the Imjingak is a park overlooking the Imjingang River – literally a shrine to national division.

Major landmarks include an altar where families originally from the North come to perform ancestral rites (usually performed in one’s ancestral hometown) on the Korean holidays, an observatory and Freedom Bridge, the hastily constructed bridge where some 130,000 South Korean and Allied POWs crossed to return home at the end of the Korean War.

Imjingak (임진각)is located 7 km from the Military Demarcation Line, is now at the forefront of tourism related to the Korean Conflict.

It was built in 1972 with the hope that someday unification would be possible. Three-storied Imjingak is surrounded by several Monuments, Unification Park and North Korea Center.

400 kinds of photos and documents showing the stark reality of North Korea are displayed in the North Korea Center of Unification Board. Outside Imjingak, there are 12 kinds of tanks and crafts on display that were used during the Korean Conflict.

Mangbaedan, which stands opposite of Imjingak, is famous for the place where people from North Korea visit and perform ancestral rites by bowing toward their hometown every New Years Day and Chuseok. The Bridge of the Freedom, South Koreans crossed when they came back to their mother country from North Korea, stands behind Mangbaedan.

In front of Imjingak is the Gyeongui Train Line which was destroyed during the Korean Conflict in 1950. It has been under construction since 2000. Every year many events for unification are held at Imjingak.
Imjingak is now one of the famous tourist spots for foreigners in Gyeonggi-do Province because it is possible to visit without going through any security check points.

*Travel Tips
– Tourists who want to tour Dorasan Observatory (도라산전망대) and the 3rd tunnel, have to have a passport and make a reservation in advance at the DMZ ticket box located in the Imjingak parking lot.
– Tourists can tour the 3rd tunnel, Dorasan Observatory, Mt. Dorasan and Unification Park by shuttle bus. Soldiers act as guides on this package tour. Only Korean speaking guides are available if you make your reservation here, so foreigners should contact a travel agency to arrange an English speaking guide in advance.
– Private cars and taxies are not permitted. Only designated shuttle buses can enter because it is located in the demilitarized zone.

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