Typhoon Observatory
By far the most spectacular - and frustrating - of all the DMZ observatories in South Korea
This dull monument is the only thing visitors are allowed to photograph in South Korea's most spectacular observatory on the DMZ (October, 2024).
Built in 1991 by the glorious South Korean 28th infantry division, nicknamed “The Invincible Typhoon Unit”, the Typhoon Observatory is both the closest to the military demarcation line (a mere 800 metres!) and the most spectacular in terms of panoramic views of the DMZ and North Korea. Also the most frustrating for visitors that are not allowed any photo. Zero. Nada.
The Typhoon Observatory is situated at the top of Suribong Peak, the highest point of Bikkisan Mountain, at an altitude of 1,215 metres. Access is via a winding mountain road bordered by minefields through breath-taking scenery from the city of Yeoncheon, around 65 km north of Seoul.
Here you are technically deep inside the DMZ. From the heavily guarded observation room, the Imjin River, which marks the border just below where you stand, seems a stone's throw away.
If it weren't for the guard posts that stand atop the mountains on either side of the valley, the nervous South Korean conscripts trying to discipline unruly tourists and the loudspeakers blaring propaganda from the north and k-pop from the south, you'd think you were in a bucolic Swiss Alpine landscape.
From the observatory, by good weather, you can easily see the Hwanggang dam in North Korea, one of the many sources of tension between the two sides.
During the summer moonsoon season, the North Koreans tend to release without warning the water from this dam into the Imjin River, which then flows into South Korea.
For this reason, it is not advisable to swim in the Imjin river or fish on its banks at any time, as floods can be massive and unexpected. In 2022, several North Korean corpses, including children and a woman wearing Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il loyalty badges, washed up in rivers and tidal flats far into the South after heavy rains in the Peninsula. And it is not uncommon for South Korean police to discover drowned children downstream from the Imjingang, or from other rivers originating in the North, without any of them having been reported missing in South Korea…
As with the Biryong Observatory, you have to apply at least a week in advance for security clearance before you are allowed access to the Typhoon Observatory. And unlike other places in the DMZ, where photography is authorized or where the South Korean military tend to be pretty cool when tourists ‘accidentally’ shoot a couple of forbidden images, the rules at Typhoon Observatory are enforced in a howling, draconian fashion.
Just try to take out your camera or your phone and the yelling sentry will jump on you and won't let go until you've erased the guilty images from your memory card, if he doesn’t confiscate everything or arrest you (photographing military installations without authorization can land you in prison for three years in South Korea). And you can only admire the panorama for ten minutes, after which you will be thrown out by the same rude sentry, even if no one is waiting behind you to enter.
South Korea would like to develop tourism in this type of border location, which is a great idea. But for the time being, the nervousness of the military prevails in this area, which remains an active front line against a nuclear power. Access to the border depends exclusively on the Korean Army division responsible for the sector in question. This can range from tolerance to an outright ban, depending on the character and mood of the local general.
The Typhoon Observatory is a truly fascinating place, a world away from the tourist traps of Imjingak and others. I hope that the drastic rules for access will soon be relaxed so that as many people as possible can come and see this marvel.
