A new bicycle tour along the heavily fortified Civilian Control Line near the Demilitarized Zone in Gyeonggi will be opened to both South Koreans and foreigners starting tomorrow.

The tour, organized by the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, will take place every fourth Sunday of the month. The 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) bicycle course will start from Imjin Pavilion and pass the Unification Bridge in Paju and the Tongilchon Intersection before coming back to Imjin Pavilion.

This area along the Civilian Control Line, which runs five to 20 kilometers south of the DMZ, had been closed to the public, except farmers and residents of the area, since 1953, when the Korean War ended with an armistice, but is now being opened for this bicycle tour.

"The DMZ has been chosen as the No. 1 tourist destination [in Korea] for foreigners and is the leading tourist attraction of the northern Gyeonggi region with over 5 million people visiting Imjin Pavilion yearly," said the provincial tourism organization through an official release.

"We intend to make this DMZ bicycle tour a landmark program for the DMZ area," said an official at the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization. The official added that because the tour course does not cross the DMZ line, the route poses no danger to tourists.

The Gyeonggi tourism office began pilot bicycle tours in the area in February. It said that in the future, if it receives the Defense Ministry¡？s approval, it plans to increase the frequency of the tours to twice a month and lengthen the bicycle course to up to 25 kilometers.

Those who wish to participate in the tours will need to submit applications online (http://ethankyou.co.kr). The site is available in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. The cost is 10,000 won ($8.80) per person and each tour will be able to accommodate up to 300 people. For more information, call 031-952-7805.

The Gyeonggi Tourism Organization said that all spots for the tour this Sunday have been filled.

By Cho Jae-eun [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2920501

Bike path at DMZ to open in September (JoongAng Ilbo)

Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo, front center, leads some 60 cyclists inside the Civilian Control Line on April 10 to try out the new bike route from Imjin Pavilion to Unification Bridge in Paju, Gyeonggi. By Kim Tae-seong

Cyclists will be free to ride along the heavily fortified inter-Korean border when a restricted zone off-limits to civilians since the end of fighting in the Korean War in 1953 is opened in September, according to the Gyeonggi provincial government yesterday.

For the past 56 years only people living in the area and farmers working the fields there have had access to the two-kilometer (1.2-mile) dirt track, which runs five to 10 kilometers south of the demilitarized zone in Gyeonggi.

To protect military facilities, the provincial government will enforce strict rules for when non-military personnel can visit and how many.

The plan is to allow up to 300 civilians to cycle for three hours on the second and fourth Sunday of each month.

In anticipation of increased numbers of cyclists heading toward the border with North Korea, more facilities have been planned.






"The provincial office will consult with the Land Ministry and Korea Railroad Corporation to reserve a section on the train on the Gyeongui Line just to hold bikes so that more people across the country can take their bikes with them to the zone," said Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo.

Speaking after cycling with Paju residents to promote the use of bicycles, the governor explained that the project was not just about exercise.

"By allowing people to ride bikes on this newly opened track, I want to give people hope for peaceful unification," Kim said.

The Gyeongui Line, one of the oldest railways in Korea, stretches from Seoul to Dorasan, the northernmost station in South Korea.

Gyeonggi officials said they are planning to introduce bike tour packages to cater to cyclists once the track is open.

That's not all. The officials added that they were in the middle of consultations with the Ministry of Defense, with whom they have collaborated to bring this plan to fruition, about the possibility of opening more roads for bike riding within the restricted zone starting next January.

"We are going to complete the consultation process with the ministry at the end of this year," said provincial official Kim Dae-ho. "We are also planning to stay open more days, add more hours and allow more people to cycle in these areas from January."

The provincial office said it will start accepting applications 10 days before the cyclists' planned ride, via the Web sites of the Paju city government and the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization.

By Chung Young-jin, Lee Min-yong [smartpower@joongang.co.kr]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2904560


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