DMZ trail in Paju to reopen to tourists next week

Cable cars at Imjingak in Paju / Courtesy of Paju city government

A hiking trail along western border of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas will reopen to the public next week, about 11 months after its closure due to the outbreak of African swine fever there, the authorities said Saturday.

The town of Paju in Gyeonggi Province, about 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, said it will reopen the DMZ hiking trail to tourists Tuesday.

In consideration of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however, the local government said it will limit the number of daily hiking tour programs to 10, with a maximum of 20 people at one time. Group tours will be operated by reservation only.

The DMZ, which is 250 km long and 4 km wide, is one of the world's most heavily fortified borders, with the rival Koreas technically in a state of conflict as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The Paju trail is one of three hiking routes that opened to the public last year under the DMZ Peace Trail program intended to allow visitors to experience inter-Korean peace and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. Two other trails in Goseong and Cheorwon, both in Gangwon Province, have also been closed due to the swine fever outbreak.

The Paju course, which is a 20 km round trip, starts at the Imjingak Pavilion and leads to a demolished guard post via the Dorasan Observatory.

The Paju government said it has already completed inspections and devised ways to impose the necessary quarantine measures, together with relevant central government agencies, to prevent the recurrence of the infectious disease in domestic and wild pigs.

The town also said it has worked out all possible countermeasures, including the installation of fever screening equipment, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among tourists.

In particular, it and the Army jointly conducted a tourism simulation for 20 people earlier this week to check the density of the trail facilities.

The town said it will take additional quarantine measures depending on the situation regarding the African swine fever and coronavirus outbreaks and hire people to ensure anti-coronavirus guidelines are thoroughly observed along the trail route. (Yonhap)