Tag: DMZ

The UK’s Guardian has an article published that describes what life is like for ROK Army soldiers tasked with patrolling the DMZ:

Because the border is supposed to be a “demilitarised zone”, it takes some creative accounting to allow the soldiers to be posted there.

“All of the rangers are given a chest patch that says ‘DMZ police’ and an armband that says ‘military police,’” Shin said. “As as long as we wear the armband before entering the DMZ, no matter how armed we are, we are nothing but the ‘armed police’ not the armed ‘military’ force.”

It’s a posting that comes with many hazards, not just North Korean ones. Instead of four seasons there are just three at the DMZ: “the steaming summer, cold winter and the ice age when everything freezes,” he said.

Shin and his fellow soldiers had to endure temperatures that dropped below -19C (-2.2F), with endless, biting winds blowing in from the North.

“The wind was so strong it could literally blow you around,” said Shin. “Most general outposts are on the top of the mountain, directly facing the wind.”  [The Guardian]

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes news that North Korea flew a drone across the DMZ that the ROK military took shots at:

South Korea on Wednesday fired 20 machine gun warning shots after a North Korean drone briefly crossed the rivals’ border, officials said, the first shots fired in a Cold War-style standoff between the Koreas in the wake of the North’s nuclear test last week.

The North Korean drone was flying dozens of meters (yards) south of the border and turned back to the North after the South fired the shots, South Korean defense and military officials said, requesting anonymity because of office rules. The shots did not hit the drone.

North Korean drone flights across the world’s most heavily armed border are rare, but have happened before.

North Korea has in recent years touted its drone program, a relatively new addition to its arsenal. In 2013, state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had watched a drone attack drill on a simulated South Korean target.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.

A leg-shaped sculpture is seen at a park in Imjingak near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Dec. 23, 2013, as the Army holds an event to unveil the structure symbolizing the legs that the two soldiers — Ssg. Kim Jung-won and Ssg. Hah Jae-hun — lost in a landmine blast blamed on North Korea in August. At the event, the two soldiers were awarded national orders for their “bravery and contributions” to national security. Kim is walking again with a prosthetic leg while Ha, who lost both legs, is continuing his rehabilitation. (Yonhap)

An eagle flies in the air over the western part of the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, bordering Yeoncheon, north of Seoul, on Dec. 4, 2015. The migratory bird, designated as Natural Treasure No. 243 in South Korea, spends the winter at the DMZ every year. (Yonhap)

With the amount of wildlife around the DMZ it seems to me these sensors will just be filled with false alarms all day:

South Korea will develop and deploy new ground sensor technology aimed at detecting North Korean movement inside the Demilitarized Zone, defense officials said Tuesday.

The initial planning phase for the 3.6 billion won ($3.1 million) project should be complete by next year, with further systems development slated through 2019, multiple defense officials told Stars and Stripes on condition of anonymity, which is customary in South Korea.

The sensors would be capable of notifying commanders of early-stage movement by North Korean special operations in the event of an attack, according to a statement from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Concerns over DMZ movement increased in August when two South Korean soldiers were maimed by land mines planted near a guard post. South Korean officials labeled the incident a “clear provocation” by North Korea and vowed retaliation. Pyongyang expressed regret for the incident but did not admit involvement.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

South Korea is looking to add further detection capabilities along the DMZ:

 As North Korea watchers look for signs of a missile launch in upcoming weeks, South Korea’s defense acquisition agency has announced it is producing “mini” drones for surveillance.

The drones, which will be distributed to South Korea’s army and marines in the next three years, have the ability to “surveil and transmit images on a real-time basis around the clock,” the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said in a statement.

The drones are 4.6 feet long, nearly 6 feet wide and can fly hour-long missions at speeds of up to 50 mph, Yonhap News reported.

Although DAPA’s statement did not mention North Korea, the drones are thought to be intended to monitor the Koreas’ tense land and sea border, which was the site of the latest provocation by Pyongyang last month. A land mine planted by the North exploded and maimed two South Korean soldiers while on routine patrol in the Demilitarized Zone.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

As the statistics in the below article show, Kim Jong-un’s tightening of border security has worked in regards to stemming the tide of defections across the DMZ:

A total of 65 North Koreans have crossed the tightly-patrolled land and sea borders with South Korea to defect to the capitalist country since 2010 with 15 of them breaking the borders undetected, a military report showed Tuesday.

The North Korean conscript who made it to a South Korean guard post near the eastern part of the military demarcation line (MDL) in June was among those who have crossed over, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s report submitted to Rep. Shon In-choon of the ruling Saenuri Party.

The soldier was not detected until after he had crossed the heavily-fortified border, spent one night near the South Korean military outpost and turned himself in the next day.

The episode sharply stoked skepticism over the South Korean military’s border guarding after a similar case was reported in the eastern section of the border in 2012.

Fifteen of the total 65 defectors have crossed the borders without being caught by border guards before the defectors turned themselves in or civilians reported them, according to the report.

The number of defections through borders reached 10 in 2010 and increased to 39 in 2011 before sinking to 5 the next year.

The number plunged to 1 in 2013 before edging up to 6 last year, a downward trend attributable to tightened border security under North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who took office in 2012.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

A unification observatory, a tourist attraction in Goseong, a town around 200 kilometers northeast of Seoul near the border, is closed for the third day on Aug. 23, 2015, amid military threats from North Korea, with high-level talks between the two neighbors slated to resume later in the day to discuss how to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula.  [Yonhap]

Serving with Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA) is an experience with a long history for US military servicemembers in Korea.  So when I was recently browsing through the Stars & Stripes archives this article about a KATUSA leading a US Army infantry squad caught my attention:

From the November 8, 1967 edition of the Stars & Stripes.

The KATUSA Sergeant J.S.Song due to his competence was chosen as a squad leader for Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division that served on the Korean Demilitarized Zone.  Back then just like today most KATUSAs are not given positions with such responsibility due to language and cultural differences.  The fact that Sergeant Song was given such a position especially back then when combat on the DMZ was a common occurrence shows how competent of a KATUSA Sergeant Song was.  Here is what his Platoon Sergeant Guy E. McKean and Sgt Song himself had to say about be given this leadership opportunity:

It is stories like this that makes me wonder if Sergeant Song ever did return to being a farmer after his service was completed.  If so he would be an old man now, but hopefully he still has good memories about his time leading US troops on the DMZ.

Not much really since the ROK is trying to balance showing action to their domestic audience and not broadcasting things that would upset the Kim regime to where it would make it very difficult for them to deescalate.  The propaganda speakers are also a bargaining chip because the ROK right now is broadcasting little propaganda, but could threaten to broadcast more if things do not deescalate:

The loudspeakers that the military is using consist of 40 or so high-output 500 watt digital speakers that are around 4m by 3m in size. During the day, the broadcasts can be heard more than 10km away in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. At night, the sound carries as far as 24km. At the moment, the messages are broadcast intermittently. North Korea also began broadcasting propaganda into South Korea on Aug. 17. Since North Korea is using antiquated analogue loudspeakers, its broadcasts are reportedly hard to even understand in South Korea. The broadcasts that the South Korean military is sending into North Korea typically are not very political, focusing more on news in North and South Korea, world affairs, and the weather. One female defector from North Korea also takes part in the broadcasts, telling the story of how she defected and talking about her life in South Korea. But the fact that South Korea could use the broadcasts to criticize the North Korean regime if it so chose appears to be putting pressure on North Korea.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.