zippy the pinhead

The videos linked below give a decent idea of what it is like to tour Panmunjom from the South. While I suppose it is possible some nutter might make a break for the Nork side, my guess is that the ROK MPs and the American Army personnel probably train for that eventuality, and if someone made a sudden, suspicious movement, I would expect them to act, at least to tackle/restrain the person(s) before they got across. There are typically a couple of opportunities to make a break for it when you're at Panmunjom, though, so I suppose if someone was really determined, they could probably dash into Nork territory. What awaits them? Regardless of which side catches them, I would agree that they could expect to be detained, at least, but they could get shot by the Norks, and I would guess the forested area around Panmunjom is probably mined pretty heavily, so they might have that to look forward to, as well. But they don't allow you to go anywhere near the actual border from outside, so "accidentally" going over is hard to imagine, just as the "hat scene" from JSA is improbable.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was some screening that took place prior to the tour, as well, since they do require your passport number, etc., and I believe they verify the number is accurate prior to allowing a person to embark on the tour. Presumably they screen out some they believe to be potentially troublesome.

Based on what our US Army guide said, the first video is far more representative of the typical experience than the second one (where the Norks come down to the border at around 3:00 in). He told our group that since the Norks had installed cameras, it was not so common to see their soldiers come down to the border, at least in his experience. The video linked in the previous post is atypical, in that the situation was clearly staged/managed by the Norks, and the useful idiot who crossed for their cameras was obviously anticipated.