Peace Signs✌️ (DMZ Trip)

At Border Peace School in Cheorwon, near the DMZ, with founder and executive director Rev. Ji-seok Jung and his dog, Haru, who accompanies him on his daily prayer walk for peace up Soi Mountain.

I've visited the DMZ a total of two times now. The first time was in 2017 when I visited the Joint Security Area (JSA), one of the tunnels that North Korea had dug into South Korea, and the Songak Prayer Center (Youngnak Church). During that visit, the vibe was very militaristic, serious, and pro-South Korea. Only the prayer center had a peaceful vibe. My second visit was earlier this month when I went to Cheorwon for a YAV retreat, and the vibe was peaceful at most every site I visited. It was all of the quiet, persistent, and faithful efforts for peace that I encountered that created such an atmosphere throughout the whole region. Or maybe it's because I was looking for those signs all along the way.

Border Peace School 국경선평화학교

Cheorwon Map, Source: https://dividekorea.weebly.com/the-38th-parallel.html

From May 31 to June 2, I stayed at the Border Peace School in Cheorwon for the YAV retreat. Border Peace School has been offering a variety of peace and reunification programs, including training, education, and pilgrimages since 2013. Coincidentally, the day that we arrived, participants of the Life Peace Pilgrimage also stopped at the school to rest for the night. The pilgrims walk for nineteen days from the eastern end of the DMZ to the western end, praying for peace along the way. It is an inter-faith journey in which Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Won Buddhists, and followers of Korean shamanism are all invited to participate. Seeing all of these people eating, praying, and worshiping together was amazing. It filled me with such hope. I was particularly moved to see this pair of Buddhist monks, a mother and a son, who had come from Japan to work for peace in Korea. Apparently, they have been active in that region for several years now.

I also had the opportunity to worship with the group on Saturday night and Sunday morning and discovered that the group was taking turns worshiping in the style of each religious group represented. On Saturday night, we worshiped Taizé-style, and on Sunday morning, the Catholic pilgrims led worship. What a great idea!

Some people I met at the Hong Kong Taizé meeting had come that night to lead worship so it was wonderful to reunite in Cheorwon!

The question is always, "Can diversity and peace coexist? Can there be difference without hierarchy and oppression?"

The longer I live, the more people I meet who prove that yes, it is possible. Then what is the secret to coexistence? From my observations, the key seems to lie in centering what you have in common with others instead of what makes you different. To do so, you must accept the differences, humbly acknowledging that there are many different ways to live and that there is no one "right" way. You must also refrain from trying to control others. If you have inner peace, you will not try to control the people around you in order to achieve temporary external "peace." Inner peace leads to lasting peace by showing others how to embody peace themselves. Chapter 30 of the Tao Te Ching comes to mind:

Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men

Doesn't try to force issues

Or defeat enemies by force of arms.

For every force there is a counterforce.

Violence, even well intentioned,

Always rebounds upon oneself.

The Master does his job

And then stops.

He understands that the universe

Is forever out of control,

And that trying to dominate events

Goes against the current of the Tao.

Because he believes in himself,

He doesn't try to convince others.

Because he is content with himself,

He doesn't need others' approval.

Because he accepts himself,

The whole world accepts him.

Because he accepts himself, the whole world accepts him. If we all accepted ourselves, if we all had inner peace, then we would all be able to accept each other.

Peace Poems

After worship on Sunday morning, the group set off again on their trail. Pastor Hyeyoung and I joined the first part of the walk, which was hiking a trail around Soi Mountain. The trail ran right along a fence that had several signs that said "MINE." The fence had been erected to protect hikers from potential mines most likely left over from the Korean war. If it had only been the "MINE" signs, my primary feeling would have been DANGER! However, between each warning sign, there were poems and writings about nature, peace, hope, and longing. As if to say, "Fear doesn't have the last word." And I felt so optimistic and comforted seeing those writings. They were such a small gesture, and yet, they completely changed the atmosphere of the trail.

Soi Mountain

The previous day, Pastor Hyeyoung and I had hiked a different path that led to the top of Soi Mountain where you can see the civilian control zone, the DMZ, and North Korea. Civilians have received special permission to farm near the DMZ in the civilian control zone, pictured above. The rice paddies looked like a beautiful green quilt from above. We had local rice during our meals over the weekend, and it was DELICIOUS! Dare I say better than Jeolla-do...😅

On the way up, I saw this crossword sign:

Again, such a small sign, and yet, the fact that it was standing there firmly along the path made me feel connected to everyone else wishing for love, joy, hope, faith, and peace along the border. 💛

DMZ Peace Trail

In the course of writing this article, I found that the DMZ Peace Trail, of which Soi Mountain is a part, is a government-supported project. This is from their website:

The DMZ, which embodies the pain of the division of the Korean people,

is the only site of division in the world and a treasure trove of natural ecosystems, but

it has also been the most intense confrontation zone and heavily armed area on the Korean Peninsula, with a constant risk of military conflict.

All previous governments have made efforts to turn the DMZ into a peace zone.

In particular, in 2018, the conditions for turning the DMZ into a peace zone were established through agreements and supplementary agreements between the leaders of the two Koreas, and

the leaders of the two Koreas agreed in the Panmunjom Declaration ('18.4.27) that they "agreed to make the DMZ into a substantive peace zone."

The government of the Republic of Korea is promoting the DMZ Peace Road to firmly establish peace in the DMZ and promote prosperity and development in the border region.

Translated by Google Translate (it's improved a lot!)

Perhaps this is why I felt such a difference between 2017 and 2025! Regardless, it's comforting to see that the DMZ Peace Trail is still active amid rising tensions between the North and the South.

Wishing Well

On Sunday afternoon after the pilgrims had left, we went on a tour of different sites around the Cheorwon area. The first place we stopped was one of the tunnels dug by the North Koreans into South Korea. I had been in one of these tunnels before, so I wasn't expecting anything new. However, when we arrived at the end before the tunnel was blocked off, I found a well there. It said "Reunification and Peace Wishing Well." There were hundreds of coins that had been tossed in and even 100 Hong Kong Dollars, which made me feel a special sense of international solidarity coming back from the Hong Kong Taizé meeting. The fact that the government allowed or even installed this wishing well at the bottom of the tunnel was astonishing to me. What a powerful symbol of desire for peace. Tourists frequent these caves on tours of the DMZ, so they could easily be led to fear North Korea after learning the history of the attempts to infiltrate South Korea through the tunnels, but instead, the final thing they encounter is a wishing well for peace and reunification. It communicates reconciliation instead of cutoff, forgiveness instead of fear, and openness instead of self-protection. Incredible.

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo since taking pictures in the tunnel was forbidden.

Mailbox

At the Cheorwon Peace Observatory, there was a mailbox in front of the building. It said "Reunification Mailbox. This mailbox does not deliver mail." It was like a mailbox to the North Pole.

The description reads:

통일을 기원하는 마음을 담아 '북한의 친구들에게.' '통일을 바라는 마음' 등의 내용을 관람객들께서 메모지 등을 활용하여 적어 넣어 주세요. [좋은 글 작품]을 선정하여 일년에 두 번 소정의 상품을 보내드립니다. 통일을 소망하는 여러분의 마음을 모아 평화로운 한반도의 미래를 만들어 주시기 바랍니다.

2013년 11월 2일 민주평화통일자문회의 철원군협의회장

"Please express your heartfelt wishes for unification by writing messages such as 'To the friends of North Korea' and 'A heart wishing for unification' using notepads or other materials. We will select [excellent written works] twice a year and send a prize. We hope all of you wishing for reunification will join together to create a peaceful future for the Korean Peninsula.

November 2, 2013, Chairperson of the Cheorwon County Council of the Democratic Peace Unification Advisory Council."

So after reading this description, I thought to myself that even if those letters never made it to North Korea, they were still important. It was like sending a prayer. More than anything, it prepares our hearts to do the work of peace-making. Simply achieving peace among South Koreans would be a meaningful step towards achieving peace on the Korean peninsula. Then, as a united people, we could focus on coordinating more exchange and dialogue with our neighbors instead of spending energy and resources on internal conflict. I did not realize how much conflict there was in South Korea until starting this program. Coming from a racially and culturally diverse context, I thought South Koreans would be pretty united because of their ethnic homogeneity and social conformity. Boy was I wrong! There is gender conflict, generational conflict, regional conflict, class, political... even conflict over whether to pour sauce on fried pork or dip it! (I think it should dipped, by the way.) There is a lot of work to do. But I believe we can do it!

Imjin River which flows from North Korea into South Korea

You Were Beautiful 예뻤어

The final moment I will share is one from the top of the observatory. Being right on the border, I could hear the loudspeakers from Korea blasting music towards North Korea, and I could see North Koreans in miniature through the viewing scope. The song that was playing was "You Were Beautiful" by Day6. Last year, I saw a comedy about North and South Korean soldiers stationed along the DMZ called 6/45, where they used the music on both sides to communicate clandestinely with each other, so it was surreal to experience it in real life. I know that the original intent of the speakers is to intimidate/one-up the other side, but that day, it felt very innocent, like a DJ playing songs on the radio. I mean, "You Were Beautiful" is a love song about heartbreak and longing even if it is "Westernized K-pop." In my heart, I hope that the soldiers on the other side took this as an expression of heartache over our breakup 80 years ago rather than receiving it as a display of South Korea's international cultural dominance through K-Pop. At least that's how I felt looking at my brothers across the border.

"The way you looked at me on our last day

Your voice wishing me well

All of it, everything was beautiful to me

Even the tears that you shed

The moments I spent with you

Everything

Even though it's all over...

You were beautiful"

마지막

날 바라봐 주던 그 눈빛

잘 지내라던 그 목소리

다, 다

그마저도 내겐

예뻤어

내게 보여준 눈물까지

너와 가졌던 순간들은

다, 다

지났지만

넌 너무 예뻤어

I hope it's not over forever.

마지막 날이 아니었기를 바랍니다.