Now I know my DMZ, won't you come and infiltrate me

Image: Tigers and Magpies

I made the fun/harrowing excursion to the border between the Koreas the day before North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il died, and I can't help but feel somehow responsible.

This is a pretty popular tour (as popular as South Korean tourism gets, anyway) to see history in the making, and although it's usually pretty safe, it might be a little while before it's up and running again. South Korea's drafted 19-year-old soldiers have enough to worry about without being on the look-out for pesky, meddling tourists trying to take sneaky photos of the North Korean propaganda villages. (I'm just jealous because my own sneaky photos turned out so poor).

After visiting the Korean Demilitarized Zone (한반도 비무장지대) and getting an impressively unbiased overview of its 58-year history (and counting - probably for some considerable time to come), I can't say I was massively heartbroken to hear of the Great Leader's death. The last thing I'd want to do is incite all-out war and the annihilation of human civilisation, but you can't visit the DMZ without coming away with the distinct impression that North Korea's rulers and strategists have all the military skill and integrity of a seven-year-old child. Specifically, me.

North Korea's the safe one... right?

I may or may not be going to North Korea in a couple of months. I know, surprising isn't it? I don't normally make plans beyond the week.

The uncertainty isn't because of any safety concerns (as if I have the self-awareness for that), but because the planning is being done by someone else, who I don't even know. This is annoying because, as I've said before and stick by, people are unreliable and often downright rubbish. Especially me. I might just bail out of the whole thing. Or should I go?

Only one thing for it: let's bypass the deficient decision-making part of my brain and discuss my private business openly on the internet. Let's!