Talk:Bridge of No Return

Armed Guard Houses
Are they really "armed guard houses"? I thought weapons were not permitted in the JSA. Savatar 06:08, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
 * The North Korean end of the bridge is outside of the JSA ([]), so it is probably armed. On the other hand, the closer guard house on the picture (actually an UN checkpoint) should indeed be unarmed.--Cbb -talk- 11:53, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

I was stationed in Panmunjom in 2003. The only weapons allowed in the DMZ are small arms (such as a 9mm pistol). But I can tell you that the U.S. and South Korean forces do in fact bring unauthorized weapons such as machine guns, but those are kept out of sight (usually in a vehicle). I'd imagine the North Koreans do the same.--Timjbax 19:22, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

There are particular rules regarding armed personnel inside the JSA and the DMZ, but yes, firearms are permitted within the rules. Isaac Crumm 07:38, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

I was stationed there '75-'76 and again from '77-'78. Sidearms are the only weapons allowed inside the JSA. Each side is allowed 2 armed officers and 30 enlisted personnel, per the Armistice agreement. Automatic weapons are not allowed inside the JSA at all, though on numerous occasions I saw AK-47's and a .51 cal machinegun at several of the KPA checkpoints in our half of the JSA (when it was still a neutral area). I also used to play hopscotch on the Bridge when I worked at that checkpoint (CP#3). It was funny watching the expressions on the North Korean's faces, since they had no idea what I was doing. Back in my days, the bridge was actively used by the North Koreans as there only access to the JSA. Even though their guard trucks were usually covered and the rear flap was down, we would still have to try and get counts of people entering and leaving the JSA as they zoomed past. wbfergus 16:48, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Die Another Day
Though the bridge is referred to in the movie Die Another Day, what is shown is most definately not the bridge. There is no concertina wire, bunkers, or machineguns built around the bridge as portrayed in the movie. wbfergus 18:14, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Regarding a deleted sentence by an IP address. The sentence was "Also, you can easily see from the photos (below), there is an extreme lack of evergreen vegetation in the area." Okay, I did not say there wasn't any evergreen vegetation, just an extreme lack of it. Look at the picture from 1975 during the winter and you will notice there is hardly anything green, let alone evergreen vegetation. The few evergreen trees that appear to possibly be in the newer picture at the top have been planted since 1975 (actually since 1979, as I was there up until then as well, but no additional pictures). The IMDB web site (for Die Another Day)also made a similar comment about the evergreen vegetation, "Bond and Zao are swapped in the middle of a thick evergreen forest. Panmunjom, the only point along the DMZ where one can walk between North and South Korea, is grassy fields and hills."
 * wbfergus 11:26, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Cardinality of the bridge
The bridge actually runs east-west (with west toward PRK and east toward ROK). The article was a bit loose with its cardinal directions, such as saying that soldiers were facing "north" on the bridge, which would actually have been looking over the side of the bridge, when what was really meant was soldiers were facing toward "North Korea" to the west. I cleaned it up a little bit to reflect that. 98.232.121.163 (talk) 00:22, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

When was this bridge built?
There was no mention of it in the article. Was it built after the ceasefire, or was it standing before the war? Dinky town  talk  17:05, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

On a recent tour to Panmunjom...
I learned that the end of the bridge was destroyed by the North Koreans. Unfortunately, a tour guide's words are not authoritative but you can see it clearly in the most recent picture: rubble on the N. Korean side. So, I'm pretty curious why the UN side would offer to fix it... And sorry no, the guide did not mention any clue on when it was built... but my guess would be that it was part of the original JSA 1953, when the demarcation line wasn't strictly adhered to. It does appear to be about the same age as the old UN observation guard posts which are nearby. The North and South shared the JSA until the Axe Murder Incident in 1976. Darkpoet (talk) 19:43, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
 * The pictures I find, such as and, show no destruction of the bridge itself but clearly that the river bank, including the former path across, has been walled off. Any offers to pay for repairs of the bridge obviously aim at preserving the popular symbol. It is obvious, too, of how much interest this is for the NK side. 2003:45:457F:6A31:BD2C:ED7E:1D04:9C5B (talk) 19:02, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 one external links on Bridge of No Return. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070716121057/http://korea50.army.mil/history/biographies/rhee.shtml to http://korea50.army.mil/history/biographies/rhee.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20050208084604/http://www.panmunjomtour.com:80/english/jsa/jsa_14.htm to http://www.panmunjomtour.com/english/jsa/jsa_14.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20050116074445/http://www.lifeinkorea.com:80/culture/dmz/dmz.cfm?subject=jsa to http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/dmz/dmz.cfm?Subject=jsa#Bridge%20of%20No%20Return

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 11:04, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Final repatriation?
The article states that "The last time the bridge was used for prisoner exchanges was in 1968, when the crew of USS Pueblo was released and ordered to cross into South Korea via the bridge." However on the page for Joint Security Area lists the following as happening in 1969:

Operation Temple Bell, December 1969 On August 17, 1969, an unarmed OH-23 observation helicopter strayed over DPRK airspace and was forced to land in North Korea. The three crew were held for ​3 1⁄2 months during negotiations between Major General A. H. Adam senior negotiator at the UN Command, and North Korean Major General Lee Choon-sun. In early December 1969 the three crew members were released and ushered over the Bridge of No Return.

Which is correct? Khardankov (talk) 06:21, 11 December 2020 (UTC)