As proud members of the graduating class of 2025, my friends and I decided to make a celebratory trip down to Seoul. And like everyone else on Instagram, we had our fair share of Pinterest-coded cafes, hanbok photoshoots, and made a stop at that Tamburins store in Seongsu.
But there’s only so much cafe hopping you can do before every pastry starts to look the same. Thanks to our foresight during the planning stage, we found ourselves out of the city in the middle of our trip and going on a Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) tour in Korea.
Here’s a glimpse into our visit.
Image credit: Klook
I’ll keep the history lesson short: the DMZ is a 250km-long strip of land that serves as a buffer zone separating North and South Korea. The zone is located 50km away from Seoul, and was established after the Korean War armistice in 1953. Today, it’s one of the most fortified borders in the world, despite being technically a weapons-free area.
Your tour group won’t actually set foot in the heart of the DMZ. You’ll be exploring areas just inside the southern edge of the zone. However, that’s not to say it’s a snoozefest – you’ll still get to visit prominent sites like the Third Infiltration Tunnel and peek into North Korea from an observatory.
Klook is a popular platform for booking DMZ tours, thanks to its easy booking process and the assurance of an English-speaking guide.
Prices for the tours range from S$60.59 to S$82.25, depending on what your tour itinerary includes. More expensive tours would typically include a trip to the various suspension bridges around the DMZ, like the Red Suspension Bridge and the Majang Lake Bridge, or even a traditional boat ride down the Imjin River. Make sure to book in advance to secure your spot since tours generally do not accept walk-ins.
Rest assured that the place is well-regulated and visitor safety is a top priority, especially since the DMZ tour is one of the most popular tours in South Korea, attracting over a million visitors each year. It’s still an active military zone, so be sure to follow your guide closely and avoid wandering off from the group.
You’ll need your passport for the DMZ tour, as it’ll act as a form of identification before your tour bus enters the DMZ.
Wear comfortable clothing and shoes – trust me when I say the tour will involve some, or a lot of, walking.
You should be handed a lanyard by your tour guide to keep around your neck at all times. It contains information about your tour, so it’ll be easy to identify you as a tourist in case of emergencies.
While you can snap photos at most stops on the DMZ tour, sites like the Third Infiltration Tunnel, the Dora Observatory, and certain areas around the Imjingak Peace Park have strict no-photo rules. Be sure to follow your guide’s instructions and respect all signage to avoid any trouble.
Nope. The Imjingak Peace Park is the farthest you’ll get as a lone visitor – you’ll need to join an officially registered tour to make your way into the DMZ.
Here’s us pushing through our 50th trip to Olive Young – we definitely needed that trip out of the city.
The grad trip game plan was an 8D7N trip to Seoul, with an itinerary filled to the brim with pop-ups in Seongsu and K-BBQs in Hongdae. But in the spirit of adventure, someone suggested adding the DMZ tour to the mix.
Honestly, I hadn’t even heard of DMZ tours before that – I always assumed the area was closed off to the public, given how heavily militarised it is. And as someone who opted for Geography instead of History in secondary school, I felt slightly out of my depth, worried that I’d just be playing actor for a day and nodding along to the guide.
But being the people pleaser I am, I ended up saying yes and found myself buckled in for a 1-hour bus ride to the DMZ.
Barely keeping our eyes open at 7.25am.
We signed up for a DMZ tour (S$60.59/adult), which included a pick-up from Seoul’s Hongik University Station Exit 3 at 7.25am. Most tours offer pick-up points at train stations in popular spots like Hongdae and Myeongdong – ours also included hotel pick-ups, depending on their locations.
Parents, take note that kids aged 1 and below get to join for free, but tickets for those aged 2 to 9 years old are priced at S$35.55/child, and they must be accompanied by an adult.
The tour we chose included stops at the Imjingak Peace Park, the Dora Observatory, the Third Infiltration Tunnel, and the Unification Village. It took roughly an hour to get to our first stop from Seoul.
We decided to skip the optional trip to the Gamaksan Suspension Bridge – a 150m-long bridge with breathtaking views of the Imjingang River and Songaksan Mountain. As gorgeous as pictures of the bridge looked, the DMZ tour already took up a good 6 hours of our day, and since we’d started bright and early, we were more than ready to head back and recharge.
On the bus, we were introduced to our English-speaking tour guide, Chloe, who handed us lanyards to wear at all times, which contained our tour information and a point of contact should we get separated.
Our first stop was Imjingak Peace Park, seen as a symbol of hope for reunification and remembrance of Korea’s division. This is also where we saw significant artefacts, like an old locomotive train from the war and the Freedom Bridge.
Image credit: Klook
The Mangbaedan Altar is the first thing we spotted upon entering the park. It’s a memorial site facing North Korea that’s visited annually by locals during major festivals like Chuseok, to honour relatives separated by the border.
There’s also Freedom Bridge, a historic wooden bridge that once connected North and South Korea across the Imjin River. It was famously used to return 12,773 Prisoners of War (POW) to the South after the armistice agreement. Today, it stands in the park as a sobering reminder of Korea’s divided history after the war.
Fun fact: there’s a similar bridge in Panmunjom, also known as the Joint Security Area, where diplomatic discussions between the North and South take place. “The Bridge of No Return” crosses the military demarcation line and was used by POWs who chose to stay in the North, hence the dramatic name mirroring their one-way trip into North Korea.
On the far end of the park sits an old locomotive train riddled with bullet holes. It’s a remnant from the war and first arrived from Pyeongsan, North Korea, to Jangdan Station, which sits in the present-day DMZ.
Standing next to this piece of history felt a little surreal – the damage is still clearly visible, serving as a stark reflection of the destruction during the war – definitely one of the park’s most memorable sights.
For a fee of ₩7,000/pax (~S$6.58), we gained access to the North Korea Experience Hall within the park, where we got to speak with a North Korean defector. There was a translator on-site who facilitated the entire experience.
She shared her personal story about escaping from North Korea and what life has been like since starting anew in South Korea. Having only watched such interviews online before, it was moving to hear her experience in person and ask questions about her life back in North Korea.
One of the most memorable parts of her sharing was when she talked about secretly watching South Korean dramas and films – a risky act that ultimately motivated her to escape in search of a better life. It was humbling to realise that the Netflix shows I binge so casually could mean so much more to someone living under strict censorship and isolation.
Then, we visited the Third Infiltration Tunnel, which took us 73m underground to visit 1 of 4 known tunnels dug by North Korea beneath the border of South Korea. I did a quick poll among my friends after the trip, and it’s safe to say that this was our favourite part of the tour.
Discovered in 1978, this tunnel spans roughly 1.6km, with 435m of it extending into South Korea. It was originally built for covert troop movement from the North, but it’s now sealed off by 3 concrete barriers. Visitors can trek through a section of the tunnel as part of the DMZ tour.
Image credit: Klook
For those doubting the need for “comfortable walking shoes”, this place is where you’ll be proven wrong. We had to descend 358m downslope at an 11-degree angle to reach the tunnel.
Going down is a breeze, but the climb back up is a different story. If it’s any comfort to you, as someone who barely exercises, I managed to survive the harrowing ascent. It also helps if you have a friend willing to drag you up the slope.
Pictures are prohibited here, and we were asked to store our belongings away in lockers above ground.
Image credit: Klook
We were given hard hats to wear, and for good reason: the tunnel’s ceilings are mostly low, exposed rock, and even at my modest height of 1.59m, I still found myself hunching over throughout the journey.
But it was all worth it when we came face to face with a small window which offers a view of the second barrier. It was an eerie sight to see the untouched patch of grass and ferns growing between the second barrier and us. This spot also marks the closest point to the North Korean border that’s accessible to the public.
My friends and I were initially nervous about this part of the trip, but were glad to find out that it’s entirely air-conditioned and well-ventilated. Maybe skip this one out if you’re claustrophobic or if you aren’t up for the steep incline – there’s a seating area outside the tunnel’s entrance for you to kick back while your buddies make their way down.
Our most anticipated part of the tour was the Dora Observatory, where we got a view of North Korea from a vantage point atop a hill.
Unfortunately, the binoculars in the observatory were not available for use during our visit, but our guide did come prepared with her own monoculars for us to borrow.
Note that your view will be highly dependent on the weather – it’s generally harder to get a clear view in the winter, so plan your trip wisely.
Image credit: Klook
We were lucky enough to spot the North Korean town Kijong-dong, which is located in the DMZ. The town is widely believed to be largely uninhabited, built by the North to encourage defectors from the South. Because of this, it’s been nicknamed the “Propaganda Village” by outsiders.
Image credit: Klook
We also spotted Kaesong, the former capital of Korea during the Goryeo dynasty.
This was easily the most surreal part of the trip. Most of what I knew about North Korea came from headlines and dystopian documentaries, so actually seeing it in person felt unreal. The view across the border was oddly serene – nothing like the version of North Korea I had in my head.
The observatory is another no-photo zone, so be sure to keep your devices when you enter the building.
Our friend wandered a little too far off but enjoyed his main character moment.
The last stop of the tour was the Unification Village, a small farming community located near the DMZ that’s known for its rich produce of ginseng, soybeans, and rice.
Think of it more as a rest stop and souvenir spot before heading back to Seoul. The souvenir shop was pretty small, mostly offering local snacks like soybean chocolates. Nothing really caught our eye, especially after thinking about the wallet damage already done back in the city.
Instead, we decided to rest at the nearby benches, which overlooked peaceful paddy fields and a little water wheel – a nice photo spot to chill at while we were waiting for the rest of our tour group to wrap up their shopping.
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip to the DMZ, and jointly agreed that it was one of the most memorable highlights of our grad trip.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a history buff, I’d highly recommend this tour to anyone. The story of North and South Korea isn’t just something buried in the past – it’s still very much a part of the present. Visiting the DMZ firsthand was such an eye-opening experience, and it’s not every day you get to tell someone that you visited North Korea (or at least, close to its border).
We may have missed out on a few pop-ups in Seoul, but I’d say it was a well-worth sacrifice to make.
Although it’s a far cry from a shopping spree at Olive Young, a trip to the DMZ offers a rare and meaningful glimpse into Korea’s complex history. It’s an experience that’ll stick with you long after your holiday snaps fade from your feed. If you’re looking to add a little depth to your Seoul adventure, the DMZ tour is definitely worth a spot on your itinerary.
For those travelling to Korea:
Cover image adapted from: Shannon Chow, Klook
Photography by Shannon Chow and Vanessa Chew.
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