[Book Review] DMZ, Proposed First by the UK... The Fence Originated from Vietnam

70 Years of the Korean Peninsula Demilitarized Zone
Shedding Light on Lesser-Known History
Identifying Issues and Prospects for Peaceful Future

The History of the DMZ | Written by Han Monikka | Dolbegae | 540 pages | 27,000 KRW

The modern and contemporary history of the Korean Peninsula is a record of pain stained by the power struggles of great powers. After enduring the Japanese colonial period, the brief joy of liberation was soon followed by the division of the territory along the 38th parallel into Soviet and American zones of control. At the time, this was regarded as a process of establishing independent states, but the subsequent Korean War split the peninsula’s midsection with the armistice line. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), established after the 1953 armistice agreement to prevent armed conflict, has now lasted 70 years. The author, affiliated with Seoul National University’s Institute for Unification and Peace Studies, who has focused on the history of the Korean War and the border areas between North and South Korea, closely examines the past records and present state of the DMZ to envision a future of peace.

An interesting aspect of the book is its illumination of lesser-known facts about the DMZ. One such fact is that the first country to propose the DMZ was the United Kingdom. It is commonly believed that the DMZ was discussed around the armistice negotiations in July 1953, but in reality, it was first proposed in November 1950?just about five months after the outbreak of the war on June 25, 1950. The decisive reason was the fear of escalation following the Chinese military intervention.

The UK judged that victory in the war was uncertain due to the Chinese intervention and believed that establishing a buffer zone was necessary to prevent further escalation. In fact, the concept of a DMZ was not unfamiliar in Europe, including the UK. In 1970, the UK had agreed with Russia to divide the Persian Gulf into three zones, designating one as a neutral zone. During World War I, as a victorious power, the UK established the Rhineland area of Germany as a DMZ through the Treaty of Versailles (1919). In 1923, as part of the Allied powers, the UK established a DMZ in Turkey through the Treaty of Lausanne. After World War II, demilitarization was implemented along the borders of Italy and France-Yugoslavia, as well as Bulgaria and Greece.

At the time, the United States was lukewarm about the DMZ. Unlike the UK’s concerns about the war situation, the US believed it had the upper hand and predicted victory. The US also suspected that the DMZ proposal was a Chinese desire. According to the author, on November 8, 1950, the CIA reported to the president that "the primary motive of the Chinese communists is presumed to be the establishment of a limited ‘buffer zone’ south of the Yalu River." General Douglas MacArthur, then commander of the UN forces, sent a message to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on November 9 stating that "(the UK) intends to appease China by ceding a part of North Korea to the Chinese," calling it "the greatest defeat the free world has recently suffered." However, around October 1950, the US also shared the view that it would be difficult to expel China from the Korean Peninsula and was concerned about Soviet intervention, thus agreeing to the DMZ’s establishment. The DMZ, 4 km wide with 2 km on each side of the front line, was established around the 1953 front line and has lasted for 70 years. The author provides a detailed account of this process through historical records.

However, contrary to the original intent of establishing the DMZ, numerous armed clashes occurred within it, causing many casualties. The book details incidents such as the ‘Ouellette Outpost Incident’ on April 5, 1967, where North Korean and US forces clashed just 25 meters in front of the Military Demarcation Line. Due to its geographical proximity to North Korea, the Ouellette Outpost became a frequent visit site for US presidents visiting South Korea.

The author claims that North Korea transferred tunnel technology to Vietnam. At the time, Vietnam expanded tunnels originally built during the First Indochina War in 1948 against France, which were underground single-story structures, into a network approximately 3 to 8 km deep and about 250 km long.

The author argues that although tunnels were discovered in the DMZ after 1974, North Korea had already established a ‘fortification of the entire territory’ strategy across the country since the early 1960s and transferred this know-how to North Vietnam. This claim is based on Kim Il-sung’s statement during the 1965?1966 economic and technical support agreement between North Korea and North Vietnam, where he said that after the Tonkin Gulf Incident in August 1964, "people were sent (to North Vietnam) to build tunnels." The Tonkin Gulf Incident involved three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacking US destroyers operating in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Conversely, the author states that the DMZ’s barbed wire fences originated from Vietnam. The fences installed by the US military along the 17th parallel during the Vietnam War were introduced to the Korean DMZ starting in 1967. At the time, the Military Demarcation Line had barbed wire or wooden fences, but as part of the anti-espionage equipment promised during South Korea’s deployment to Vietnam, infrared detectors and electric barbed wire were included.

In addition, the author highlights both the ecological value preserved by the DMZ and the damage caused over time by defoliants and logging. The book also introduces the history of civilian residential areas within the DMZ, such as Daeseong-dong ‘Village of Freedom’ on the South side and Gijeong-ri ‘Village of Peace’ on the North side. The author points out that South Korea did not participate as a principal party in discussions and agreements related to the DMZ’s establishment and the armistice under the pretext of northern advance unification, leaving the UN Command’s jurisdiction claims and interpretations unchallenged. He emphasizes that if the DMZ was demanded as a condition of the armistice 70 years ago, it should now be concretely imagined as a condition for peace.

In the current situation where the peace atmosphere created by the September 19 Military Agreement has broken down and is regressing to the past, what is the appropriate solution? The book guides readers to view the ‘Demilitarized Zone’ as a ‘zone of knowledge’ for peaceful passage.