tnwingtsun
01-12-2003, 11:46 AM
Disclaimer-This thread is not to be taken as a slander on the South Korean People.
This being a martial arts forum one would ask ones self, "What does this have to do with MAs?"
When I served my tour in South Korea(82-83) we were on a constant state of high alert.
After the South Korean Army had their arses handed to them
the summer of 1950 the post war ROK(Republic Of Korea/South)
Army(and people) vowed like the Jews of post World War Two................NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!
When ROK units were deployed in South Vietnam they brought
their REAL Tae Kwoon Do with them along with their brutal treatment
of NVA Army and Viet Cong POW's,often skinning them alive and hanging them in trees in the VC's AO(area of operations),
(as the VC did to their own people) to make a point.
This had an effect on the NVA/VC tactics, there were standing orders to avoid them if all possible,the ROKs hunted them down regardless.
If you were a ROK soldier and you fell asleep on your watch you
got shot dead,no trial,no court of law,Boom!
While stationed in Korea I witnessed many instantes of the ruthless not just in the Military but in their culture.
Beatings with thick rattan 3/4 staffs for marching out of step,and these guys were reserves and national guard!
A woman(the wife of the man) that didn't walk in the right place and spoke out of line had her nose broke in front of a Police Officer next to them,we were seven paces behind!
As a side note the women run the family,Budda/God help her if she causes her husband to loose face.
As a cherry boy going through culture shock this did not prepare me for my first encounter with a North Korean Soldier,sure I had read and seen in pics the slaughter of South Korean/American/Brit/UN Forces let alone the innocents from both sides.
The North Korean Soldiers I first incountered were bloated floating in the Injim River trying to cross into South Korea,they were shot at night up stream.
The second time I didn't get to see them,it was dark and they popped a ground flare,once again trying to cross the DMZ,a Mad minute broke out with the ROK unit we were anchored with.
In Panmunjom, A village of northwest South Korea just south of the 38th parallel where truce negotiations are held one gets the feeling to the core that WW3 will happen at anytime.
I have seen Generals on both sides argue about the size of the flag poles on the table inbetween both partys!!!!!!!!!
One day the UN flags are taller,the next day the NK's are taller and fatter.
Let alone the 100,000 PLUS!(at my time) NK Special Forces
that missions cover the spectrum of infiltration of South Koreas
students/anti-America propaganda to military/political targets.
The South Koreans do not enjoy the freedoms that Americans,the Euro's and other freedom loving countrys do.
But compaired to their Northern brothers they live in paradise.
I have seen the NK guards train in boxer shorts(10 degrees F),bare footed across the line at 4am, drool running down their mouths like mad dogs staring at us like we were fresh meat no ****her than 20 feet.they had their armed guards with pistols and night sticks as did we(Light and heavy weapons are not allowed in Panmunjom,nor is camouflage uniforms)
South Korean people treated me for the most part
with good graces not because of the mighty $ but from their hearts one or two generations away from total destruction from the early 50's caused by the present leader's father.
One of my friends in Special Forces said that they were happy when a cat walk collasped killing South Koreans because of the
treatment they got while in country,that was 91,things have changed since I've been there.
Sad,knowing the politcal state of North Korea,its use it or loose it military the stakes have gone through the roof now that they have Nukes.
When I served over there we were on a defensive posture,the whole country was on a defensive posture in-depth,although
I witnessed on more than one occasion where the South Koreans
gave what they took and sometimes more to the b-u-t-t factor
from the American/UN Generals to the grunts in the holes.
This is no flat desert,I humped the "Manchu Mile" twice,30 miles,
full load(Kit for my OZ/UK buddies) up and down.
The Western Corridor is the fastest way to Seoul but with the massive North Korean Arty,rockets South AND North would become a biblical fire and brimstone,Japan would be hammered
hundereds of thousands into the millions would die and twice that many would perish from the fall out and sickness.
Our right and left America media for the most part are treating this like a WWF pay per view event,pray that China doesen't take advantage of this with Tiawan, rather spank North Korea,Russia ,China and NKshare the same border,if this comes to war,life as we know it as a planet will cease.
Its a world thing,not an American thing.
BTW mom,I made it through Korea,I hope your grandchildren will.
This being a martial arts forum one would ask ones self, "What does this have to do with MAs?"
When I served my tour in South Korea(82-83) we were on a constant state of high alert.
After the South Korean Army had their arses handed to them
the summer of 1950 the post war ROK(Republic Of Korea/South)
Army(and people) vowed like the Jews of post World War Two................NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!
When ROK units were deployed in South Vietnam they brought
their REAL Tae Kwoon Do with them along with their brutal treatment
of NVA Army and Viet Cong POW's,often skinning them alive and hanging them in trees in the VC's AO(area of operations),
(as the VC did to their own people) to make a point.
This had an effect on the NVA/VC tactics, there were standing orders to avoid them if all possible,the ROKs hunted them down regardless.
If you were a ROK soldier and you fell asleep on your watch you
got shot dead,no trial,no court of law,Boom!
While stationed in Korea I witnessed many instantes of the ruthless not just in the Military but in their culture.
Beatings with thick rattan 3/4 staffs for marching out of step,and these guys were reserves and national guard!
A woman(the wife of the man) that didn't walk in the right place and spoke out of line had her nose broke in front of a Police Officer next to them,we were seven paces behind!
As a side note the women run the family,Budda/God help her if she causes her husband to loose face.
As a cherry boy going through culture shock this did not prepare me for my first encounter with a North Korean Soldier,sure I had read and seen in pics the slaughter of South Korean/American/Brit/UN Forces let alone the innocents from both sides.
The North Korean Soldiers I first incountered were bloated floating in the Injim River trying to cross into South Korea,they were shot at night up stream.
The second time I didn't get to see them,it was dark and they popped a ground flare,once again trying to cross the DMZ,a Mad minute broke out with the ROK unit we were anchored with.
In Panmunjom, A village of northwest South Korea just south of the 38th parallel where truce negotiations are held one gets the feeling to the core that WW3 will happen at anytime.
I have seen Generals on both sides argue about the size of the flag poles on the table inbetween both partys!!!!!!!!!
One day the UN flags are taller,the next day the NK's are taller and fatter.
Let alone the 100,000 PLUS!(at my time) NK Special Forces
that missions cover the spectrum of infiltration of South Koreas
students/anti-America propaganda to military/political targets.
The South Koreans do not enjoy the freedoms that Americans,the Euro's and other freedom loving countrys do.
But compaired to their Northern brothers they live in paradise.
I have seen the NK guards train in boxer shorts(10 degrees F),bare footed across the line at 4am, drool running down their mouths like mad dogs staring at us like we were fresh meat no ****her than 20 feet.they had their armed guards with pistols and night sticks as did we(Light and heavy weapons are not allowed in Panmunjom,nor is camouflage uniforms)
South Korean people treated me for the most part
with good graces not because of the mighty $ but from their hearts one or two generations away from total destruction from the early 50's caused by the present leader's father.
One of my friends in Special Forces said that they were happy when a cat walk collasped killing South Koreans because of the
treatment they got while in country,that was 91,things have changed since I've been there.
Sad,knowing the politcal state of North Korea,its use it or loose it military the stakes have gone through the roof now that they have Nukes.
When I served over there we were on a defensive posture,the whole country was on a defensive posture in-depth,although
I witnessed on more than one occasion where the South Koreans
gave what they took and sometimes more to the b-u-t-t factor
from the American/UN Generals to the grunts in the holes.
This is no flat desert,I humped the "Manchu Mile" twice,30 miles,
full load(Kit for my OZ/UK buddies) up and down.
The Western Corridor is the fastest way to Seoul but with the massive North Korean Arty,rockets South AND North would become a biblical fire and brimstone,Japan would be hammered
hundereds of thousands into the millions would die and twice that many would perish from the fall out and sickness.
Our right and left America media for the most part are treating this like a WWF pay per view event,pray that China doesen't take advantage of this with Tiawan, rather spank North Korea,Russia ,China and NKshare the same border,if this comes to war,life as we know it as a planet will cease.
Its a world thing,not an American thing.
BTW mom,I made it through Korea,I hope your grandchildren will.