Explore the "38th parallel" _ 38th parallel

20 10 September, I went to Korea to attend a meeting, and I was lucky enough to visit the "38th parallel" with the group. The 38th parallel is a military demarcation line located near 38 degrees north latitude on the Korean peninsula. At the end of World War II, the Allies agreed to use the 38th parallel as a temporary dividing line between the Soviet Union and the United States in their military action and surrender to Japan. After Japan surrendered, it became North Korea and South Korea. This temporary dividing line is commonly known as the "38th parallel". 1950, the United States launched a war of aggression against Korea. At the invitation of North Korea, China sent volunteers to resist US aggression and aid Korea. 1On July 27th, 953, Panmunjom, North Korea signed the Korean Armistice Agreement. The agreement still regards the 38th parallel as the dividing line between North Korea and South Korea. Because of the war, the so-called "38th parallel" is already an uneven military control line. For example, North Korea controls a large area of land north of the 38th parallel; Part of the territory south to the west of the 38th parallel belongs to the jurisdiction of North Korea. According to the agreement, in the actual control line of about 248 kilometers, both sides will retreat 2 kilometers each as a demilitarized zone. That is to say, there is a "vacuum" area of 4 kilometers, and only birds and animals can move freely.

Over the past 60 years, the "38th parallel" has sometimes been tense and sometimes peaceful. In order to make use of the fertile land that has been idle for many years, South Korea has adopted preferential policies such as tax exemption and exemption from military service to encourage those who are brave enough to open up wasteland and farm. This kind of preferential policy has created countless millions and tens of millions of large households.

Starting from Seoul, the coach travels north on expressway. Korean tour guides who can speak fluent Mandarin in Taiwan Province Province began to introduce expressway to the "38th parallel": "This expressway was built by Hyundai Group. Zheng Zhouyong, the chairman of the group, 19 15 was born in a poor family who had been farming for generations in gangwon, North Korea. When he was a child, he stole cattle money from his family in Seoul. First, I did rice shop business, then I did auto repair, real estate, automobile manufacturing and so on. That I have developed into a huge modern group, extremely rich. But stealing cattle and selling cattle money has always been bitter and guilty. So in 1998, he staged a dramatic scene of driving 500 cows into North Korea, which caused a sensation on the Korean peninsula and was reported by major media all over the world. Zheng Zhouyong finally paid off his old debts for many years, but he got rid of his heart disease. He invested huge sums of money to build this expressway that goes straight to the' 38th parallel' because he wanted to go home and have a look after the reconciliation between the North and the South. "

An hour later, the bus entered the military zone. Probably because it was a tour group, we didn't get off for inspection. However, tour guides have to go through inspection, verification, registration and other procedures before they can pass the customs.

The coach goes to Wenshan Station on the "38th parallel". The container warehouse is empty, and the spacious ticket hall is empty. Tourists rushed to stamp the station seal here to show their visit. A broken locomotive is parked not far from the station. I saw the locomotive rusty, riddled with bullet holes and devastated. 195 1 it stopped here during the Korean war in June, and it hasn't moved for 59 years, which shows the sorrow of the war. The tour guide said: "In June 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean president Kim Il Sung met in Pyongyang and reached an agreement on restoring the railway connection between South Korea and North Korea. On May 17, 2009, South Korean and North Korean trains departed from Wenshan Station and Mount Kumgang Station respectively. After 56 years of armistice, the first train crossing the military demarcation line between South Korea and North Korea was put into trial operation and then closed. When it officially opened, I waited. "

The coach took us to the observation deck of Imjin Pavilion. There is a row of high-powered telescopes on the high observation deck. From the telescope, it is a barren land, overgrown with weeds, full of suffering and no one. The tour guide said that there have been many "flagpole wars" and "broadcast wars" here. "Battle of flagpoles" refers to the fact that the flagpoles of the DPRK and the ROK are getting higher and higher in order to suppress each other's flags. The flagpole we saw in North Korea is1.58m high, which is said to be the highest and largest in the world. The "broadcast war" refers to the "propaganda war" between the DPRK and the ROK with loudspeakers. Numerous loudspeakers broadcast to each other for more than ten hours every day for half a century.

Not far from Wangxiangtai, it is even more desolate. I saw that the barbed wire overhead was covered with blessing strips, which seemed to be a sad cry.

The tour guide told us: "Since the 1970s, the ROK has discovered four North Korean tunnels near the demilitarized zone. The most famous third tunnel can pass 1 000 armed soldiers within1hour, and the underground passage is only 52 kilometers away from the presidential palace of South Korea. " We each issued a safety helmet and walked down the slope. The slope is steep, forcing tourists to walk involuntarily, as if someone were pushing. All the way to the bottom is an underground passage. The tunnel is 2m wide and 2m high, and it is said to be1635m long. The inner wall is dark red granite, and there is a bracket on the upper part, and water drops from time to time. The ground is cut, assembled and laid with waste tires. Such hard granite was secretly dug with both hands, and the difficulty can be imagined.

Out of the tunnel, a four-corner spire building came into view, simple and dignified. The tour guide said it was a bell tower, with a huge bronze bell hanging, which was a peace bell for people to pray for peace. I hope what we hear is the melodious bell of peace, not the terrible gunfire. Because the DPRK and the ROK are only armistice, not peace, the war may break out again at any time.

In front of an open large sculpture composed of two hemispheres, tourists rushed to take pictures. This sculpture is ingeniously designed. The tops of the two hemispheres are connected, and the crack symbolizes the "38th parallel". The upper part of the northern hemisphere is engraved with a map of North Korea, and the lower part of the southern hemisphere is engraved with a map of South Korea. If they are combined, it will be a complete map of the Korean Peninsula. Outside the two hemispheres, there are several bronze men pushing hard. My wife and I quickly stood on both sides, as if helping the copper people on both sides, looking forward to the early realization of peace on the peninsula.

(Editor: Sun Da)