Word: koreans
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Before the Pueblo hijacking last January, many of the 50,000 American troops stationed in South Korea referred to Korea's Demilitarized Zone as the "forgotten front." After the recent military buildup on both sides of the zone and the expansion of North Korean terrorism, few Americans stationed there feel forgotten any longer. Though it hardly resembles its Vietnamese counterpart, the Korean DMZ has become an active battlefront...
Along the Communist border, North Korea's General Bong Hak Ho has arrayed 180,000 troops, many of whom make regular forays into the South to ambush American and South Korean units; last week they killed two soldiers -one of them an American-and wounded five more. Ho is also training a special force of 2,400 commandos who operate in small teams, slipping across the border for hit-and-run sabotage and terrorism. Watching for them on the southern side are 12,000 U.S. troops of the 2nd Division, who guard the 18.5-mi. American sector...
...duty. There is seldom any enemy to be seen-only small Communist guardposts on the opposite hills. The terrain is rough with stumps, harsh inclines and thick, scrubby bushes. Thousands of white herons, pheasant, deer and bobcats rustle through the undergrowth, sometimes tripping flares or detonating Claymore mines. North Korean loudspeakers blare constant propaganda. When American and North Korean patrols spot each other across the zone, they regularly shout obscenities back and forth in the other's tongue...
Perhaps the biggest boost of all comes from the friendly South Korean peasants, who are constantly tipping off the police to infiltrators or spies who turn up in their villages. Nearly 90% of the 57 Communist infiltrators caught in the past year were captured on information supplied by villagers. In fact, it was four village woodcutters who helped foil North Korea's assassination attempt on President Chung Hee Park last January. Just to keep peasants in the same cooperative mood, Park has put up bounty signs all over the country ("Become a patriot and get rich by catching...
United in Hatred. South Korea's second line of defense-and the real thorn in North Korea's side-is the continued strength of its economy. Despite the disruptions of war, the South Korean economy continues to grow at a rate of 12% a year. Foreign investors are flocking into Seoul and the countryside, including Motorola (electronic circuits), IBM (computers), and Fairchild Camera (transistors). Though U.S. aid still braces the Korean budget, the aid figure has dropped from $110 million in 1966 to $70 million last year. Within the next two or three years, South Korea expects...