Tag: DMZ

I would not be surprised if this is an old landmine that may have been washed out of the ground by rain:

A South Korean soldier in a frontline Army unit was wounded due to an unidentified explosion during a border defense mission earlier this week, officials said Wednesday.

The blast occurred Tuesday when the soldier was conducting a land clearing operation to ensure visibility near a general outpost of the Army’s First Corps that lies just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

He is currently receiving treatment for an injury to his toes, the officials said.

The military authorities are trying to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion, including the possibility of a stray landmine blast.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if North Korea makes a showcase of whoever this person is that defected. If they don’t that might be an indication this is a returning spy:

 South Korea’s military announced Sunday an unidentified person crossed the eastern inter-Korean land border into North Korea the previous night despite its eleventh-hour efforts to stop the move.

The person was spotted moving into the North across the Military Demarcation Line at around 10:40 p.m. on Saturday, some 80 minutes after being detected by surveillance equipment installed on the heavily fortified border, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS has yet to identify the person, with an investigation under way, its officials said.

After first detecting the person in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas at around 9:20 p.m., the military authorities sent troops to the scene to capture the person but failed, according to the JCS. 

“Due to various geographical conditions, including the mountain terrain, we failed (to capture the person),” a JCS official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

In a fact-finding process later, the authorities used monitoring equipment to find the person breaking through the barbed-wire fence to enter the DMZ at around 6:40 p.m. — an indication they remained unaware of the border breach for nearly three hours.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but DMZ violations that are detected hours afterwards has been ongoing issue for the ROK military which has relied more on technology than man power in recent years. However, if the people responsible for monitoring the technology are busy playing video games instead, the technology really doesn’t matter then.

Here was the last time U.S. troops were murdered by the North Koreans:

Service members from the U.S. and South Korea on Wednesday afternoon paid tribute to two American soldiers who were axed to death by North Korean troops 45 years ago. 

On Aug. 18, 1976, Capt. Arthur Bonifas, a Joint Security Force company commander, and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett, a platoon leader, were slain while trimming a tree at the Joint Security Area of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more about this incident from my prior posting that can be accessed below. Of interest in the Stars & Stripes article is that CPT Bonifas’ grandson is currently serving in Korea:

Bonifas’ legacy continues through his family. His daughter, who was 6 years old when he died, reached the rank of captain in the Army’s nursing program. 

Bonifas’ grandson, Spc. Andrew Arthur Bonifas, joined the Army in 2019 and serves as petroleum supply specialist with the 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, out of Fort Riley, Kansas.

“I wanted to join the military to follow my grandfather’s and my mom’s footsteps,” Andrew Bonifas said to Stars and Stripes in a phone interview Wednesday.

Andrew, who is currently stationed in Camp Humphreys, South Korea, visited Camp Bonifas during the July 4th weekend.

“It’s just really surreal,” he said.