This spy tour gets groups to track North Korean infiltration routes

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is one of South Korea’s landmark sites, and corporate groups are warming up the idea of trawling through an underground tunnel or taking selfies against barbed-wire fences.

DMZ Spy Tour is a South Korea-based tour company that specialises in visits to the site, but with a twist: The tours are spy-themed, following along the tracks of the North Korean spy commanders during their invasion from the DMZ into Seoul in 1968 to assassinate the South Korean president. A month ago, the company started offering packages to offer ‘storytelling tours’ to MICE groups.

Experiences include visits to the South Korean army base, the Joint Security Area (JSA), and the second infiltration underground tunnel. In surrealist fashion, the tour can be jazzed up with modern offerings such as K-pop performances, glamping, and barbecue parties.

Life-sized board games

Shrek Lee, director of the DMZ Spy Tour, told CEI that the life-sized board games are also made available where visitors can pit ‘capitalism against communism’ in friendly competitions. The squares on the board game mirror the parties involved in the war.

So far, this new package has received enquiries from Singapore and Hong Kong, and Lee hopes more people will visit the area to better understand the history between the two nations. With relations thawing between North Korea and South Korea, the DMZ could be a relic of the past in the near future.