[INTERVIEW] Last 'Imjin Scout' brings DMZ warriors to light

Two soldiers stand guard duty near the military demarcation line in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province in this 2019 file photo. Korea Times file

By Kang Hyun-kyung

From 1965 to 1991, a group of specially-trained forces conducted perilous missions inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas. These warriors were part of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division.

Each team consisted of 10 members and their main duty was patrolling the then-U.S. section of the DMZ. Their DMZ mission continued for three months, then another 10-member team replaced the previous one with another three-month operation inside the buffer area.

The military operation continued all year until the responsibility was transferred to the Korean Army in October 1991.

Soldiers who had participated in the DMZ mission 20 times or more called themselves "Imjin Scouts" ― a name inspired by the very same river that flows from North Korea to the South. Nine out of every 10 Imjin Scouts were Americans. The remaining 10 percent were South Koreans who served in the 2nd Infantry Division as members of the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army (KATUSA). These Koreans worked as a team with the U.S. soldiers inside the DMZ.

Moon Kwan-hyun

Moon Kwan-hyun, 55, is one of the later Imjin Scouts.

He calls himself the last Imjin Scout because he is the only Korean in the final DMZ team. Along with other members, he had patrolled inside the DMZ about 30 times during the three months from June to August in 1991.

"Patrolling inside the DMZ was physically demanding," he said in an interview with The Korea Times on Saturday. "I was totally drained at the end of the three-month mission."

During their mission, Imjin Scouts checked whether there were any signs of aggression or infiltration and responded swiftly to any provocations from North Korea. It was a risky mission, particularly during the 1960s when inter-Korean tensions were high enough to be labeled as a "low-intensity conflict" by some U.S. military experts. The term refers to military conflicts just below conventional war.

Moon said Imjin Scouts are lesser known in South Korea.

"There are blanks in Korea's history after the Korean War (1950-53)," he said. "I mean we, Koreans, don't know what happened in Korea's 'Western Corridor' surrounding the outskirts of Seoul and the border city of Paju between 1965 and 1991, because the U.S. military oversaw the DMZ. Little is known about those 26 years in the inter-Korean border area."

For instance, he went on to say that no one knows exactly how many South Korean soldiers and civilians were killed after the 31-member North Korean Forces Unit infiltrated the South in 1968 with a mission to assassinate then-President Park Chung-hee.

"There's no information available other than testimonies from Kim Shin-jo about the incident. But there are several factual errors in his statements," said Moon. He did not specify what kinds of factual errors he was referring to, maybe because they were classified information.

Kim is one of the 31 North Korean commandos and the only one captured alive. Twenty-nine others were shot to death and one escaped to the North. Kim later defected to the South and became a pastor.

Last year, Moon, a journalist from Yonhap News Agency, published a book, titled "Imjin Scouts," based on thorough research on the special forces and their history. His book elaborates on when and how the special forces were created and their roles.

"Imjin Scouts" is the first book written in Korean which tells the story of the DMZ warriors. Before his book, there were two other written materials in English about the special forces who took on the DMZ mission. They are retired major Daniel P. Bolger's "Scenes from an Unfinished War: Low-Intensity Conflict in Korea, 1966-1969" and Mark Heathco's memoir, "Call Sign Purple Three: Patrolling the US Sector of the DMZ in Korea."

As a retired sergeant, Heathco conducted DMZ patrols 385 times during his service in Korea.

Imjin Scouts gathered in a forest in Eoryong-ri, Paju City in this undated photo. Courtesy of Retired Sergeant Jang Hyun-geun

In his memoir, Heathco unraveled his experiences inside the DMZ and how risky the mission was.

"My life expectancy, if war was to break out, would be about twelve seconds. That's because it is our job to stop the North Korean tank threat, and we are outgunned by a ratio of twelve to one. Each American TOW system would have to kill, on average 12 North Korean tanks to survive on the battlefield," his book states.

Despite its life-threatening nature, he said the DMZ patrols were worthwhile because they allowed him to build a strong bond with his other team members.

"The DMZ mission is unlike anything in the world. You pull the mission for the guy standing next to you ― the same guy who has your back while on patrol in no-man's-land. It's the camaraderie that makes this mission appealing to me," he wrote.

Asked about the purpose of his book, Moon said he wanted to publish a book that might appeal to avid defense readers, rather than general readers.

"My book tells the story of Imjin Scouts through their stories," he said. "Some lesser-known facts that occurred in the DMZ area between 1965 and 1991 are brought to light. During the period, our readers will know that there was a system called Imjin Scouts and they played a greater part to defend South Korea from the North's infiltrations. My book gives a peak into what happened during the period and Imjin Scouts are part of the history."

One of his findings is that there were war-like confrontations between the two Koreas in the 1960s that led to the continuation of military standoffs.

"In the 1960s when the Cold War reached its peak, there was war almost every day inside the DMZ between the U.S. military service members and North Korean soldiers. Seven people were killed every 10 days. Various small-scale conflicts occurred almost every day back then," he said. "It's ironic that conflicts occurred in the DMZ which was set up as a buffer area."

Moon called a string of military conflicts and clashes that occurred near the military demarcation line in the 1960s the "Second Korean War," saying the trying times helped South Korea and the U.S. become close allies as they fought together against the North.

"South Korea teamed up with 16 other countries during the Korean War which broke out in 1950 to fight against North Korea. The 16 countries were the ones that responded to the United Nation's calls to join South Korea to protect its democracy from communist attack. After the Korean War, all the countries had left, except for the United States," he said.

The U.S. fought together with South Korea to defend the South from various provocations and infiltrations that occurred in the 1960s.

"During the Second Korean War, South Korea-U.S. alliance has strengthened and took the form of a true alliance. Since the first Security Consultative Meeting between the defense ministers of South Korea and the U.S. was held in Hawaii in 1967, the meeting has taken place on a regular basis. The South Korea-U.S. joint military drills began in the 1960s, too," he said.

Although many view the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty signed between South Korea and the United States in October 1953, months after the Korean War ended, as the starting point of the Korea-U.S. alliance, Moon claimed it would be fair to say its real start was made during what he called the Second Korean War period in the 1960s.

A South Korean soldier, right, and a soldier from United Nations Command or UNC, stand at the JSA inside the demilitarized zone during a media tour in Paju, Feb. 7. AP-Yonhap