Korean DMZ A poignant symbol of divided nation, hope for reunification

Demilitarised Zone, Sept 20 

A 250-km-long military demarcation line virtually divides the Korean Peninsula into two halves, but many hearts on both sides of the heavily fortified border still yearn to meet.

In and around the dimilitarised zone, better known as the DMZ, that stretches 2 km wide on each side of the dividing line, symbolism of reunification run high.

From dazzling Dorasan station, the last railway station on the South Korean side located about 650 metres from the DMZ, with its ‘Unification Platform’, to countless colourful ribbons tied to barbed-wire fences nearby a preserved railway engine at Imjingak, carrying messages from people in the South for the family members lost or left back in the North, the desire to reunite is palpable in the air.

On the Unification Platform, a signboard put by Korail, South Korea’s national railway operator, indicates “Pyongyang 205 km- Seoul 56 km” while a huge landscaped poster showing the tracks, carries the message - “Not the last station from the South. But the first station towards the North”, signalling the aspiration to reconnect.

And, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrap up their historic third summit on  Thursday, the two leaders made gestures, indicating a push towards establishing lasting peace in the region and accelerating the process of denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders had hugged each other at the Sunan international airport in Pyongyang where Moon flew to from Seoul, becoming the first president to visit the North Korean capital in 11 years.

The desire to become one was articulated in 1983, in a song ‘30 Years Lost’ and was used as a themes song for the show ‘Search for the Dispersed Families’ which was aired on KBS, a Korean channel, from June 30-November 14, 1983, to reunite families torn apart by the Korean War, fought between the two Koreas from 1950-53 before an armistice brought it to a halt.

A monument to this song has been erected at Imjingak, next to the locomotive, riddled with 1,020 bullet holes - a “symbol of the tragic history of the division” into North and South Korea.

A 2017 survey by the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies showed 53 per cent of the South Korean respondents backed unification. — PTI 

Korean leaders in mountain show of unity

• The leaders of the rival Koreas took to the road for the final day of their summit, standing on the peak of a volcano considered sacred in the North, their hands raised in a pose of triumph
• Their trip to the mountain on the North Korean-Chinese border, and the striking photo-op that will resonate in both Koreas, followed a day of wide-ranging agreements, a step towards peace
• Photos showed the leaders smiling broadly as they posed at the summit, their wives grinning at their sides, a brilliant blue sky and the deep crater lake that tops the volcano in the background
• Members of the Kim family are referred to as sharing the “Paektu Bloodline,” and the volcano is emblazoned on national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations