Life at the JSA

Here is an interesting article in the Stars and Stripes about life at the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom:

It is a war zone littered with minefields and 160,000 yearly tourists.

It’s also where 38 soldiers with the 8th Army and under the United Nations Command Security Battalion/Joint Security Area work six days a week on a base cut off from the rest of South Korea by the restricted “Freedom Bridge.”

It’s not for everybody, they freely admit. But some of the soldiers handpicked for this duty voluntarily spend several years at Camp Bonifas, a stone’s throw — and be careful where you throw that stone — from the Demilitarized Zone.

If you live in Korea and haven’t been to the JSA you really should. If you are in the military the easiest way to go is to take an MWR tour that is scheuduled monthly. You must wear your class B’s though. If you are not in the military you will need to get with a Korean travel agent to line up a tour. You will have to leave your Megadeath shirt at home though because there is a dress code. It is worth dressing up though to see this last frontier of the Cold War.