By That is what the Stars & Stripes is wondering as its reporter visits Imjimgak:
Dozens of young children giggled, screamed and obediently tolerated their camera-toting parents as they went from ride to ride at a small amusement park here on a recent Saturday.
Across a parking lot, some 100 yards away, a grim-faced South Korean soldier stared out across a barbed-wire fence from his guard tower at the Civilian Control Line, which essentially serves as the southernmost boundary of the Korean peninsula’s Demilitarized Zone.
If there is an ice cream shop outside the Gates of Hell, it would not be that much more unusual than Pyeong Hwa Land, the 18-ride children’s park visited by as many as 2 million people a year just outside the DMZ, an area once described as “the scariest place on earth.”
You might call the park DMZ World or Six Flags Over the Hermit Kingdom.
Children can ride on everything from boats, bumper cars and trains to teacups at the park, which sits in the middle of Imjingak — a tourist destination with a number of exhibits related to the Korean War and the future of North-South relations, near the banks of the Imjin River.
Office worker Lee Sang-hoon said Pyeong Hwa Land is the perfect way to open the door for discussions with children about the historic attractions nearby and the DMZ, which has divided North and South Korea since the Korean War was halted by armistice in 1953.
“Before this park opened, the environment and atmosphere of this place was much more barren and cold,” he said, during a visit to the park with his extended family and a group of seven children. “I wouldn’t have had any reason to bring my kids here if it wasn’t for the amusement park. But now I can, and do.
“While they play, they will one day ask about what’s around and, naturally, I’ll be able to talk to them about the division (of the two Koreas),” Lee said. “As time passes and they become older, they’ll be able to understand.”
That, according to park director Suh Shin-ha, was one of the reasons the amusement park was opened in 2001 – to get more children to Imjingak and exposed to the more serious messages on display. [Stars & Stripes]
I guess like the anti-US message I saw when I visited the Imjimgak Peace Festival a few years ago?
Like I mentioned in the prior posting despite the anti-US nonsense, the Imjimgak Peace Festival was actually a pretty good event, but like the Stars & Stripes I found the amusement park to be a bit surreal. If this isn’t evidence of how lightly the South Korean government takes the North Korean threat then I don’t know what is?
She hasn’t seen...
3:52 am on July 5th, 2010 1
Aiming the kids in order to fabricate consent for the future development (and environmental destruction) of the DMZ after North Korea collapses?
4:18 am on July 5th, 2010 2
When the parents get around to having that talk and explain to their kids why there is a DMZ, it seems even the parent's explanations will be all over the map.
"Meanwhile, 36.3 percent of adults and 85.7 percent of teenagers did not know when the Korean War broke out. And 20.4 percent of adults and 36.3 percent of teenagers did not know that North Korea started the war by invading the South."
7:33 am on July 5th, 2010 3
They're trying to take the darkness out of tourism. I wonder why they don't simply put a teeter todder or something for a kid in most any local park/hill etc…,they put things(exercise equipment) there for adults.
9:30 am on July 5th, 2010 4
Propagandizing the kids? I guess that's okay, all governments do it. A tourist/amusement park at the DMZ? It's been done, for example with the tunnels.
What makes me uncomfortable is putting children in the line of fire. US troops are supposed to be there as a 'tripwire'. From the maps I've looked at, it seems the kids in this park are serving the same purpose.
9:55 am on July 5th, 2010 5
Wally World has been there for quite some time now. I know I've mentioned it on here before. Very… old… news…
1:11 pm on July 5th, 2010 6
They should also put a zoo there, so that the kids can gawk at the GI animals who live in their natural habitats.
1:20 pm on July 5th, 2010 7
That's not a bad idea. Perhaps a whorehouse would also be a welcome addition so as to see the women of your family in all their natural glory.
3:55 pm on July 5th, 2010 8
#4,
No, not propagandizing. It's a first step in exploiting the green zones around the DMZ. Whether it's planned that way or not, the affects will be the same. When the kids grow up, they'll have fond memories of their trip to the DMZ, which means that fewer will oppose the environmental destruction.
7:21 am on December 13th, 2010 9
wonder how many of these people know they are well withing artillery range?
8:21 am on December 13th, 2010 10
Joe C #2, 20.4% of ADULTS didn't know that NK started the Korean war? The other statistics were bad but that one really floored me. I couldn't even imagine the percentage of Americans who are ignorant of the answers to those questions. DMZ amusement park, I wonder if they have a landmine blowing off legs ride, a shoot NK refugee crawling under barbed wire ride, or an axe murder of American officer ride? This article makes me want to puke.
3:22 am on March 15th, 2011 11
The kids in this picture are student from Taesundong elementary school, which is located inside the DMZ. I have visited this park several times, most of it is dedicated to the thousands of UN Forces who fought in or were killed in the Korean War and there are monuments erected in their honor. As for the amusement part of the park, it was erected in hope that within just a few years the two Koreas would soon be reunited and was intended to be used by reunified families which why it is called "reunification or peace park." Too bad the author of this story didn't take the time to talk to the local residents.
4:18 am on March 15th, 2011 12
If they do an "amusement park" out of the DMZ, I hope something Equally Wrong happens to Korea itself. Karma is a biteh. A Pox upon those who do such a thing, for three generations.
7:03 am on March 15th, 2011 13
The DMZ should be for no one's amusement. There should be no tours, no capitalizing on the misery of 50+ years of segregation.
9:12 am on March 15th, 2011 14
DMZ amusement park, how f'ing sick can you get? How about a holocaust BBQ? Someone could build an amusement park with a Dachau or gulag theme. How does Dafur Disneyland sound or Pol Pot park? How about Idi Amin adventureland? I suppose some idiot in Japan in order to make a yen will want to build a Tsunami waterpark, you could add a earthquake ride to it. Give me a f'ing break.
10:51 am on March 15th, 2011 15
#14
The gulag theme park has already been done:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C5%ABtas_Park
-or-
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/world/gul…
Holocaust you say? Kinda:
http://memorytoaction.blogspot.com/2007/06/amusem…
Pol Pot Park? You betcha!:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/976935/p…
Tsunami Water Park? Yep here:
http://www.thelostisland.com/attractions/water-at…
Any other suggestions?
11:59 am on March 15th, 2011 16
Strange, that post didn't hit the "recent update" bar…
4:32 am on March 16th, 2011 17
Leon LaPorte #15, They wanted to put in a gulag train ride at the Stalin place. Pol Pots cronies would be hired as tour guide but wouldn't talk about the little detail of 1.7 million people being killed. I usually can find words to say on just about any subject. After reading your links I am speechless.
7:11 am on January 3rd, 2012 18
[...] Freedom land: Freedom land is an amusement park right outside the the DMZ, which in a nutshell, is an iconic emblem of South Korea’s capitalism. South Korea is unapologetic for the what they have turned the DMZ into, really into an attraction. It appeared that one of the points of flexing capitalism, is to show the stark difference between North Korean’s communism. However, besides the amusement park, there were gift shops at every single location. [...]