military-age men were laying low
Philippines, where China rams boats of poor fishermen and intimidates the Philippine Coast Guard
Turkiye, where protestors stormed a military base with U.S. personnel over the genocide in Gaza — and which got virtually no coverage in Western media

We canceled our trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt last year because of the war between Hamas and Israel. This year, we decided not to go to Egypt because Israel is – as of this writing – bombing several countries in the Middle East, and who can say where the bombs will fall next or where terrorists will target Americans?

What in the world is happening to our world?

Fascists are aligning themselves against democratic nations. It feels World War II-ish, and half of my home country is caught up in it. Viktor Klemperer’s diaries from the Nazi years in Germany have come to life. So many people are falling for fascist lies. As the saying goes: “people run democratic governments, but fascist governments run people.” So many Americans don’t even see it happening. Sure: East Asia and Russia are half a world away. But they follow a presidential candidate openly declaring his intent to become a ‘dictator on day one’.

That the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Japan’s hibakusha (nuclear bomb survivors) this year didn’t surprise me in the least. They are devoted to showing the world just how close we are to the precipice of annihilation. We heard their stories in Hiroshima this year, and I’ll remember them every year I have left on this planet.

Of course, today’s wars are different from World War II 80 years ago. The players’ names are not Hitler, Mussolini or Hirohito, nuclear warheads are incredibly more powerful, pagers and phones can blow up in the enemy’s hand on command, and what’s left is right and right is left because fascists convince greedy, gullible people what is truth.

In less than two weeks, we will leave South Korea. Our next stop: Taiwan. And that will be another story.

A decade ago, just before we retired early and sold everything to travel the world, spouse Theo said: we gotta do this now because who knows how long the world has left.

Travel now. Because Life is Now.

Thanks for reading, “What it’s like for a traveler near the Korean border in these crazy times.”

Statue of Brothers, Korean War Memorial, Seoul

“The statue expresses the moment when an older brother, an officer in the Republic of Korea Army, and a younger brother, a soldier in the North Korean People’s Army, dramatically found each other on the battlefield during the Korean War. It captures the meaning of reconciliation, love, and forgiveness in the image of brothers holding each other as one. At the same time, it symbolizes the nature of the Korean War, a tragedy of fratricidal war.

The lower part takes the shape of a tomb, constructed by stacking granite pieces collected from all over the country to express the desire for national unity and reunification. The dome shape, torn in the middle, is healed toward the topside and expresses the hope for the unification of South and North Korea.

Source: The War Memorial of Korea