5/1/2021 0 Comments North Korea Dmz Pics
Shin had to memorise every line from the armistice agreement drawn up at end of the Korean war in 1953.NK News reports South Korean soldiers on the border of North Korea.Photograph: PoolGetty Images South Korean soldiers on the border of North Korea.
Photograph: PoolGetty Images Published on Mon 21 Mar 2016 07.00 GMT O f the 130,000 South Korean soldiers conscripted every year, only a handful will ever get to see their sworn enemies in the flesh. They are the ones stationed at the demilitarised zone that separates the two Koreas. The area, commonly known as the DMZ, is one of the most fortified borders in the world separating two countries that have technically remained at war since 1953. It also a serves as a tourist attraction, visited by thousands of people a year. Tensions along the border have been raised since two South Korean officers were gravely injured by a landmine last August. Seoul immediately blamed Pyongyang, who rejected the allegations but declared the country on a war footing. ![]() Once I heard a click under my boots and I could feel the shivers down my spine, he said, recounting a near miss on patrol. I think I just stepped on a mine, he told his fellow soldiers who immediately ran away and left him. I couldnt even scream as our regular patrol had to be done in absolute silence, Shin said. Later the officer in charge came with a knife and carefully dug the ground under Shins foot only to reveal that he had stepped on a tin can. A group of South Korean soldiers on patrol in the DMZ Photograph: Kim Jae-HwanEPA Yes, I was ridiculed later, but we all knew it could happen to any of us at any time, Shin said. Regular explosions heard in the middle of the night, usually caused by small animals stepping on mines, served as a constant reminder of the dangers, he added. Sub-zero conditions 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. Its 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. ![]()
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