Category: DMZ

1969 began as a particularly deadly year for U.S. troops in South Korea. In January an EC-121 intelligence gathering plane was shot down over international airspace by a North Korean MIG jet that killed 31 American servicemembers. The deadly attack was just one of many from this time period has been called “DMZ War“. North Korea continued its DMZ War when in on October 18, 1969 it ambushed a U.S. Army truck traveling near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) killing 4 U.S. Soldiers.

The four U.S. Soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division were traveling in a truck marked with a white flag and labeled with a sign that said “DMZ Police” when they were ambushed by a North Korean patrol with rifle fire and grenades. The North Koreans then went up to the truck and shot each soldier in the head at close range to ensure they were dead. The ambush killed Staff Sergeant James R. Grissinger, Specialist Charles E. Taylor, Specialist Jack L. Morris, and Private First Class William E. Grimes.

Following the attack U.S. and ROK troops patrolled the area in an attempt to locate the intruders. Four North Korean commandoes were spotted and engaged by a U.S. patrol. However, the commandoes successfully escaped back across the DMZ into North Korea with no casualties. Three days later the four soldiers were remembered during a ceremony prior to their honor flight back home.

Few know or remember this period of increased North Korean attacks that killed and wounded hundreds of U.S. soldiers who served on the DMZ.  The U.S. and ROK military’s success in the DMZ War had important strategic consequences that unfortunately the four 7th Infantry Division soldiers killed in the truck ambush would never live to see.

For more DMZ Flashpoints articles please click the below link:

In the Korea Times, historian Robert Neff has a good article published about the 1982 defection of Private First Class Joseph White to North Korea that I recommend everyone read:

On August 28, 1982, at about 2 a.m., the sound of a single gunshot shattered the silence of the Panmunjeom region of Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).  

Gunfire along the DMZ was not uncommon, and while it was alarming, none could have imagined that it signified the unthinkable ― the defection of an American soldier to North Korea.

The incident occurred at Guard Post Oullette, one of the most forward American positions at that time in South Korea. PFC Joseph T. White, a member of the 1st Battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment, was alone at his post when he shot off the lock of one of the gates leading into the 2.5-mile-wide DMZ, and made his way into one of most heavily fortified and mined zones in the world.

White was equipped with an M-16 with an attached grenade launcher, ammo, night-vision goggles, operating instructions for radio equipment and some unclassified information on radar and sensor systems, but all of these were left behind except his weapon and ammo. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I have never heard of a park that can stop invading troops and tanks. Too bad Syngman Rhee did not know about this back in 1950:

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday that turning the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that bisects the two Koreas into a global peace zone will serve as a “physical guarantee of security” and solidify peace in the region.

She made the remark as Seoul was marking the 74th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, referring to President Moon Jae-in’s proposal to the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month. 

“When the DMZ is turned into such a peace zone with the participation of the international community, it will surely serve as a physical guarantee of security of both Koreas, cement the foundation for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and contribute to greater peace and stability in Northeast Asia,” Kang told a U.N. Day ceremony held in Seoul.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the United Nations Command is not to eager to move forward with the Moon administration’s so called “Peace Park” within the DMZ:

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Monday that South Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC) are cooperating closely to narrow “differences” on how to enforce rules restricting entry to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Kim made the remark during a parliamentary audit in response to a lawmaker’s call for a need to “supplement” UNC regulations on passage in the DMZ that bisect the two Koreas. The UNC has jurisdiction over the area.

“There have been differences in opinions (between the government and the UNC) over matters involving entry to and exit from the DMZ and passage of the MDL (military demarcation line),” Kim told lawmakers. “We are now closely in discussion to narrow the differences.”

“While keeping safety measures in place, I think there should be regulatory supplementation with regard to entry to and exit from the DMZ when it has a non-military nature,” he added. “Under the armistice agreement, the right for permission is confined to things with military character.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The swine flu is reportedly out of control in North Korea and the infected wild pigs have caused the disease to spread to South Korea. To stop the spread snipers have been placed around the DMZ to shoot the pigs:

South Korea will send military snipers and civilian hunters to its northern border Tuesday to eliminate wayward, contagion-carrying pigs from Kim Jong Un’s reclusive neighboring state.

The government will also use thermal vision drones to search for hogs infected with African swine fever near the civilian control line, a buffer region near the strip of land dividing the Korean Peninsula, the agriculture ministry said Sunday. The intensified measures aim to exterminate feral pigs in areas including Incheon, Seoul, Goseong and Bukhan River.

Five wild boars were found dead in or near border areas this month before being tested positive for the viral hemorrhagic disease, officials in South Korea said. The finding reflects the freedom with which animals roam the area, and hints at a spillover of the deadly virus from North Korea, where unofficial reports indicate the disease is spreading out of control.

Bloomberg

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if the Poles return to the DMZ, this time on the Southern side:

Poland, once a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), could re-establish its presence in the demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula if asked to do so by its counterparts, said Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz during his recent visit to Seoul. 

“At this moment the Polish mission is unable to implement its mandate in its initial location north of the 38th parallel, because after the political transformation established in Europe in 1989, the DPRK expelled Poland from the DMZ,” Minister Czaputowicz told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Monday, during his visit to meet with his counterpart South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, using the acronyms for North Korea’s official name, which is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and DMZ for the demilitarized zone, located between the two Koreas. 

As Poland already has an embassy in Pyongyang, established in 1950, the minister was speaking of the presence the Polish government had in the demilitarized zone as a member of the NNSC, from 1953 to 1995. North Korea expelled the Polish presence in 1995 following the collapse of communism in Poland and its joining of NATO in 1989.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the efforts to stop the spread of swine flu in South Korea:

South Korea is using helicopters to disinfect the border area to combat the spread of African swine fever (ASF) after it found a wild boar carcass infected with the deadly virus in the demilitarized zone.

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the government has started to disinfect the entire border area north of the civilian-restricted zone, starting with the DMZ in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi on Friday, where the infected wild animal was found.

It notified North Korea of the measures and is conducting fumigation with approval from the United Nations Command. Seven fumigation helicopters from the Korea Forest Service will disinfect the area over the next seven days with soil disinfectants such as quicklime. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The ROK Minister of Unification, Kim Yeon-Chul, & distinguished guests visited the Joint Security Area, hosted by UNC Deputy Commander, Vice Admiral Stuart Mayer. The visit included additional stops in the DMZ & a tour of the Paju Peace Trail which officially opens today. pic.twitter.com/uUlxV5BWuA

— United Nations Command (@UN_Command) August 9, 2019

Whatever you say:

 An unidentified object detected on military radars flying near the border with North Korea turned out to be a flock of birds, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday, after the detection prompted fighter jets to scramble.

Earlier in the day, the JCS said that the military “is checking and taking measures after the military radar captured an unidentified object in the sky above the Demilitarized Zone in the central portion of the inter-Korean border in Gangwon Province at around 1 p.m.

The object was found some 4.5 kilometers above the ground, inside the no-fly zone that the two Koreas set up along the border under the inter-Korean military agreement signed in September last year, according to a JCS officer.

“Upon spotting that, the military deployed several jets in response, which later confirmed that the trace was made by around 20 birds, which were presumed to be wild geese,” the officer said. 

While scrambling the jets, the South Korean military sent a notification to North Korea via the inter-Korean military communication channel in accordance with the military pact in order to prevent any accidental clashes, he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have heard of doppler radar picking up geese, but you would think the ROK would have more sensors to detect aircraft than just a doppler radar.