Panmunjeom

Panmunjeom is only an hour's drive away from the South Korean capital of Seoul, and tours from the center of the city with itineraries that include Panmunjeom generally start in the morning and end before the evening.

Visits to Panmunjeom from the South Korean side must be arranged in advance as part of an organized tour, although for foreigners three days' notice usually suffices (longer over weekends). Many companies advertise "daily" tours, but generally tours to the DMZ run only certain days, so check in advance. On tour days, depending on the day, various combinations of tours to 3rd tunnel, tours to Panmunjeom, and joint tours are available. Your booked tour can be cancelled at any time in response to the prevailing security situation.

There are restrictions on the nationality of people who can visit due to the sensitivity of the area. These restrictions are set by the United Nations and United States.

• USO, ☏ +82 2 795-3028. The US military servicemen's organization offers tours that cover the JSA and the Third Tunnel. Averaging twice a week, payment must be made no less than four days in advance and places fill up fast. The tours depart from USO's downtown Seoul complex near the Samgakji subway station at 07:00 and last until c. 15:30. Tours never run on US holidays and are announced in the month they occur. US$125 for civilians, lunch not included (bring your own). 
• Panmunjom Tour, ☏ +82 2 771-5593. A specialist company offering various tours of the JSA (from ₩77,000) and the DMZ (₩60,000; ₩120,000 with JSA tour). Tours start early in the morning, include lunch and get you back in Seoul by the afternoon. 
• International Cultural Service Club, ☏ +82 2 755-0073. 
• Tour DMZ. Offers guided tours of the JSA, DMZ, or both. Tours depart from the So-Gong-Dong LOTTE Hotel near Eulgiro 1(il)-ga Station. Check-in is on the sixth floor; buses depart from the travel lounge on floor 2. Paying with cash or card on the morning of the tour is allowed. Lunch is included in the price. JSA Tour: ₩77,000. 

Some Seoul-based companies such as Cosmojin Travel and Grace Travel require only a minimum of 24 hours' notice, but their prices are much higher. Be aware that their itineraries vary, and may not include entry into the DMZ.

The 62 km journey towards Panmunjeom from Seoul is a sight in itself. The 12-lane Freedom Road becomes eerily empty as you approach the border, as its primary purpose is to get tanks there as fast as possible if war breaks out. To repel an invasion, both sides of the highway, especially the side facing the Imjin River and open water to North Korea, are covered with barbed wire and dotted with observation posts every few hundred meters. Nearby hills house machine gun emplacements, the median strip has clusters of sandbags for defense, and many bridges above the highway can be activated as tank traps as they contain large concrete blocks that can be dynamited to block the road. Large illuminated signs, proclaiming "Freedom and Democracy" in Hangul script, face the North.

If you happen to be (or have been) an ambassador or higher level government official, then a VIP Tour of Panmunjeom is available from South Korea.

If, however, you don't qualify and you are sufficiently important (politician, business leader, pop-star, etc) then an alternative VIP tour is available.

Both tours have no restrictions on nationality but UN approval is required.

To visit from the DPRK side is relatively straightforward if it has been specified as part of your tour. Most tours include a day trip to the DMZ from Pyongyang or Kaesong. See North Korea for tour agent listings.

The JSA is 215 km south of Pyongyang traveling along the six-lane Reunification Highway which, much like its Southern counterpart, is vast and largely empty. It is poorly maintained and signs along the road indicate the distance to the South Korean capital of Seoul.

• 🌍 Camp Bonifas (2,400 m south of the JSA). This is the US/South Korean military base standing "In Front of Them All" should an attack come. Visitors to Panmunjeom will change buses and get briefed here before entering the DMZ. 
• 🌍 Freedom House (JSA). South Korea's pompous propaganda palace faces the demarcation line. Visitors are usually taken to the Peace Pagoda next to it, which provides good views of the JSA and surrounding countryside. Accessible only from the Southern side. 
• 🌍 Panmun-guk (JSA). North Korea's pompous propaganda palace faces the demarcation line. Accessible only from the Northern side. 
• 🌍 T1 through T3 (JSA). These are the three blue conference rooms straddling the border: the neat lines of microphones and, outside, the low concrete bar mark the exact position of the line of demarcation. South Korean and North Korean soldiers in intentionally intimidating poses stand guard in and around the rooms. You're free to walk around the conference room and can hop from South to North if you wish. Just don't try to leave by the other exit! 
• 🌍 Bridge of No Return (JSA). After the Korean war, some prisoners of war were given the choice to cross over the bridge or to stay on the side of their captors, hence the name. On 18 Aug 1976, a US attempt to cut down a poplar tree obstructing visibility of the bridge led to a battle with North Korean forces that left Capt. Arthur Bonifas and Lt. Mark Barrett dead in what was later known as the "Axe Murder Incident". The bridge is now closed and a new bridge to the north is used instead. Usually visited from the South only. 
• 🌍 North Korea Peace Museum (500 m north of the JSA). The building where the armistice agreement was signed. The actual documents are kept here, guarded over by a tattered, faded UN flag and a miraculously well-preserved DPRK flag. The axe of "Axe Murder Incident" fame is also stored here. Accessible from the North only. 
• 🌍 Taesong-dong (DMZ). South Korea's show-piece "Freedom Village" in the DMZ, housing a little more than 200 farmers working under 24-hour military guard and a 100 m flagpole. The only ways to become a member of the village is to be born into it or by marriage (women only). Entry into the village is not permitted, but you will pass by on your way to the JSA from the South side. 
• 🌍 Kijong-dong (DMZ). On the North Korean side, this is a former village built up with fancy apartment blocks and a 160 m flagpole entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest — South Korea claims that nobody lives there, and refers to it as "Propaganda Village". Entry into the village is not permitted, but it is clearly visible from the JSA (although binoculars will come in handy). 

On the South Korean side, sites outside the DMZ can be visited more cheaply and with less hassle. An hourly train runs between Seoul and Imjingak for about ₩1,300 each way. Bus tours passing the Second and Third Tunnel cost ₩8,000. This is an excellent alternative for the DMZ tours, though it is not possible to visit Panmunjeom this way.

• Imjungak (Paju). A four-storey museum and observatory 7 km south of the DMZ, with views across the Imjin River towards the DMZ and North Korea. The train line to Pyongyang passes nearby. This is the closest you can get to the DMZ without security clearance. The museum is open daily 09:00-18:00. 
• Second & Third Tunnel. Two of the four discovered underground tunnels that were secretly dug by the North Koreans into South Korean territory; there are suspicions that there are others. The tunnels are an interesting visit but if you are tall, they will be extremely uncomfortable to walk along the full distance allowed. 

All tourist facilities for foreigners in the DPRK include a gift shop and the gateway to the DMZ is no exception. Just inside the concrete wall you can purchase Korean art and, of course, endless amounts of literature on Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il. Prices are reasonable.

"The Monastery" in Camp Bonifas — actually a former officers' club, whose members used to wear brown robes for ceremonies and call themselves the "Merry Mad Monks of the DMZ" — has a gift shop selling DMZ-related paraphernalia, including pieces of rusty barbed wire from the original demarcation line (₩25,000) as well as blueberry wine from North Korea (which is imported after a long detour via China).