South Korea has a “unification observatory” (통일전망대) along the DMZ at either coast. Odusan Observatory is on the west coast, while Goseong Unification Observatory is on the east coast, 60-70 km north of Sokcho. I’ve been to both an Goseong is by far my favorite; I prefer the views as well as the relatively sparsely populated region.

Besides getting an up-close glimpse into North Korea, both observatories offer the chance to purchase North Korea booze, as do the DMZ tunnel tours. What’s shown below is only part of the wider selection available.

The two least expensive items are Pyongyang Soju and Taedonggang Beer, both ₩4,000 per bottle (currently about $3.25). The price of Pyongyang Soju has increased steadily since 2001, when it was ₩1,000, to ₩2,000 in 2002, and ₩3,000 in 2005. It can now be purchased for $6 a bottle in the States, so isn’t really worth lugging back to the U.S. anymore. I purchased a good bit in the past as exotic gifts, but never drank any myself. On this trip I bought a bottle of each, but gave them away to brothers-in-law. I would have gotten a bottle of the beer to try, but was planning on going to Soraksan the next day and didn’t wan’t to have the extra weight in my already full backpack (it rained the next day, however).

NOTE: The official Korean Tourism Organization (think Korea Sparkling) website has INCORRECT information about how to get there. They have correct instructions on how to get to the park entrance, but incorrectly state there is regular transportation from that point to the actual observatory 10 km further north. In fact, if you don’t a) come by car or b) come with a tour group, you have to either pay ~₩40,000 for a taxi, or wait around asking those with cars for a ride.

I checked the website before going there – by bus – and so was extremely angry to discover this situation. It ended fine, however, as I got a ride with a 26-year-old doctor currently doing his military service, and was able to practice Korean on him for a couple of hours. He even took me by Hwajinpo Beach, and dropped me off in Sokcho.

At any rate, if you go by public transpiration, be prepared to hitchhike or pay too much for a taxi.

To get there from Seoul, take a bus to Sokcho (속초) from the Seoul Express Bus Terminal (고속터미널역). Several buses make the ~4 hour trip each day, and it cost ₩24,000 a couple of weeks ago. Sokcho is a long, narrow city that runs along the coast. The bus will arrive at the Sokcho Express Bus Terminal at the south end of town.

To get to Goseong from Sokcho, walk out of the bust terminal to the main road stay on the ocean (east) side, and take city bus number 1 or 1-1 towards Daejin (대진). It comes roughly every half hour, and don’t expect the driver to speak English. This costs just under ₩5,000 and take about an hour and a half. Take this bus to the end of it’s line, where it will pull over to a lot on the west side of the road and park.

Stay on that side of the road (careful, not much of a shoulder there) and walk the remaining few hundred meters to the entrance of the unification observatory park; this is where you’ll either need to fork over too much for a taxi or ask some nice Koreans to give you a ride.

To get backto Seoul, just reverse these steps; take city bus 1 or 1-1 back to Sokcho and get off at/near the Sokcho Express Bus Terminal, and take a bus back to Seoul (which was ₩22,000 for some reason, or ₩2,000 cheaper than getting there).

You’ll see this in the ticketing area. It’ll cost ₩3,000 for entrance:

The Keumgangsan tour booth (tours to North Korea) seems to be completely shut down at this location. Geez, shoot just one tourist…:

The view into South Korea:

And into North Korea:

This is also at the park:

Looks like “bul-dduk-ju” (벌떡주) is supposed to be a “health” liquor for men, but I guess it’ll get the job done one way or the other:

And Hwajinpo Beach, about midway between Goseong and Sokcho:

If you’re planning on going to the Osaek side of Soraksan (the less touristy side that take several hours to climb), you can get there from the Sokcho Bus Terminal (for ₩3,700) towards the north end of town and not to be confused with the express terminal further south that will take you back to Seoul. If you want to get to the touristy side, stand on the west side of the main road (not the ocean side) and take either bus 7 or 9 (you’ll need to look at the sign at a bus stop, I forget which bus it is). It should cost ₩1,000 and takes a half hour or so. Ride the bus until it stops at the parking lot of the main entrance of the park.

There are nice hotels as well as cheap places all over. I don’t know what the min-bak costs, but I got a room at the Dong-kyung (동경) Hotel for ₩15,000 a night. It’s ₩20,000 holidays and weekends. It’s really more of a yokwan and is right next to the Sokcho Bus Terminal, and there is a good Korean-Chinese restaurant on the other side of the terminal (same side of the road). Odd thing is, I pad twice that in 2005 in the same place! The rooms are clean enough, have a bed, TV with cable, A/C, and hot water - which exceeds my minimum requirements when traveling on the cheap by myself.

Sokcho is a fun place, you may want to spend more time there to explore, and I hear the seafood is excellent.