The DMZ serves as a "buffer" between North and South Korea. This zone cuts across the Korean Peninsula over a distance of roughly 250 kilometers and encompasses the Military Demarcation Line that separates the two Koreas after the Korean War ended in a ceasefire on July 27, 1953. The DMZ is approximately 4 kilometers wide (2 kilometers each northward and southward from the Demarcation Line), following the terms of the Ceasefire Agreement.
The DMZ serves as one of the last remnants of the Cold War, a bitter symbol of division among the Korean people and the most infamous landmark in Korea. It is also a reminder to the Filipino students/GEO Teaching Assistants of the historical links between the Philippines and South Korea.
After Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers on August 15, 1945, its former colony, Korea, was territorially divided into two at the 38th Parallel: the North coming under the influence of Soviet Russia and the South under the United States. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops pushed beyond the 38th Parallel in an attempt to invade South Korea. Two days later, the United Nations Security Council voted to authorize military intervention in Korea to put an end to the North's aggression. The UN called on its member-nations to provide assistance in this regard.
(The historic UN Security Council vote on June 27, 1950 authorizing military intervention in Korea)
The Philippines, under the presidency of Elpidio Quirino, sent a contingent of 7,500 troops to heed the call of the United Nations by August of the same year. Among the members of the Filipino contingent known as the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) was Fidel Ramos, President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998, who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1950. He joined the hostilities in Korea in 1952.
Visiting this historic site is part of the Filipino students/GEO Teaching Assistants' efforts to understand Korean history, society and culture. It also provides the perfect milieu to appreciate the dynamic areas of cooperation between Filipinos and Koreans over the years, as epitomized by the presence of a growing number of Filipino students and teachers/professors in Korea, with CUK hosting the largest concentration of Filipino students in the country.
The trip was organized by Professor Emely Abagat of CUK, with the endorsement of Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Luis Cruz and was made possible through the efforts of Colonel Martin N. Pinto, who is jointly the Philippines' Defense and Armed Forces Attache (DAFA) to South Korea and head of the Philippine Liaison Group to the United Nations Command. Professor Victoria Jo, Director of the International Language Education Center at CUK, and Professor Benedict Dedominicis of the International Studies Department, CUK were also part of the trip.
(The group posing in front of the Freedom House at Panmunjom. The gray structure at the back is the Panmungak Pavilion, a North Korean structure. The blue structure on the left side of the photo is the
Military Armistice Commission (MAC) Conference Room. The other blue structure on the right side of the photo is the United Nations Command Joint Duty Office (JDO) building. Professor Abagat is at the center of the front row wearing a gray blazer and a teal turtle-neck sweater. Professor Jo is to her left. Professor Dedominicis is at the back row, second from the left.)
(From left to right: Sergeant Silvestre, Mark James Evangelista, Colonel Martin N. Pinto at the Observation Post no. 5. Approximately 1000 meters behind them was the spot where the Military Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953.)
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