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I WENT TO MY DAD’S HOMETOWN – GAESONG CITY, NORTH KOREA!

Written by Angela Hur

Yes that’s right -my dad is from North Korea with a story to tell. Just know that my grandfather was able to escape with his family when my dad was 5 years old and I’m now where I am today. I never got to know my grandfather as he passed away before I was born. But I am grateful for what he has done for his future family.

Gaesong City just recently opened to anyone from the South Korean border to visit/check out for a day. But they limit only 300 people per day to visit. This is different to the Geumgang Mountain trip. If you want to experience and check out REAL North Korea, take this trip. I have no idea how this trip will affect you, but it has affected me personally as a result of family connections.

I went with friends via Adventure Korea -they arrange trips around Korea in English. It’s very convenient and lots of fun! For Adventure Korea, this was the first Gaesong trip arranged and there were 20 of us. Turned out we were the first group of foreigners to visit Gaesong.

We got picked up by bus and left for the DMZ at 6am (on the dot!). At the South Korean immigration, we collected our visa that we had to wear around our necks throughout the whole trip. This was a one day trip. We were given lockers to put away anything political and other unnecessary things you felt that was not needed for the North Korean trip. I stayed at a sauna house the night before with friends -as we had an early start. So I had my toiletries etc in there. These were the type of lockers you get at E-Mart/Costcos. But you don’t get your 500 Won (equiv 50 cents) back -oh bummerrrrrr!

Passing through the South Korean immigration, I got a stamp in my passport -from Dorasan to Gaesong! Super! And we crossed the DMZ over a bridge. Entering the North Korean immigration, I already felt the difference somewhat. The North Korean soldiers with their stern looks -do they ever smile?
Even though we pass through a scanner and our carry-on bags go through the screening process, the officer in charge of each bag check-line goes through each bag, randomly going through a certain pocket etc. With Anne, who was in front of me, he flipped through her schedule planner and no problems. With me, it was my wallet. That was a scary experience! I should have left my wallet in the locker back in the South Korean immigration.

Gaesong only accepts US dollars or Euros (cash ONLY). What the heck was I thinking?! I only had US$2 on me -not planning to purchase anything and the rest were cards, Korean Won, and other paper stuff. He went through all my paper stuff and there were some cards etc of my church both in English and Korean. OH CRAP! The officer was not impressed and demanded to know why I brought it to Gaesong. Luckily one of the Korean FBIs (what do you call them in Korean?!) caught on and explained that I was part of the ‘foreign’ group and was not informed to not bring such things and that they were all for personal use. That seemed to be a good enough explanation and I was let go. PHEW!

Hyundai Asan -a South Korean company has an arrangements to have part of their business in Gaesong. This provides work for the locals and they earn $5 per month. That gets them through. I don’t know how many travel agents were represented that day, but all 300 people were in Hyundai Asan buses and were taken on a particular set route showing Gaesong City with the South Korean FBI following us. We checked out Gaesong’s famous historical sites and went through parts of Gaesong City. Us ‘foreigners’ were speechless, fascinated, loss for words…. we were in North Korea.

It was funny though when we first passed through the industrial section first before going through Gaesong City. The industrial area was Hyundai Asan and whatever other companies from South Korea (that I don’t know about) -sorry, I was way too excited that we were in North Korea that I failed to hear much of the story of the industrial area! But this I need to mention -it looked like South Korea -modern and clean roads, pavements…. one Family Mart and one Woori Bank!

We were told to not take pictures or videos when the bus moved. Only when given permission were we allowed to take pictures. Any pictures in question were deleted.

Check out this pic below. Scotty and Anne are from America and I’m the Australian. It was interesting on how the 2 North Korean guides ‘squished’ into me as we took the photo. They really despise Americans.

BakYeon Waterfall area -2 North Korean guides between me

Scotty is a fluent Korean speaker and he has the talent of changing accents -even in Korean! Dddang, I can’t even do that! By the end of the trip, he befriended some of the tour guides and even got a hand shake from the immigration officer who gave me a hard time! The officer offered his hand to Scotty. Way to go Scott!

We saw how the North Koreans lived. Gaesong seemed frozen in time -back in the 50s. It was like they lived in a ‘fish bowl’. This is the only life they know. If only they knew there was a better life out there. We waved to all the locals -that we were allowed to do. To me, it was interesting that there were traffic controllers (no traffic lights) but hardly any cars. Locals either walked or rode a bicycle. Bicycles were old in every way -older than what you see in China. They ‘seemed’ to be happy. But are they really?

For lunch, we were taken to their finest restaurant in downtown Gaesong. Check out pics below of what we ate.

Lunch is served

Check out all the side dishes -one free shot of soju on the right…

Our lunch again -questionable water/tea (?) on the left…

I showed these pics to mum and she explains to me that this is something we used to do in the past. We do not do this anymore. As mentioned before -North Korea is frozen in time. Scotty ordered a soda -they had a strawberry soda. It was VERY SWEET.

FYI. I was told the lunch was equivalent to $1 in Gaesong. Scotty’s soda was $2. They offered an extra dish -neng myun (Korean cold potato noodles) for $2. And Gaesong’s unique beer for $1. Keep in mind this is their finest and the best restaurant in Gaesong. To us, this was nothing -dirt cheap. And we had heaps of left overs when we were done eating.
How do the locals get by? And what are they thinking about us with the leftovers we do not casually eat?

The North Korean waitresses were kind and professional. They were hanboks (traditional Korean outfit) that were bright and I noticed that most of them were wearing 3/4 length hanboks. Those kind of hanboks were worn in the 50s. Their modern version of a hanbok was adding color. They used to be white top and black skirt. You can tell they were hard working ladies. It would be interesting if the 2 Koreas were to be united together -how incredibly different the ladies are today. What would they think of each other?

After lunch, shopping officially started. So many shops to check out -for the South Koreans at least anyway. I will not get into this, but if you want to know more, let’s have a 1 on 1 chat about it.

After lunch, we were allowed to take photos from a certain point. The photo below is also another heartbreaking moment. Just behind that hill was where my dad lived. To this day, he still remembers his home. He even remembers the address! Reminder, my dad left Gaesong when he was 5 years old.

Behind this hill is where my dad is from -we were not allowed to go there.

By the time we got back to Seoul and were dropped off, I wondered to myself -was that all a dream? I got on the subway home and looked at the all the people around me. Do they even care what their fathers, forefathers have done and experienced for the freedom that South Korea has today?

I almost didn’t go on this trip. I am grateful that a dear friend of mine knew better and insisted I go. Sometimes your true friends know what is best for you -Thanks HEAPS Kat! This trip was a true awakening for me. I am blessed. I am blessed to be born with parents who want the best for me. I am blessed to be educated and know that if I desire more can receive more education. I am blessed that I am who I am and have what I have. I am blessed that I can live my life the way I choose it to be.

A group photo of the Adventure Korea travellers with 2 North Korean sales ladies

Do I recommend people going? HECK YES! If you have the time and you got the money -book and GO! It’s worth EVERY PENNY

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