Gyeonggi offers limited 'peace train' trips to DMZ area

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Gyeonggi offers limited 'peace train' trips to DMZ area

Published: 21 May. 2023, 18:27

Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon, second from left, talks with French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Lefort on a train to Dorasan Station in Paju, Gyeonggi, Saturday, to participate in the so-called DMZ Peace Walk event. [GYEONGGI PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE]

Train rides to Dorasan Station, which is right below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju, Gyeonggi, will be offered to a select number of passengers later this year as part of a peace festival hosted by the Gyeonggi provincial government.

Dorasan Station is the northernmost train station on South Korea’s railway system, located on the Gyeongui Line and about 205 kilometers (127 miles) south of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang.

Dorasan Station sits within the Civilian Control Line, meaning that visits are strictly controlled. Train rides to Dorasan Station were halted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Gyeonggi government office announced Sunday that the so-called DMZ peace trains will run from Suwon Station in Suwon, Gyeonggi to Dorasan Station on the first and third Saturdays of every month from June to October.

A total of 340 people will be allowed on the tour, selected through online applications that will soon open.

Fees will cost 5,000 won ($3.77) for round trips.

Each train will have three cars and be equipped with a café, observation deck, photo zone and photo gallery. The photo gallery will include photos from the 1950-53 Korean War.

After arriving at Dorasan Station, passengers will take a bus to visit Dorasan Observatory, the so-called Unification Village and the Third Tunnel.

The Unification Village, located within the Civilian Control Line, is one of South Korea’s closest villages to North Korea, located less than 20 kilometers from the North Korean border town of Kaesong.

The Third Tunnel, discovered during the 1970s, was a tunnel dug by the North to infiltrate the South. It now serves as a tourist attraction.

The DMZ peace trains are part of the broader DMZ OPEN Festival, hosted by the Gyeonggi provincial government office and organized by the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization.

The festival commenced Saturday and is slated to run through November, featuring concerts, exhibitions, live performances and academic events discussing the 70-year armistice and North Korea.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

At an event marking the start of the DMZ OPEN Festival in Paju on Saturday, Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon vowed to showcase Gyeonggi’s “will toward peace and reunification” through the months-long festival and promote the ecological and historical value of the DMZ.

BY JEON ICK-JIN, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]