Surfing in the Korean
Demilitarized Zone 0
Never mind the guns – when surf’s up in the war zone, it’s time to grab your board.
With tensions high between North and South Korea, the demilitarised zone between the two countries is one of the most volatile places on Earth.
“Surfers are always drawn to the exotic and challenging and most will travel huge distances to surf a wave in a strange place, war zone or not.”
But the threat of war doesn’t stop a tight surfing community from catching waves, even as soldiers stalk the beach and helicopters roar overhead.
The 38th parallel is the latitude along which North and South Korea were divided after the Korean War in 1953. Where the ancestors of Kiwi photographer Shannon Aston once fought, he now surfs – and documents.
Mr Aston used to surf the breaks off New Zealand’s peaceful east coast, near his home town of Christchurch, before moving to Korea to begin lecturing at a private university in Seoul.
subscribe to comments RSS
Comments are closed