New Year's Eve in the DMZ

My first time to the Korean DMZ was on New Year's Eve, 1996.

I took a USO tour from Seoul.

Since that first trip, I have visited the DMZ and Joint Security Area (JSA) around 20 times for articles that I wrote for the Korea Times.

The last time I was there was on July 27, 2003, for the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice.

Although one of my more memorable trips to the JSA was the time I flew from Camp Casey in Dongduchon with CNN's Seoul Bureau Chief and a photographer from Reuters, that first trip will always be one of my fondest memories.

It is also the subject of my most recent Morning Calm Tales.