ODUSAN REUNIFICATION OBSERVATORY

This observatory has two main actions. The first is to educate consciences for reunification and the second is to provide a place of consolation (if at all possible) for families who have been separated. From the observatory you can see North Korea and its model villages through telescopes. In front of the main building, an altar was erected so that South Koreans with family in the North could come and make offerings during the chuseok and seollal festivals. A huge drum is used for prayers for reunification. In the basement, a shop sells souvenirs and products from North Korea. On the first floor are temporary exhibitions. On the ^second floor there is a cinema that broadcasts North Korean propaganda films or reports. Edifying but frightening. On the ^3rd and 4th floors, observation halls open large bay windows overlooking North Korea. Relief maps and briefings in Korean are available for a better understanding of this ubuesque situation. Outside, telescopes are used to observe the region.

On the way down, we pass through 2 exhibition rooms; one is dedicated to North Korea and shows everyday objects acquired on the Chinese border or brought back by the defectors; the other is called "Reunification Room" and presents the different stages of separation and the slow march towards reunification.

Here, we feel the reality of division.