the left and to the right, as far as we
could see. It was topped with razor wire
and cameras. This intimidating image
was intensified as it was set against an
ominous sky quickly filling up with
grey-black clouds and contrasted with
the idyllic wilderness of green mountains
right behind the fence. Too stunned to
express what went on in our minds, we
drove along the fence in silence until
we reached a building in a parking lot.
A soldier motioned us to park the Land
Cruiser and to walk upstairs, saying that
taking pictures was prohibited.
The second floor had an auditorium-
style layout and through the wall-to-
wall windows we had a view of the
DMZ. We were the only visitors and
an English speaking soldier explained
what we were looking at: the guard
posts of minuscule white squares
amidst a green world. He knew the
names of the mountain tops and
pointed out the Fairytale Waterfall,
named so after North Korea had its
female soldiers bathe there to seduce
the South Korean soldiers.
The Korean War (1950-1953) ended
with an armistice. A peace treaty was
never signed. When, over the stay of
our seven-month visit, we asked the
South Koreans about the political
situation between the two countries,
most shrugged their shoulders. To the
question whether they were afraid of a
North Korean attack one answered that
this used to be the case. "I remember
hoarding when I was young but in the
early 1990s we stopped doing that.
There were (and are) too many threats,
too often. North Korea can win a battle,
but never the war. Most of us believe
these are threats only." For them, daily
life goes on. Just like in Europe and the
United States, people don't stop going
about their daily lives because of possible
terrorist attacks. Like many countries
around the world, the South Koreans
continue to live with the threats.
The mountains in South Korea look the
same as those in the north. Wildlife
thrives; this zone is paradise for animals
because there is no hunting and an
abundance of natural resources. Birds
have never been bothered by borders
anywhere in the world and a number
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