Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Korean Demilitarized Zone

Episode Date: October 2, 2021

In the early 1950s, war ravaged the Korean peninsula. However, the fighting ceased on July 27, 1953. Both sides of the conflict pulled back from the front and created a buffer zone 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles wide. That buffer zone still exists today. Learn more about the Korean Demilitarized Zone, its past and present, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early 1950s, war ravaged the Korean Peninsula. However, the fighting ceased on July 27, 1953. Both sides of the conflict pulled back from the front and created a buffer zone 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles wide. That buffer zone still exists today. Learn more about the Korean demilitarized zone. It's past and present on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Do you ever climb into bed ready to sleep only to have your mind start racing the moment your head hits the pillow?

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Once again, that's everything-everywhere.com slash masterclass. Korean War, or the Korean conflict, as it's often called, began with the division of the Peninsula after World War II. Korea had been occupied by the Japanese, and after the war, the decision was made in 1945 to divide Korea into Soviet and American occupation zones, similar to how Germany had been divided. The Americans proposed to divide the country at the 38th parallel, and the Soviets, to the surprise of the Americans, agreed. This division of the country was only intended to be temporary. However, with the rise of the Cold War and increasingly strained relations between the U.S. and Soviets, an agreement couldn't be reached as to the future of a unified Korea.

Eventually, in August of 1948, the Republic of Korea, aka South Korea, was declared, and three weeks later, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, aka North Korea, was created. The North was supported by the Soviet Union and the South by the United States. Both countries claimed to be the true government of the entire Korean Peninsula, and the two countries were extremely hostile towards each other. These tensions boiled over on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded the South in an attempt to unify the two countries. The initial invasion was extremely successful,

pushing the South Korean Army and the Americans down to a small corner in the southeastern part of the peninsula by September. However, within just two months of the greatest extent of the North Korean advance, the South Koreans and Americans had pushed them back to the Chinese border in November. At this point, the Chinese entered the war and pushed the South Koreans and Americans back to approximately where the original border was, and that was where the war was mostly fought for the next several years. After almost two years of negotiation, on July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed between North Korea, the People's Republic of China, and the United States. South Korea never signed the armistice, and still hasn't signed it to this day. The organization created to oversee the armistice was the United Nations Command, Military Armistist Commission, Korea, and it still serves this function today.

The armistice, like the original division of the peninsula, was only intended to be temporary, but it has now been in effect almost 70 years. In addition to a cessation of hostility, the armistice also created two geographical entities. The first was the military demarcation line, or the MDL. This is the de facto border between North and South Korea. The MDL is simply the front where the two sides were fighting at the time of the Armist. The MDL is defined by a series of 1,292 metal signs, which were posted along its 248 kilometer or 154 mile length. Each sign is identical with the words military demarcation line

written in Korean and Chinese on the north-facing side and in Korean and English on the south-facing side. The signs have not been changed or repaired in almost 70 years and are now rusting and dilapidated. The second geographic feature, which was created by the Armististice, is the demilitarized zone, or DMZ. The armistice stipulated that each side pulled their troops back two kilometers, so that there was a four-kilometer buffer between them. The Americans originally wanted a 20-mile buffer zone, but eventually settled for four kilometers. One of the oversights in the Armisticeist Agreement is that it never dealt with the border at sea. This is especially problematic with the western side of the peninsula, which has many islands.

There were five islands that were specified in the armistice which were under the control of South Korea, some of which are very close to the North Korean mainland. While the islands are South Korean, the line in the water separating the two countries is undefined, and has been a source of conflict over the years. The armistice stipulates that each side may have a populated village within the DMZ. The village of De Song Dong is located in South Korea and as a population of just under 200 people. The people who live there get special perks, including an exemption from the military service and tax breaks. On the north side of the DMZ, located just one mile away from De Song Dong, is the North Korean village of Qijong Dong.

It is known in the north as the Peace Village, and it's home to one of the world's biggest flagpoles. And it's also home to loudspeakers at blast propaganda 20 hours a day. It isn't believed that there's any actual permanent residence in Qijong Dong. It's only inhabited by soldiers and supporting personnel. Most of the buildings, when observed with a high-power telescope, appear to just be hollow concrete shells and don't even have windows. Technically, military forces are not allowed inside the DMZ. However, a police force is allowed inside the DMZ.

What's the difference between an armed soldier and an armed police officer? An armband that says DMZ police, of course. The South Korean DMZ police are usually military trained and are required to know the entire armistist agreement by heart, word for word. If you remember back to my episode on the Korean Axe Murder Incident, there's one special area of the DMZ known as the Joint Security Area, or the JSA. It's also known as Pamun Zhang, which is the name of the village where the armistice was signed in 1953.

The JSA is the only place where North and South Korean troops are actually close to each other. The entire JSA is technically run by the United Nations Command. Prior to the Axe Murder incident in 1976, the entire JSA was considered neutral, and either side could roam freely inside of it. Since then, the MDL has been strictly enforced, and now no one can cross. If you've ever seen photos of soldiers at the Korean border or a table that straddles the border, this is where it was taken. This is also the only place where border crossings can actually take place, which happens very infrequently. The Joint Security Area has several buildings that the MDL runs through, including the original conference room where the armistice was signed. About 100,000 tourists per year visit the JSA from the south.

Each visitor has to sign a waiver indicating, quote, The visit to the joint security area at Pamun John will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action. Unquote. I've spoken of the terms of the armistice several times, but I don't want to give it. the impression that it's something that both sides have scrupulously observed. It's been violated hundreds of times by both sides. One of the terms of

the agreement is that no new weapons may be brought into the Korean Peninsula, and that obviously has been repeatedly broken. There's also been at least four attempts by North Korea to tunnel under the DMZ. When initially caught, the North Korean said that they were mining for coal,

even though the tunnels went through solid granite. They went so far as to paint the walls of some of the tunnels black, so it looked like coal. The southern part of the DMZ also has another line called the Civilian Control Line, or CCL. It's located anywhere from 5 to 20 kilometers from the southern edge of the DMZ, and it's designed to control civilian movement within the DMZ. There has been one unintended consequence of the creation of the DMZ. With only occasional policing patrols, the entire area has become a de facto wildlife sanctuary. At approximately 1,000 square kilometers, it has become one of the best

preserved habitats in the world. There are several endangered species in the DMZ, including the red-crowned crane, the white-napped crane, the Korean fox, and the Asiatic Black Bear. The idea of turning the DMZ into a national park first arose in 1966, and the subject has come up many times since then. Billionaire Ted Turner has offered to fund whatever was necessary to turn the area into a peace park, and there has been a movement to turn it into a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. Despite 70 years of sporadic conflict along the DMZ, there have been some recent steps taken to de-escalate tensions. In 2018, talks were held where both sides agreed to dismantle 10 guard posts along the DMZ, along with their associated equipment and weapons. There's also been a no-fly zone established along the DMZ for drones, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and even balloons.

Likewise, there's also been an effort to clean up landmines in the area. The demilitarized zone has been in place for so long that regardless of what happens in the future on the Korean Peninsula, at least some vestige of it will probably remain. Either as a historical attraction or a national park, the timber recreation of 1953 might just have become a permanent feature on the Korean Peninsula. The associate producers of Everything Everywhere Daily are Peter Bennett and Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please join the list of patrons over at patreon.com. And also remember, if you leave a review or send me a question, you two can have it read on the show.