Ultimate DMZ and JSA: Private Tour along North Korea Spy Commando Invasion Route

Unfortunately, the JSA was closed but instead we were shown a strech of the frontline escorted by a ROSKA soldier and the 3rd infiltration tunnel (and the choice of a refund). So overall a good day. Great guide, great lunch. A little pricy compared to other services.

My wife and I decided to vacation in Korea, and visiting the DMZ is a must for any such trip. Our research indicated most such trips are large bus tours, while we were looking for something a little more private and interactive. DMZ Spy Tours was a perfect fit for our desire. I should note that on the week we were in Korea, UN Command closed the JSA to tourists due to an anticipated visit from the US President. This is completely outside of any tour company's control. I feel that with any other DMZ tour we would have been left without much to see; however, DMZ Spy Tours not only issued a partial refund due to closure of the JSA but also took us on a tour we would not have seen with any other company. Their private tour followed the invasion route when North Korean spies attempted to assassinate the South Korean president. The tour guide was clearly knowledgeable about the history of this invasion and was excited to share it with us. Along the way, we saw North Korea from multiple points of observation, including an active military outpost. Even with the JSA closure, we visited the third invasion tunnel and the Dora rail station. I will also note that the tour company's customer service was excellent. Due to JSA/UN schedule changes, the day of our trip had to be changed initially which coincided with my wife and I changing accommodations inside Seoul. The tour company was happy to carry our luggage (3 large bags) in the private tour car given that we were being picked up from one accommodation and dropped off at another.

Shaun Lee was excellent keeping my clients and myself well informed to the minute for major changes due to trump's visit-photo opt to DMZ. After Shaun carefully reviewed the situation taking in the entire equation came to a perfect solution and clients were receptive and went forward with revised DMZ tour. He worked in unison though we were exchanging emails factoring in 14 hrs plu1. Shaun cc all emails to my three clients. Collection at the Grand Hyatt was to the minute. I look forward to the opportunity working with DMZ, Shaun who was an integral in the missions success. Professional par excellence.

Our tour guide John was fantastic, he was very informative and kept us entertained throughout the tour. The tour itself was surreal, it was strict at the JSA but well worth it. The DMZ part showed the reality of the tour barbed wire and watch towers.

We took the DMZ private tour in May 2019 with Alfonso. He collected us from our hotel and took us to multiple sites along the DMZ and provided history and cultural information throughout the day. WE are British, so he also took us to a UK Korean War Memorial site which was nice for us to be able to pay our respects. For lunch, Alfonso took us to a Korean restaurant in the countryside where we had duck barbecue which Alfonso cooked for us. It was fun to chat and eat great food together. In the afternoon we joined a local government tour to enter the DMZ military zone. Alfonso accompanied us and provided narrative and jokes throughout. The day was exhausting but in the best possible way - we learned so much and saw so much. Utterly to be recommended.

We had a great time with this tour. The private car was definitely worth the extra cost as it was very comfortable and made the trip to the DMZ from Seoul very pleasant. The tour guide was knowledgeable and was very flexible with any part of the tour. Highly recommend!

This was one of the best tours i have ever been on. BJ Kwon was our guide and did a fantastic job! He was so knowledgable and clearly loves Korean history. I recommend doing this tour at the start of your Korean trip if you can. It will give you some good background on the history of Korea so that you will be informed as you visit other sites. By far, the JSA was the highlight. It was surreal. Be sure to follow instructions of the JSA personnel. You get to actually go into the blue buildings where you can cross over into North Korea! The briefing from the overlook into the DMZ was very good as well. The ROK soldiers are very professional and know their business! The only downside is that you are packing so much into this tour that you move quickly from one site to the next. If you have the time, book another tour to the tunnels and peace park. Thank you so much for the great tour!!

I had an amazing day on this tour. My tour guide, BJ, was highly knowledgeable, spoke great English and was a perfect guide. We toured the key areas in the 1968 Commando invasion Blue House Raid, visited the Gloster Memorial and spent a long time with the 25th Infantry overlooking the DMZ. We then had a great lunch of Korean barbecue duck, then ventured up to Panmunjom to visit the JSA. This was a trip that will live long in the memory and I cant recommend it highly enough - return door-to-door pick up at the hotel, with quite a relaxed schedule, apart from the JSA part of the tour which is time-fixed. It was a pleasure to meet BJ and to discuss in detail many of the incidents that have occurred in the history of the Korean peninsula.

This was an excellent day-trip. Our guide BJ picked us up at our hotel we were a bit late as we had found out minutes earlier that our apartment building at home was on fire...but figured there was nothing we could do about it! After a couple of very informative stops in Seoul city, BJ took us to the DMZ, where we joined a few other small groups to see the fences/bunkers up close, and met a few S. Korean soldiers who spoke about their day-to-day experiences there. We then went for a very tasty bbq duck lunch My wife is vegetarian, and she was catered for very well also. Then the highlight of the day of course, was going in to the JSA not all DMZ day-tours include the JSA, so be aware of this when you are booking a trip. For the JSA we needed to join the larger affiliated Bus tour there is no other way to visit the JSA as an independent visitor. This was seamless, and BJ was there to collect us when the bus tour into the JSA was finished. BJ was a gentleman throughout, very friendly, helpful, and informative, with lots of info about the sites being visited and lots of tips for the remainder of our stay in S. Korea. Along with the haenyo divers and volcano climb in Seongsang Ilchulbong in Jeju island, and Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, this Ultimate DMZ and JSA: Private Tour was the highlight of our 2 week trip to Korea. We would not hesitate to recommend this tour for anyone visiting Korea.