East Coast: DMZ North Korea Goseong Unification Observatory

This is probably the best view you can get of North Korea if like me you're too much of a wuss to go in on an organized tour.

As part of our road trip we visited the most northern tip of the east coast. Positioned there is the Goseong Unification Observation Centre. This is mainly an observation platform with a small exhibit about the North and the politics surrounding the divide. It was built in 1983 and from here you can view Mount Geumgangsan and Haegeumgang as well as some nearby islands.

Driving on the road towards the north we passed lots of concrete structures sat either side of the road.

I wasn't too sure what the purpose of them were at first but a little Google search helped me out. They are positioned there so that in the event things turn sour (more sour) between the two countries they can be pushed over onto the road. The two structures will interlock and create a road block to prevent an easy route into South Korea for the North's artillery vehicles.

We passed several of them, all a strange and eerie reminder of the tensions that exist between the two countries. I certainly hope it's never necessary for them to need to be used!

To enter the area you'll need an entrance form and sign to place in your car window.

We weren't aware of that so we reached the checkpoint and had to go back to get it. If you're driving there then watch out for signs to a small place called the 'Tongil Security Park' where you need to stop and get the relevant forms. It's on the left side of the road.

When you pull into the area it's rather unclear where you should go to get the form. There is a tourist information point but when we visited the person working there spoke no English.

There is a building housing small souvenir and snack food stalls. The place to get your form is inside there.

Look for this door. Go in here then walk to the left.

This is where you need to go to get your entry permit.

After we'd gone back and managed to work out where to get the entry permit we headed back along the road to the check point.

Once inside the area there wasn't a great deal you could see from the road. There seemed to be some construction of new roads leading north as though the South is preparing the infrastructure just in case of a sudden reunification. There is also a DMZ museum but we didn't visit that.

We soon arrived at an area where the road ended. There was a distinct lack of signage or directions in English and we really weren't too sure where the unification centre was. Although there wasn't a great deal of people about that day we managed to watch a Korean couple, who we'd spotted getting the forms at the same place as us, head off up a hill. We figured there couldn't be a heck of a lot of other places they were headed to, so we followed them.

Head between the car and the sign. The unification centre is the small white building you can see in the distance.

When we got to the top we had a wander around and took in all the views. The place itself was deserted but seemed to have been designed to cater to crowds of people. I actually read that the centre has had over 28 million visitors which was hard to believe on this particular day.


The observation platform looking towards North Korea.



Road and train track into North Korea.

Soldiers patrolling the beach.

The DMZ beach - deserted. If only you could access it. It looks like the perfect beach for a long stroll.

Inside the building they have a small exhibit about North Korea and from what I could assess the history of the divide. Sadly there is nothing written in English though.

Items from North Korea.

Somebody needs to introduce them to laptops and iMacs.

Mmmmm looks yummy.

"A match for a hundred"

 I found it fascinating to see the items on show and looking towards the north really made me consider the sad reality of the situation with North Korea. Although it wasn't simple to reach it is a great place to have visited and I would highly recommend you pay it a visit if you're able to. 

Leaving the DMZ.

If you don't have a car then the easiest way to visit the unification centre is by an organized tour bus. You can find more information about tours and the Unification centre itself by visiting the official website.

Unification Observatory website.

If you would like to visit as an individual then you can find information of how to get there at the Korea Tourism Organization website.

Information :

Telephone: 033 682 0088

Admission Fee: age 20 and over - 2,000 won; age 19 and under - 1,000 won.

Hours: Spring, Fall - 09:00 - 16:00; Summer - 09:00 - 17:30; Winter - 09:00 - 15:30.


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East Coast: Naksan Temple

Over at the east coast there's a great selection of places to visit. Among these is Naksan Temple. It's set on the edge of the ocean near to Yangyang. There's fantastic architecture combined  great views out to sea. Walking around the temple with the fresh sea breeze feels great. It's the kind of tranquility that you just don't find in Seoul.

The temple was originally founded during the reign of King Munmu. Much of the temple was destroyed by a fire in 2005 but has been restored fantastically. There are however some things which remained unharmed by the fire such as a stone arch built in 1467 during the reign of King Sejo.

The main building at the temple has ornate statues inside.

The bronze bell on-site dates back to 1469.

Despite the rain we had a lovely time strolling around the temple grounds and taking in the sights. It's by far one of the more picturesque temples I have visited in Korea thus far.

 This seven-story pagoda was said to be constructed during the reign of King Sejo also.

Sadly I can't tell you what this dude does but he had three friends who were all equally intimidating.

Far less intimidating was this Praying Mantis we came across who quite literally appeared to be stood praying in one of the temples' archways.

The temple is positioned in spacious grounds. You can wander around the gardens and up the hillside where you can take in the beautiful ocean views.

If you make the trip to the east coast I would highly recommend making a visit to this Temple. It is free of charge to enter and is open from sunrise to sunset.

The temple also runs a 'Temple Stay' program which you can find more information about via the Templestay website.

So now you've seen the pictures and quite a lot of them for that matter maybe you'll want to go see it in person with your own eyes.

How to get to Naksan Temple.

From either the Yangyang or the Sokcho intercity bus terminals, take bus no. 9 or 9-1 and get off at Naksansa. It takes about 10 minutes from Yangyang. It's longer from Sokcho.

If you're going by car then you need to take the road number 7 from Yangyang to Naksan Beach. You will see sign posts.

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East Coast: Getting There & Away.

Yesterday in Korea was the national holdiday Chuseok. It's similar to Thanksgiving or so I'm told. Being British I couldn't really tell you if that's right or not. What I can tell you is that usually entitles everyone to a long weekend. This year I was lucky to have a five day weekend! I decided to go on a roadtrip to explore some of the east coast of Korea.

Since traffic is notoriously bad here, especially on holidays, my partner in crime, Steve, made me wake up at some unearthly hour but apart from that the whole trip was so much fun.

Here is us on the road with all the 'notoriously' bad traffic.

Terrible isn't it!! Cars back to back for miles, absolute gridlock!

No, in all fairness if you set off early on these holiday days, around 6am or 7am then you'll most likely miss the traffic. If you can't drag yourself out of bed though then prepare yourself and your bladder for standstill traffic. I can speak from experience on this one. We previously tried to visit the east coast on a national holiday. We departed around noon (12pm). After 3 hours in the car we had only travelled about a 6th of the journey. We gave up and headed home. Which took us 28 minutes. Lesson learnt! Don't make the same mistake as us.

I had to put that photo on because he told me that was his 'pirate pose'. Thanks to his awesome driving and the fact we have a car we made it to the hotel, just under 3 hours away, before I usually even wake up on a non-work day! If you don't have a car then the easiest way to reach the east coast is by bus.

How to get to Sokcho (East Coast) from Seoul.

Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (subway line no. 2; Gangbyeon Station) → Sokcho (Duration: 2 hours, 50 minutes – 3 hours, 30 minutes; First bus is at 06:25 and last bus is at 23:00).

Seoul Express Bus Terminal (subway line no. 3; Express Bus Terminal Station) → Sokcho (Duration: 4 hours; The first bus is at 06:30 and the last bus is at 23:30).

How to get to YangYang and Naksan (East Coast) from Seoul.

Seoul Express Bus Terminal (subway line no. 3; exit no. 1) → Yangyang (Duration: 3 hours, 40 minutes; first bus is at 06:30 and the last bus is at 23:30).
Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (subway line no. 2; Gangbyeon Station) → Yangyang (Duration: 3 hours, 20 minutes; the first bus is at 06:30 and the last bus is at 18:19).

On to Naksan ->In front of Yangyang Cross-Country Bus Terminal → Board intra-city bus no. 9 or 9-1 en route to Naksan → Get off at Naksansa Station and walk two minutes. (about 200-300 meters away).



For more information about the east coast and Gangwon-do including more transportation information check out the Korea Tourist Organization website.

We chose to stay at a hotel called Maremons. Check out the next post, 'East Coast: Where to stay' for information and photos about the hotel.

Whilst at the east coast we visited a number of places. The areas we saw are shown in the map below by the green color. Included in the places we saw was the DMZ observation centre and Naksan Temple. Information and pictures about those two will follow in a separate post, 'East Coast: DMZ & Unification Centre', 'East Coast: Naksan Temple' and 'East Coast: Beaches'.

View East Coast, South Korea. in a larger map