Admiring the scenery as we continue our drive to the border.


Ms. Chang said that there had been a lot of rain recently and you could see a few landslides and crops that had been washed away.


Looking over to a small bridge lined with large concrete blocks that would be used as tank traps in case of invasion from the south.


A mural on a pillar after we arrived at the border area.


And the obligatory souvenir shop stop.


Hand-painted propaganda posters for sale for €30 each. A lot of the posters used to have anti-American and anti-West slogans but since the recent Kim-Trump détente they had been replaced with more benign themes.


After getting the shopping out of the way we started our tour. Our military guide showing us the North Korea side of the Joint Security Area (JSA).


Back in the bus where we passed along a narrow lane lined with concrete barrels, again in case they needed to block the road for invading tanks.


Outside the building constructed to house the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement on the 27th of July, 1953.


The table where the negotiations took place.


And where the final agreement was signed by representatives from the USA, North Korea and China.


The original Korean text of the armistice agreeement. The agreement was in three different languages; English, Korean and Chinese. On display was also the original English text and we were told that the Americans were too ashamed to take it home.


The building also houses the North Korea Peace Museum. Photographs from a visit by Marshall Kim Jong-un.


A photo middle-left of the USS Pueblo along with the surrender of its crew in 1968.


After a short bus ride we arrived at the Joint Security Area (JSA). I had an immediate sense of déjà vu from my trip to the JSA from the South Korea side back in 2013.


The Joint Security Area (JSA) is often simply referred to as Panmunjom, the former village that was situated here just north of the border between North and South Korea.

The concrete slab just beyond the North Korean soldiers demarcates the border with South Korea. It was hard to comprehend that the bustling city of Seoul with 9.8 million residents was only ~70 kilometres away. While at the JSA my cellphone also briefly managed to pick up a South Korea mobile signal.


One of the DPRK border officers. He was a bit reluctant to have his photo taken but luckily didn't protest too much once I snapped away.


And a photo with our DMZ military guide. He was quite friendly and easygoing and was happy to pose for photo's with each of the groups.


We then made our way back to the DMZ entrance for one more dose of souvenir shopping.