To the east of Cheorwon stretches the wildest and most inaccessible part of the border. The Military Demarcation Line runs along ridgelines often exceeding 1,000 meters in elevation, over cliffs and remote rivers. From a distance, one can sometimes spot a Guard Post perched atop a hill, and trenches slicing through the dense forest along the mountainside. It is an ultra-militarized region where civilians are not exactly welcome, even if a few observatories occasionally allow visits.

The mountains of the central front were the scene of particularly horrific battles during the final year of the Korean War, such as those at Triangle Hill or Sniper Ridge, which resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. Each side sought to seize the high ground overlooking the strategic “Iron Triangle” between Cheorwon, Kimhwa, and Pyonggang. Securing total control of this plain, which provides access to the entire Peninsula, would have been tantamount to winning the war. In the end, neither side succeeded.

As you leave Cheorwon heading east, you can spot in the distance to the north Mount Oseong (Oseongsan), which rises to 1,062 meters, and the massive antenna installed at its summit by the North Korean military to eavesdrop the South. The strategic importance of this mountain is extreme. “Whoever loses Mount Wuseong (the Chinese name of the mountain) will have to take responsibility for the history of Korea”, said Peng Dehuai, the commander of the Chinese army during the Korean War, when giving to his troops the order to hold it at all costs, adding: “Mount Wuseong is the gateway to the central front of Korea. If we lose Mount Wuseong, we will have to retreat 200 km.” In the end, the communists held their ground. But legend has it that the mountain’s altitude dropped by three meters during the war due to heavy bombing and shelling.

Today, Mount Oseong has been somehow forgotten by the South Koreans but remains a site of major strategic importance for the North. Every North Korean leader has reportedly visited it at least once during their time in power. There is no better location to observe the South, and it is said that on a clear day, Seoul’s Lotte World Tower — one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world — can be seen from its summit. In addition to the antenna and radar station, the mountain is reportedly the starting point of the so-called “Underground Great Wall of China”, a huge network of tunnels dug by Chinese forces during the war and said to stretch nearly 200 kilometers along the frontline, and that is still in use today.

The mountain itself is said to be a gigantic fortress, criss-crossed by hundreds of underground galleries and bunkers that are said to hide four divisions, or at least 28,000 soldiers. Telescopic observation reveals dozens of loopholes and artillery emplacements in the mountainside.

Driving from Cheorwon to Hwacheon along National Route 5 gives you a close-up view of the isolation and tension of this border region. The winding road runs right along the southern edge of the DMZ, inside the Civilian Control Zone. It is therefore forbidden to drive there at night. During the day, every car entering and leaving the CCZ is checked at a military checkpoint. Stopping along the way is strictly forbidden, and you have a maximum of 30 minutes to complete the 25 kilometer journey. The forest and mid-mountain landscape is beautiful, but apart from a succession of barracks, anti-tank obstacles, military vehicles and surveillance cameras, there’s not much else to see.

In the middle of this rather eerie no-man’s-land stands a tourist attraction as grandiose as it is well-hidden. The Baegamsan Cable Car, which in 15 minutes takes you to the top of a mountain 1,178 meters above sea level.

Here, a military observation post has a section open to the public from which, on a clear day, you can see the mountains of North Korea and the huge reservoir of the Imnam Dam, the source of many a scare in the South, as we’ll see in the next story. The cable car also serves to supply the military stationed up there.

It took eight years of titanic work to build this cable car, which opened in 2022 and climbs over two kilometers of almost vertical slopes. And yet, as is often the case in South Korea, where the desire to develop tourism near the DMZ and the security measures imposed by the army don’t always mix, everything seems to be done to dissuade the public from finding it. Daily visitors are limited to 500 people and you can’t get there directly by yourself. Access is only allowed via designated shuttle buses from Hwacheon, which pass through two military checkpoints to reach the boarding station. And once you are there, photography of the breathtaking mountain scenery before your eyes is strictly forbidden and enforced by military guards (a few selfies and family photos near the bottom station of the cableway are tolerated, however). This makes the overall experience rather frustrating.

Like virtually every mountain in the region, Mount Baegam has a bloody past. It was here that the Geumsong battle, the last major one of the Korean War, took place in July 1953, just a few days before the armistice was signed. In a bid to gain territory before the cessation of hostilities, the Chinese army launched a gigantic offensive against the South Korean troops holding this part of the front. It is estimated that tens of thousands perished within a week, although estimates vary. The Chinese could not change the broader outcome, but successfully captured portions of the salient and improved their defensive lines just before the ceasefire.