This is true. I go back every year.

And, in case anyone doesn't know this, the tallest man in the world is Chinese, so yes, there ARE some very tall folks in Asia (though they are certainly not a majority).

BTW: I am 6'4", and the Koreans used to always stare at me whenever I was down in the villages.  It used to crack me up!

We had one KATUSA that was 6-3 and the Korean Judo Champion... Badass all the way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJqB1vOhMTU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkz6TYjD5_w&feature=related

Hardcore motherfuckers on both sides.  My brother went to the DMZ recently and was dwarfed by the size of some of the ROK guards, and he's not tiny.

The DMZ has a lot of interesting stories, including the Axe Murder Incident and Operation Paul Bunyan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_Murder_Incident

The Axe Murder Incident (Korean: 판문점 도끼 살인 사건) was the killing of two United States Army officers by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976 in the Joint Security Area (JSA) located in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which forms the de facto border between North and South Korea. The killings and the response three days later (Operation Paul Bunyan) heightened tensions between North and South Korea as well as their respective allies, China and the United States.

The incident is also known as the Hatchet Incident and the Poplar Tree Incident because the object of the conflict was a poplar tree standing in the JSA.

In the JSA, near the Bridge of No Return, a 100 ft (30 m) poplar tree blocked the line of sight between a United Nations Command (UNC) checkpoint (CP #3) and observation post (OP) #5.

CP#3, situated next to the Bridge of No Return, was the northernmost UNC checkpoint and only visible from OP#5 during the winter months. During the summer months, only the top of CP#3 was visible from one other UNC checkpoint (CP#2). Running across the middle of the bridge was the Military Demarcation Line between North Korean and South Korean territories. The Korean People's Army (KPA) had made numerous attempts to grab UNC personnel from CP#3 and drag them across the bridge into North Korean territory.[citation needed] The proximity to North Korean territory and the North Korean checkpoints on all access routes, along with the repeated attempts to kidnap the UNC personnel working there, led to CP#3 being referred to as “The Loneliest Outpost in the World”.

On August 18, 1976, a group of five Korean Service Corps (KSC) personnel escorted by a UNC security team consisting of the Joint Security Force (JSF) Company Commander (Captain Arthur Bonifas), his South Korean (ROK) Army counterpart, Captain Kim, the platoon leader of the current platoon in the area (1st Lt. Mark Barrett), and 11 enlisted personnel, both American and South Korean, went into the JSA to trim the tree as previously scheduled with the KPA delegation. The two captains did not wear sidearms, as members of the Joint Security Area were limited to only five armed officers and 30 armed enlisted personnel at a time. However, there were mattocks in the back of the 2½ ton truck. The KSC workers had the axes they brought to prune the tree branches. The tree had been scheduled to be trimmed seven days earlier, but rain had forced the work to be rescheduled.

After trimming began, 15 to 16 KPA soldiers appeared, commanded by Senior Lt. Pak Chul, whom the UNC soldiers had previously nicknamed 'Lt. Bulldog' due to a history of confrontations.[1][2] Pak and his subordinates appeared to observe the trimming without concern for approximately 15 minutes, until he abruptly told the UNC to cease the activity stating the tree could not be trimmed "because Kim Il sung personally planted it and nourished it and it’s growing under this supervision."[3] Capt. Bonifas ordered the detail to continue, and turned his back on 'Lt. Bulldog'.

After being ignored by Capt. Bonifas, Pak Chul sent a runner across the Bridge of No Return. Within minutes a North Korean guard truck crossed the bridge and approximately 20 more North Korean guards disembarked carrying crowbars and clubs. Pak Chul again demanded that the tree trimming stop, and when Capt. Bonifas again turned his back on him, Pak Chul removed his watch, carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, placed it in his pocket, and then shouted "Kill them!" as he swung a karate chop to the back of Capt. Bonifas' neck[4]. Using axes dropped by the tree-trimmers, the KPA forces attacked the two U.S. soldiers, Capt. Bonifas and Lt. Barrett, and wounded all but one of the UNC guards.[5][1]

While Capt. Bonifas died instantly, Lt. Barrett jumped a low wall which led into a 15 ft. (4½ m) deep tree-filled depression. The depression was not visible from the road. The entire fight lasted for only about 20–30 seconds before the UNC Force managed to disperse the KPA guards and place Capt. Bonifas' body in their truck.[4] However, there was no sign of Lt. Barrett and the two UNC guards at OP#5 could not spot him.

They did, however, observe the KPA guards grab (by the heels) approximately 5 members of their own force and drag them back across the bridge. They also observed the KPA guards at KPA#8 (along the UNC emergency egress road) exhibiting strange behaviour, in that one guard would take an axe and go down into the depression for a couple of minutes and then come back up and hand the axe to another guard who would repeat the process. This went on for approximately 90 minutes until the UNC guards at OP#5 were informed that Lt. Barrett was missing, at which time they informed their superiors about the KPA activity in the depression. A search and rescue squad was quickly dispatched and found Lt. Barrett.[6]

A helicopter on a training mission was also sent to the location (its crew issued yellow armbands and .45 automatics) and used for a medevac, but Barrett did not survive.

A corporal witnessed the attack from OP#5 and recorded the incident with a movie camera.

Shortly after the incident, North Korean media began airing reports of the fight. The DPRK version stated:

"Around 10:45 a.m. today, the American imperialist aggressors sent in 14 hoodlums with axes into the Joint Security Area to cut the trees on their own accord, although such a work should be mutually consented beforehand. Four persons from our side went to the spot to warn them not to continue the work without our consent. Against our persuasion, they attacked our guards en masse and committed a serious provocative act of beating our men, wielding murderous weapons and depending on the fact that they outnumbered us. Our guards could not but resort to self-defense measures under the circumstances of this reckless provocation."

Within four hours of the attack, Kim Jong-il (son of the DPRK leader Kim Il-sung) addressed the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he presented a prepared document describing the incident as an unprovoked attack on North Korean guards, led by American officers. He then introduced a resolution asking the conference to condemn that day's grave U.S. provocation and called on participants to endorse both the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea and the dissolution of the United Nations Command, which was seconded by Cuba. With such a short time since the incident, and with details still sketchy, members of the conference passed the resolution.[7]

Operation Paul Bunyan

In response to the "Axe Murder Incident," the UN Command determined that instead of trimming the branches that obscured visibility, they would cut down the tree with the aid of overwhelming force. The operation, named after mythical lumberjack Paul Bunyan, was conceived as a US/South Korean show of force, but was also carefully managed to prevent further escalation. It was planned over two days by General Richard G. Stilwell and his staff at the UNC headquarters in Seoul.

Operation Paul Bunyan was carried out on August 21 at 7 AM, just three days after the killings. A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles (‘Task Force Vierra’, named for Lieutenant Colonel Victor S. Vierra, commander of the United States Army Support Group) drove into the JSA without any warning to the North Koreans, who only had one observation post manned at that early hour. In the vehicles were two eight-man teams of military engineers (from the 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division) equipped with chain-saws to cut down the tree. These teams were accompanied by two 30-man security platoons from the Joint Security Force, who were armed with pistols and axe handles. The 2nd Platoon would secure the northern entrance to the JSA via the “Bridge of No Return”, while the 3rd Platoon would secure the southern edge of the area.

Concurrently, a team from B Company, commanded by CPT Walter Seifried, had activated the detonation systems for the charges on Freedom Bridge and had the 165mm main gun of the CEV aimed mid-span to ensure that the bridge would fall should the order be given for its destruction. Also B Company, supporting E Company (Bridge), commanded by CPT Williams, were building M4T6 rafts on the Imjin River should the situation require emergency evacuation by that route.

In addition, a 64-man ROK special forces company accompanied them, armed with clubs and trained in Tae Kwon Do, supposedly without firearms. However, once they parked their trucks near the Bridge of No Return, they started throwing out the sandbags that lined the truck bottoms, and handing out M-16 rifles and M-79 grenade launchers that had been concealed below. Several of the special forces men also had Claymore mines strapped to their chests with the firing mechanism in their hands, and were shouting at the North Koreans to cross the bridge.[9]

A U.S. infantry company in 20 utility helicopters and 7 Cobra attack helicopters circled behind them. Behind these helicopters, B-52 bombers escorted by U.S. F-4 fighters from Kunsan Air Base and ROK F-5 fighters were visible flying across the sky at high altitude. At Osan Air Base, F-111 fighters had been armed and fueled, ready to take off at short notice. The aircraft carrier Midway task force had also been moved to a station just offshore. In addition, near the edges of the DMZ, many more heavily armed U.S. and ROK infantry, artillery (which included the 2nd Bn/71st ADA (HAWK) in the 2ID/ICorps area), and armor were waiting to back up the special operations team. The bases near the DMZ were prepared for demolition in the case of a military response. The defense condition (DEFCON) was elevated on order of Gen. Stillwell, as recounted in Col. De LaTeur's research paper later.

Altogether, Task Force Vierra consisted of 813 men: almost all of the men of the United States Army Support Group, of which the Joint Security Force was a part; a ROK reconnaissance company; a ROK Special Forces company which had infiltrated the river area by the bridge the night before; and members of a reinforced composite rifle company from the 9th Infantry Regiment. In addition to this force, every UNC force in the rest of South Korea was on full battle alert with all weapons loaded, ready to fire if needed.

The engineers in the convoy — two teams from B Company and C Company, 2d Engineer Battalion, led by 1LT Patrick Ono, who had two days before conducted a recon of the tree disguised as a Korea Corporal — disembarked from their vehicles once the convoy arrived, and immediately started cutting down the tree while standing on the roof of their truck, while the 2nd Platoon truck was positioned to block the Bridge of No Return. The remainder of the task force dispersed to their assigned areas around the tree and assumed their roles of guarding the engineers.

North Korea quickly responded with about 150–200 troops, armed with machine guns and assault rifles. The North Korean troops arrived mostly in buses, but did not leave them at first, watching the events unfold. Upon seeing their arrival, LTC Vierra relayed a radio communication, whereupon the helicopters and Air Force jets became visible over the horizon. The North Koreans quickly disembarked from their buses and began setting up two-man machine gun positions, where they watched in silence as the tree fell in 42 minutes, avoiding a violent confrontation. Also removed were two road barriers installed by the North Koreans, while the South Korean troops also vandalized two North Korean guard posts. The stump of the tree, almost 6 m (20 feet) tall, was deliberately left as a reminder.

Aftermath

Although the operation was carried out peacefully, there was concern that it could spark a wider conflict. The incident led to increased tensions along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, but did not develop into full-scale war. Some shots were fired at the US helicopter which, carrying Major General Morris Brady, circled Panmunjon later that day, but nobody was injured. The fire stopped abruptly when six Cobras banked line abreast and swung into firing position, their laser sights illuminating the North Korean gun position.

The United Nations Command had demanded that the North Koreans “punish those involved and make adequate reparations to the families of those killed and injured”. Later on the day of Operation Paul Bunyan, they received a message from Kim Il-sung expressing regret at the incident without accepting responsibility. While not going far enough to satisfy a previously discussed ‘acceptable’ Northern response, the US administration decided to emphasize this as a step in the right direction, clearly not intent on further escalation.

The Joint Security Area's Advance Camp (Camp Kitty Hawk) was later renamed Camp Bonifas in honor of the slain company commander.[10] The site of the tree, the stump of which was cut down in 1987, became the location of a stone monument with a brass plate inscribed in the memory of both men. The UN command has held commemorative ceremonies at the monument on anniversaries.[11][12]

The close-by UNC checkpoint (CP#3, situated next to the Bridge of No Return) was no longer used after the mid-1980s, when cement-filled posts were placed in the road to make vehicle passage impossible.

The incident also prompted the Military Demarcation Line to be enforced throughout the Joint Security Area, with the exception of the blue buildings on the line.

Those ROK guards are badasses, period. They stand that way to intimidate the north. They're well fed, around 160-175, and usually around 6 feet. They're the baddest that South Korea has, and they are giants compared to the short skinny soldiers from the north.

I wrote a screenplay based on the book "DMZ - A Story of the Panmunjom Axe Murder" by Maj. Wayne A. Kirkbride (Ret). It's making the rounds in Hollywood now.

Pretty much...

While I was in Korea, my unit did an 'exchange' program with our counterparts in ROK Army Avaition...

We showed our Korean visitors our aircraft, how we do maintainance, etc... Day in the life of a US Army helo mechanic, etc...

Their 'Day in the life' for our guys was PT & combat training....

The ROK Army is about as badass as you'd expect, for having their mortal enemies right across the border, within arty range of their capital...

They were standing like this when I took these 24 Mar 06.

Here is a pic of NK guards trying to intimidate tourists inside...

From what I hear, we aren't there to keep the North from going south, rather we are there to make sure the South doesn't head North! I'd believe it, I've heard that the combat arms especially of the ROK are pretty damn bad ass warriors. I had a math teacher in college who was a KATSUA, total vag so I would believe it.

Steve

It is also more subtle things too, like showing that the North is starving but the stature of the South reflects a good economy and prosperity.

Now you see!

Many things are perceived as status. The position at the table, who's chair is taller or of better quality, where the light shines thru from the window. Everything reflects a struggle for dominance and a show of superiority. The North is tremendously scared of losing control of the population. So we live through an amazing hell on a day to day basis. In the last 10 or 15 years people have grown more mentally independent, so the party ramps up it's efforts to control everyone.

Anyway, the South is stuck in a situation of countering all of this. They fear a war with the North (although the under 40 year olds don't believe it will ever happen) and they fear the DPRK collapsing and a flood of refugees pouring in like East Germany. So the S. Korean government is very calculating in it's responses, down to the smallest details. I think part of this is the nature of Korean culture anyway.

So to use a phrase "it's all on the table" and "everything counts in small amounts"

I had a DMZ thread awhile ago, posting the link from the archive for additional info, check out the link in that thread I posted of videos a guy took as a tourist in North Korea, pretty funny stuff.








 

One of my earliest memories, was when I was in school, I remember being taught math this way "If 5 American soldiers cross a river and you kill 2, how many are left"

So, you escaped from North Korea?





 

Yes

Wow, congratulations!

 

When I was in the Navy, I was assigned to an LPD, amphibous transport. We had a detachment of ROK Marines onboard for a landing exercise.

They are bad ass, and brushed their teeth with the salt water from the toilets.

They would also leave foot prints on the toilet seats cause they would squat over the seat, rather than sit on it.

I'm glad you made it.  I hope your family was able to make it, too.

on their stance:

http://www.f-106deltadart.com/Korea-DMZ/rokready.htm

I talked a little about it in this thread

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=847048

Where is that pic of the two tall soldiers from America and South Korea and the midget from north korea?


Thats why they stand that way, and they definately choose who stands guard.

In that building that tourists go into that spans the border, there is a door at each end, and entrance for NK on one side, SK on the other.
















 

This guard is in front of the NK door.

Yeow...

Most of the folks who use 'PRK' as their loc are doing it to slight California...

You lived there...

Damn!

I've seen the place through binos from the ROK side.... Never met anyone who's actually LIVED there.....

And see the white area on the wall to the left of the guard, that is where the second SK guard holds on while the other SK guard locks the door to NK.

 

Better view of the door to NK.

NK guard looking at me.

Cool pics, BTW!

 

Well, I am slighting California too, so it's a double whammy for me. Technically we haven't actually met but we might run into each other at the SHOT show or may'be around Tacoma/Lynwood and Fort Lewis, WA. I will happily buy you some Soju or whatever you prefer for your service to the nation and for protecting the ROK.

FGG- thanks for your posts in this thread.  Also, your .sig is awesome.

Yes, I always forget to check my inbox.

I had an Army uncle who served in Korea, but I'm not sure if it was on the DMZ. The two nations are technically still at war, and hostilities could break  out at any minute.

I wouldn't mess with him.

What's on his hip?

Thanks for the info. I will probably never get there in my lifetime, but you explain it pretty clearly, and the pic helps immensely.

This is what goes on just across the DMZ.



Branded for life by North Korea
Published: March 30, 2009 at 6:41 PM

By MARC S. ELLENBOGEN
UPI International Columnist

MELBOURNE, March 30 (UPI) –– He sits on stage –– gaunt, pale and uncomfortable. With each question, he winces and curls his lip –– pained by the intense memories. Born in North Korea's No. 14 Kaechon Political Prison Camp, it was the only life Shin Dong-hyuk had known until his escape. At 24, he was branded –– and already long abused –– by North Korea's despicable political system.

The only known escapee of a system that has 170,000 involuntary internees, Shin is quiet and unassuming. Every word he speaks is moving –– bringing this columnist and many in the room to a tear. Pain is written in every move he makes, every word he utters. His guilt could carry the world on its shoulders.

"I got out in 2005, but my friend did not," Shin said. "My friend threw himself on the electric fence so I could climb over him to freedom."

"He gave his life for me," Shin says in a voice of controlled pained rage. As a teenager, Shin was forced to watch the execution of his mother and brother. They had been accused of plotting to get out of the camp.

In late 2004, the young man who would give his life for Shin arrived from Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. They became friends, shared rations and sometimes ate dead birds or rats. Meat was not allowed in the camp. Shin had never had a friend, never knew trust and never knew warmth. It didn't last long at all. "There was a brief period when I believed and hoped. But it died along with everything else," said Shin, who now lives in South Korea.

Shin was born in 1982 as Shin In Kun. (His current name is South Korean.) His father, Shin Kyong-sop, was arrested sometime in 1965. The North Korean secret police came before dawn, carted away all the furniture and dumped the family in Camp No. 14. Shin's father was the 11th of 12 brothers. "From the moment they were abducted and separated, they were treated as beast," Shin said.

Shin is riddled with guilt. He does not feel he gave his father's name honor. He knows his brother was born a few years before him, "but I almost do not remember him." Shin saw his brother only three or four times before he was executed. "I lived with my mother for 12 years. She was a farmer and started work every day at 5 a.m. She returned home every night at 11 p.m. I have little memory of any affection between us."

"My cousin was raped in the camp at 22. The guards began to fondle her. Her mother, my aunt, protested. So the guards tied my aunt up to a tree and forced her to watch the rape of her daughter in broad daylight."

Shin's aunt told everyone she could in the camp about the rape. Soon afterward, his aunt disappeared. "Nobody knows what happened to her," he said. "And that is what happens; one by one everyone disappears."

Shin fears his entire line will disappear: "One day, my family might all be gone from this earth."

The tragic thing is that it is not only Shin's family's story. All the families in these sick camps suffer a similar fate. All of the abused, unfairly abducted, corralled "prisoners" mostly disappear.

In April 1996, Shin was taken by handcuff from his schoolhouse while blindfolded. He found himself descending into a dark underground chamber. He was brought to an empty room, plopped on a chair. He was shown a sheet of paper. On it, appeared the names of his father's brothers, two of whom had supported South Korea during the Korean War. "I wrote my name and placed my fingerprint on the bottom of the document."

The next day, he was taken to a torture chamber; Shin was 14. All kinds of torture instruments were around him. He was stripped, his legs were cuffed and his hands were tied with a rope. "I was hung by my legs and hands from the ceiling. Someone told me to confess the truth about an escape plan. I said I knew nothing."

"I had no fear. Even today my lack of fear remains a mystery to me. A charcoal fire was started and brought near to my back. I felt the intense heat and shrieked. I struggled hard to avoid the flames. My torturers pierced me with a steel hook near my groin. I blacked out. I don't know how long I was unconscious. But I awoke –– rocked by my own feces and urine."

It is hard to listen to Shin Dong-hyuk's story. It is so wrenching, so intense; it is hard to digest, never mind to write about with any objectivity.

My friend Michael Danby, a member of the Australian Parliament from Melbourne, pushed to have the Ninth International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees in Australia. He has helped many North Koreans. The spiritual mentor of these sessions is the grand man Benjamin Yoon of the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. He is an old friend of former Czech President Vaclav Havel, and I had met him in Prague. Next year's 10th session is in Toronto.

I sit with Shin as he gets off the stage. With him is Sun Mo, a modern artist and escapee from North Korea. I hope to see them in Seoul in May.

As I look at Shin Dong-hyuk, I want to say something comforting. He looks at me briefly but turns away.

He reminds me of a lost cat looking for comfort.

As he walks away from the table, he turns back –– a pained, tortured nod in my direction.

Welcome to North Korea –– the Democratic People's Republic.

The rich send their pregnant wives to America to have babies.

Cause, that way the kids are American and don't have to serve in the S. Korean Military when they reach the age for compulsory service.

Aloha, Mark

The only soldiers in the world I'd be as scared to fight as American troops would be ROK troops. Unlike certain other allies who we've served alongside while guarding them from nasty SOBs across their border, the South Koreans aren't wimps. Those guys are tough suckers... if they and the Norks ever go to war, the Norks may shell Seoul into oblivion on day 1, but days 2 through the end will consist of an ROK-imposed buttrape of the North Koreans the likes of which have never been seen.