DMZ ... A hope for peace

We traveled to the DMZ (about a 3 hour drive from Seoul) on Friday.  Our 1st 40 minutes or more was getting out of Seoul city and then almost as though a line had been drawn, there were no more tall rows of apartment buildings.   City skyline was replaced by beautiful hills covered with lush green and valleys where organic farming was being done.  We passed lots of rice fields...now identified by its mustard green colored growth as well as fields and fields of pepper plants and other vegetables used in Korean cooking.  

The name Chosun is an old name for this peninsular country of Korean means "Morning Calm". As we traveled the hills/ mountains Chosun was seemed most fitting.  

Morning Calm ... A view from DMZ known as the punch bowl.

 

The only place we could take photos at DMZ was at this lookout but it was a perfect spot to see Morning Calm" and the green spaces is in the valley. Literally millions of trees were planted after their independence from Japan in 1946. Japan had stripped the mountains of all the trees to use for building for their own use. Observing Arbor Day was an important part of the reforestation of Korea as school children and families planted trees to gain back that important resource which had been taken. Even though we were at THE "fence" there was not the feel of tension as we were in this wonderful peace valley where efforts are being made to not only work toward political peace but peace with our earth. The trees (30 billion trees have been planted in Korea since Korean independence from Japan), the organic food, the attention to use of all natural resources...living green...were all part of the peace valley. As we looked across the DMZ into North Korea, it looked no different than the forest we had been seeing in South Korea. It is that view which gives hope that the Armistice Treaty will soon be replaced with a peace treaty and Korea will be one nation again.