Category: DMZ

The Stars & Stripes recently made it to the village of Taesong-dong located on the South Korean side of the DMZ:

Both villages are in the DMZ, an area about 160 miles long and 2½ miles wide marked by barbed wire and dotted with land mines.

A key difference is that the North Korean side is believed to be largely vacant — a Potemkin village that exists mainly to look pretty and broadcast round-the-clock propaganda and socialist songs that provide a constant soundtrack in Taesong-dong.

“It’s very loud,” Kim said, although the volume Tuesday was somewhat muted by windy conditions. “The residents hear it but don’t pay attention.”

With a population of just over 200, residency in Freedom Village is strictly limited to descendants of the original inhabitants or to women who marry men who live there. Men are not allowed to marry into the community because the government doesn’t want people to exploit the military service exemption, Kim said.

Residents can come and go, but they have an 11 p.m. curfew and must be present in the village for at least eight months of the year. The mayor said one of the biggest inconveniences is that they can’t receive pizza deliveries or online mail orders.

The trade-off for the bleak conditions is a tax-free income; free accommodation; land for rice paddies, red peppers, ginseng and other crops; and an elementary school with nearly as many teachers as students.

Despite the benefits, the aging population has declined in recent years, forcing the school to bus in students from nearby areas. Only four of the 29 students are from the village, officials said. There is no high school.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more about life at the village at the link.

For those that have about a half hour it is well worth reading the entire recollections of a 13-month tour of duty in the 1975-1976 timeframe by Specialist William Ferguson in the Korean JSA.  Something I learned from reading the recollections was how brutal the death of 1st Lieutenant Mark Barrett was during the DMZ Axe Murder Incident:

Nobody knows what happened to Lt. Barrett, he’s nowhere to be seen (Later, after all the pictures are developed, he’s seen jumping over a retaining wall and heading down into the depression area between CP#3 and KPA#8).  As people are climbing into the back of the deuce, and getting Capt. Bonifas’ body loaded up as well, several KPA guards try to grab them and pull them back out. Several guys beat some of them back with axe handles. Another KPA guard tries to climb into the deuce as well. One GI picks up a fire extinguisher, fires it into the KPA guards face, and when it’s empty, he picks it up over his head and throws it right at the KPA guard, catching him square in the forehead and snapping his head back. Finally, after every visible friendly is accounted for, both deuces (the one that carried the KSC workers and their security force, and the one that stayed with the regular CP#3 guards) leave the area and regroup. Lt. Barrett is missing, nobody can see him anywhere, and the guys who are up at OP#5 who first reported and filmed everything, have no idea where he’s at either.  They say that after our personnel left, the Joe’s drag around 5 KPA bodies across the Bridge by picking up their heels (which they probably wouldn’t do if they were alive).  Several other limp bodies are loaded into the KPA guard trucks, extent of injuries unknown. They stay on heightened alert for all KPA activity and for any sign of Lt. Barrett. They notice that the KPA guards at KPA#8 are taking turns going down into the depression between their checkpoint and CP#3. They stay a few minutes, come back up, and hand the axe to another guard, who then goes down into the depression. They say that after about an hour or so of this, they become just to suspicious and a jeep full of JSA personnel heads out to investigate. They head down into the depression and find what’s left of Lt. Barrett, though somehow he’s still alive. He’s immediately removed and medi-vac’d, but dies enroute.

End of unverified story as relayed to me by several 1st. Plt. members who were there. Taken in the context of the time, I have no reason to doubt anything they related to me. We were all pretty depressed, itching for payback, and lies or braggadocio would have been to easy to expose due to the amount of people involved and the pictures taken.

I remember when the alert first sounded. It was our off day, and I was downrange drinking in Sonju-Ri with a buddy. We asked an MP what was going on, and he said there was a fight at the JSA. We went to grab a taxi, and drove to Munsan so we could catch the next bus north. When we got to Freedom Bridge, we asked the MP checking ID’s for further news. He said that a couple people were hurt real bad, maybe dead, up at the JSA. During the ride up, I kept thinking to myself “Damnit. We were supposed to be the ones up there. They were supposed to trim the tree last week when we were up there!”. (I forget what the reason was, but for some reason, the original scheduled day for the tree trimming was delayed, from August 13th and instead it turned into a Security Officers Meeting.. Our Platoon was supposed to be the ones working the JSA on the original date.) An hour later (after the alert first sounded) we finally arrived at camp and were told by the gate guards at CP#1 when we arrived to get full field gear on, Capt. Bonifas was dead, several guys from 1st platoon were injured, and Lt. Barrett was missing.

A few hours later we were informed that they had recovered the body of Lt. Barret. He was found in the depression between CP#3 and KPA#8, cut to pieces by KPA guards who took turns for over an hour, going down into the depression with an axe, only to return later and hand the axe to another guard who would then disappear into the depression for awhile. Later that night I was in the NCO club and talking with one of the guys from 3rd Plt, who were on QRF that day. He was pissed, saying the whole time during the fight they sat at CP#2, while their Lt. waited for orders from Capt. Bonifas (who was already dead) to head into the JSA and provide help. This has always been neglected in every account I’ve ever read!  Some accounts state that the QRF was a mile away, outside the DMZ, when the daytime QRF was only about 200 yards from CP#2, well inside the DMZ and almost within the JSA! General Singlaub’s book gives the impression that the QRF actually made it to the scene of the fighting, which it didn’t.  Talking with several other members of 3rd Plt. that night seemed to verify the story. They all said that they waited around at CP#2 for their Lt. to receive authorization from Capt. Bonifas to enter.  [Memories of the JSA]

I highly recommend reading the entire article at the link, but I can only imagine the horror that 1LT Barrett experienced having North Korean soldiers take turns for an hour hitting him with an axe.  You would think the QRF would have immediately responded once word was out that a US officer was missing and not wait an hour to respond.

Operation Paul Bunyan was the response to these murders which William Ferguson provides a first-hand account of since he participated in the tree cutting detail which in a way was funny to read:

0700 hours. We roll into the JSA. The KPA can officially see us. Normally, they’d just be getting ready to open up KPA#7 and 8, but today was planned to minimize contact and we arrive about 45 minutes earlier than usual, so those checkpoints aren’t manned yet. The KPA guards across the Bridge don’t see us until we are almost to the tree. PFC Exum pulls up next to CP#3 and we jump out of the back of the deuce, When we are all out, he backs it up onto the bridge, preventing any vehicles from crossing, The rest of the vehicles are right behind us, everybody un-assing the trucks before they even stop. The dumptruck with the engineers pulls up next to the tree, so they can stand on it instead of having to use a ladder. The ROK’s with us, who are “supposed to” be limited as we are, with just .45’s and axe handles, begin throwing sandbags out of their deuces, Under the sandbags they have M-16’s, M-60’s, and a few M-79’s.

Several f them head over to Exum’s deuce and stand around watching the KPA guards across the bridge. I’m on the detachment that’s facing north, and I can see the 4 guards over there frantically running about and trying to get a hold of a superior on the phone. I look over at KP#3, a North Korean checkpoint just outside of the JSA and situated up on a hill, and I can see the guards up there run outside with a machinegun and set it up covering us. About two minutes later, a bunch of the KPA guard trucks and several buses pull up across the bridge from us. It seems like they sit there forever, several minutes at least. A few of the ROK marines with us unbutton their shirts, showing that they have claymore mines strapped to their chests and they have the clacker (firing mechanism) in their hands. They start yelling and waving at the KPA to come on over. One of the ROK’s is laying on his side, on the ground, supporting his head his his hand, looking all casual and care free. Once in a while he lifts his head a bit and hits the rear tire of Exum’s deuce with the back of his fist, shaking the entire truck bed. Anybody who’s ever been on a deuce knows that’s not easy.

Somebody tells me LTC Vierra just gave an order on the radio and I look back. Our supporting helicopters rise up on line above the horizon, giving the North Koreans a perfect view of their amassed firepower. The line of choppers seems to stretch for over a mile. Upon seeing this, the North Koreans unload their vehicles and scatter along their side of the dike that is along the river. They set up in two-man groups, signifying that most of them are machinegun positions.

There I am, close to two million people stretched all along the DMZ and who knows how many tens of thousands within probably three miles of where we are at, nukes in the air (aboard B-52’s), who knows how much artillery from both sides concentrated on our location, crazy guys with mines on their chest yelling at the North Koreans to come on over, KPA less than 100 meters away with machineguns and AK-47’s trained on us, and me and my buddies are standing around with axe handles and .45’s.  [Memories of the JSA]

Once again read the whole thing at the link, because more was done by the detail than cut the tree down according to Ferguson’s account.  An example of how inflated Army awards are today, Specialist Ferguson for participating in the tree cutting detail was give a Certificate of Achievement:

Finally I want to give Bill Ferguson a big thank you for posting his memories during this timeframe.

This guy definitely went off the deep end.  If he wanted to defect it would have been easier for him to fly to China and walk into North Korea that way:

On November 15, a North Korean defector known as Mr. A was caught while trying to re-enter North Korea in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province. Following the incident, the relevant government departments including the police and the Ministry of Unification have made statements urging more proactive approaches toward helping defectors experiencing difficulties in settling down.

According to the police and the military, Mr. A was caught on CCTV near a fence under the jurisdiction of the 25th Division of Yeoncheon Province in the afternoon of November 15, and was arrested by a dispatched force. The military handed Mr. A over to the police as he is a civilian.

Mr. A is known to have defected from North Korea in 2001 and settled in South Korea. He is married to a female North Korean defector and had been working as an assistant driver of a forklift while living in Ulsan. During the police interrogation, he is reported to have said that as he was suffering from economic hardship and his marital relations had broken down, he wished to re-enter North Korea under the belief that life across the border would be better for him.’  [NK Daily]

Via a reader tip comes this news that the North Koreans decided to do their part and begin a provocation cycle during the UFG16 military exercise by planting landmines at the Panmunjom peace village:

The American-led U.N. Command in South Korea on Tuesday accused North Korea of planting land mines near a truce village inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.

Much of the border, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, is strewn with land mines and laced with barbed wire. But South Korean media said no land mines had been planted in the area of the truce village of Panmunjom until North Korea placed an unspecified number there last week.

The U.N. Command said in a statement that it “strongly condemns” any North Korean action that jeopardizes the safety of personnel in the DMZ.

It said it wouldn’t speculate on why North Korea placed the mines there. Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified South Korean government official, said the North apparently planted the mines to prevent front-line North Korean soldiers from defecting to South Korea via Panmunjom.  [Seattle Times]

You can read more at the link, but it would be surprising to see a North Korean soldier defect at Panmunjom because of how specially selected they are for that mission.  Anyway according to the Joong Ang Ilbo the mines were planted near the Bridge of No Return:

Image of the Bridge of No Return via the DMZ webpage.

“The South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities detected last week that the North Korean soldiers were planting multiple mines north of the Bridge of No Return near Panmunjom,” the source said. “It is the first time that they witnessed the North’s land mine placement in that area since the Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953.”

The Bridge of No Return is located inside the truce village, west of the Joint Security Area. The bridge crosses the military demarcation line between the two Koreas, and it was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War. The name came from the final ultimatum given to the prisoners of war before their repatriation, because they would never be allowed to return once they cross the bridge to return to their homeland.

“Under the regulations governing the truce, planting land mines is forbidden in the areas near the Panmunjom,” said a South Korean government official. “The guards are banned from carrying heavy weapons. The United Nations Command strongly protested to the North about the move.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but keep in mind that the Bridge of No Return was the location of the 1976 DMZ Axe Murder Incident.  August 18th was the 40 year anniversary of this incident which leads me to believe the planting of the landmines was a North Korean jab at the US in regards to the anniversary of this incident.

Here is just another example of the fantasy land narrative in North Korea:

On Thursday, the anniversary of the incident, the Korean People’s Army Panmunjom Mission spokesman said that North Korea will “never forget the Panmunjom incident, which took place intentionally under U.S. imperialists looking for an excuse to start a war of invasion while permanently occupying the South.”

North Korea stated the U.S. version of the incident was a “cunning stratagem” to find a way out of its responsibility for the event, adding that the incident is a “serious lesson in history.”

“Only death lies for aggressors and provokers,” North Korea said in the statement issued on KCNA.

According to Pyongyang, the incident involved U.S. forces “pushing forward” South Korean “puppet guards” who “screamed in the direction of [North Korean] soldiers” then assumed “combat-ready positions.”

The South Korea and U.S. forces then brought in “heavy weaponry” and installed a “large surveillance tower.” Their “perilous military provocations tell all,” North Korea stated.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link as well as more about the DMZ Axe Murder Incident at the below link:

• DMZ Flashpoints: The 1976 DMZ Axe Murder Incident

This is actually a pretty good idea which also makes me wonder if it can also help deter North Korean submarine activity as well in the area?:

North Korea on Monday condemned the artificial reef structures being placed in the West Sea by South Korea to control Chinese illegal fishing activities, calling it part of Seoul’s military provocations against Pyongyang’s maritime demarcation line.

In March, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) said it will set up a total of eight artificial reef structures in the eastern waters off Baengnyeongdo, Daecheongdo and Socheongdo, all located south of the northern limit line (NLL), to prevent Chinese fishing vessels from intruding into the South Korean waters.

Drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, the NLL is the de facto sea border between the two Koreas, although the North has not recognized it as such.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the West Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) said South Korea’s new artificial structures can only be seen a encroachments on its waters.

“The fish-breeding reef, structure weighing dozens of tons, is being set up in the sensitive waters which witnessed three skirmishes in the past, a fact clearly showing the provocative nature,” KCNA said.

Such provocative acts have revealed Seoul’s “sinister intention” to spark a military conflict in the world’s most dangerous waters, the North’s state-run media outlet claimed.  [Yonhap]

A group of foreigners who participated in a South Korea-ASEAN tourism workshop in Seoul visits the “Eco-Peace Park” near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in Cherwon, located some 88 kilometers north of Seoul, on June 12, 2016. ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The Seoul-based ASEAN-Korea Center provided this photo. (Yonhap)

This will definitely be a unique ultra-marathon for those who decide to run it:

A 100-kilometer (62 mile) long ultra-marathon near the demilitarized zone, which divides the South and North, will be hosted over the course of three days in early September, announced the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Tuesday.

The marathon will take place in the far northern part of Gyeonggi – Gimpo, Paju and Yeonchon District – from Sept. 1 to Sept. 4.

The sports event was organized to publicize the history, culture and ecological diversity of the demilitarized zone as well as deliver a message about peace and the importance of life to race participants.

Over 80 percent of the marathon’s trails are unpaved roads, and runners will have to run through mountainous environs and meadows. As many as 1,700 runners will participate in the race, and the course will be divided into two parts – one for foreign and domestic professional runners and another for amateur runners.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Over at The DMZ War there is a very interesting document posted that is a transcript of a 1976 phone conversation between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. Kissinger and Scowcroft talk about a lot of interesting things in regards to the US response to the killing of two US Army officers during the DMZ Axe Murder Incident. For example Kissinger believed that the North Korean barracks inside of the Joint Security Area (JSA) should have been bombed.  Something else I did not know was that the two officers killed in the attack had their bodies shipped home in coffins made from the wood of the tree that was chopped down:

You can read the rest of the transcript at this link.

The US soldiers stationed at the Joint Security Area on the DMZ are specifically trained to be very professional when interacting with the North Koreans that is why I have a hard time believing the North Koreans.  Considering all the video cameras at the JSA you would think the North Koreans would have released video footage of their claimed infractions:

The American-led U.N. command on Saturday dismissed as unsubstantiated accusations from North Korea that U.S. troops at a border village tried to provoke its frontline troops with “disgusting acts.”

 

A North Korean military statement Friday warned U.S. soldiers to stop what it called “hooliganism” at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or they’ll meet a “dog’s death any time and any place.”

 

It said U.S. troops pointed their fingers at North Korean soldiers and made strange noises and unspecified “disgusting” facial expressions. It also said that American troops encouraged South Korean soldiers to aim their guns at the North.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.