Fifty years after the Shiwei Island incident: wronged South Korea and betrayed the death squads.

From June, 5438 to February, 2003, South Korea released a movie "Shiwei Island" with the theme of

Fifty years after the Shiwei Island incident: wronged South Korea and betrayed the death squads.

From June, 5438 to February, 2003, South Korea released a movie "Shiwei Island" with the theme of North-South confrontation.

The film was released for 58 days, and the number of viewers exceeded 6.5438+million. It was a phenomenal film at that time, and it was also the first film in Korean film history that was watched by more than10 million people. Therefore, Korean society has started a discussion on the Shiwei Island incident.

The reason why Shiwei Island has such great influence is that it has broken through a large forbidden area.

Historically, the Shiwei Island incident has been deliberately covered up by the South Korean government, and relevant information has been sealed. Relevant personnel-living people-have been forced to sign confidentiality contracts for 25 to 30 years, and violators will be severely punished.

1987 After the democratization of South Korea, although people were allowed to discuss the Shiwei Island incident, the official kept it secret. Due to the lack of information, people know little about the specific situation of the Shiwei Island incident.

It was not until 1993 that Jin Yitai, the instructor on the island of Shiwei Island, sent the relevant information to New East Asia magazine for disclosure that it gradually became known to the Korean people.

From 65438 to 0999, Korean writer Bai wrote the novel Shiwei Island based on the real incident of Shiwei Island.

In 2003, Korean director Woo-suk Kang combined historical materials with the novel Shiwei Island to create the movie Shiwei Island, which aroused strong repercussions in Korean society.

In February 2004, under the pressure of public opinion and public opinion, the South Korean government admitted this dusty incident for the first time, and then released the list of death squads and the report on the Shiwei Island incident, but the relevant files were still top secret.

At the same time, the families of the death squads filed a lawsuit with the production company Shiwei Island and the South Korean government, demanding that the production company apologize (all the death squads in the film are criminals, and the real situation is that there are law-abiding citizens among the death squads) and demanding compensation from the South Korean government.

Compared with the movie "Shiwei Island" itself, the history behind the movie is extremely follow-up and equally wonderful.

Today, the film "Shiwei Island" was released 18 years ago, and it has been 50 years since the Shiwei Island incident. You may be tired of watching movies, film reviews and related articles.

Today, it's a little different-looking at the Shiwei Island incident from the background of the Cold War.

0 1

The film Shiwei Island was re-created on the basis of historical events, and the plot is different from historical events.

The preface of the film explains: "This film is set in the 684th Army of Shiwei Island in 1968. Since the exact information of the team has not been made public, the detailed description of the team in this film, including the background of the team members, is the creation of the director. "

So it is necessary to briefly talk about the Shiwei Island incident in history.

1968 65438+1October 2 1, 3 1 Commandos from the northern part of the peninsula crossed the 38th parallel and entered Seoul in an attempt to sneak into Cheongwadae to assassinate South Korean President park chung-hee.

On the March, the assassination was discovered and the commando team was almost wiped out. A commando named Jin Xinchao was captured and confessed the whole action plan.

Park chung-hee was furious and instructed the Central Intelligence Minister Jin Jiong-xu to deal with a man as he deals with you.

In April, the Central Intelligence Department and the South Korean military secretly set up the "684 North Dispatch Force" (named after April 1968) on Shiwei Island (located off Incheon), with 3 members1person.

The members of the "684 North Army" are very complicated, including hooligans, thieves, prisoners, marathon runners, circus performers and martial arts masters. They were recruited, not atoned for by meritorious service as mentioned in the movie.

In Shiwei Island, the players received devil's training, and their fighting skills almost reached the limit of human beings. During this period, seven people died for various reasons.

After the training was completed on July 1968 (the exact time is unknown), the Central Intelligence Department ordered the 9-member team of the "684 North Army" to perform the task.

The plan is to set out from Bering Island and take a hydrogen airship to assassinate Kim Jong Il over Pyongyang under the cover of night.

After the crew boarded the airship, the latest order came: stop working and wait for the order.

After wandering around Bailing Island for about a month, the team returned to Shiwei Island without any new orders.

The direct reason for the termination of the order is the opposition of the United States. The fundamental reason is that the tension between the north and the south has gradually eased, and the dawn of peace has come.

There is no need for assassination, and naturally there is no need for the "684 North Army".

The "684 North Army" who stayed in Shiwei Island became an abandoned child. The allowance it deserves is either less or corrupted by the Central Organization Department. The treatment is not as good as before, and the goal has been withdrawn. However, training is still cruel. The players feel that they will be tortured to death in the long run, and their dissatisfaction will spread.

On August 23rd, 197 1, the "Northern 684 troops" rioted. They killed the instructors and guards on the island (not all, only lost 1 player), landed in Incheon by boat, hijacked a bus and tried to rush to Cheongwadae to ask the government for an explanation.

The South Korean government mobilized a large number of military and police to pursue and intercept, and surrounded it in front of the Seoul Special City-Yongdeng Puqu-Dafangdong-Liuhan Foreign Firm Building. The two sides launched a fierce gun battle.

During this period, four players abandoned their cars and fled (they were quickly arrested and sentenced to death), 19 desperate players detonated grenades to commit suicide.

The South Korean government confuses people and calls it a guerrilla infiltrated by North Korea. In order to avoid North Korea's dissatisfaction, it was later renamed the "Military Special Criminals" riot.

After the riots, the message of "684 troops sent to the north" was artificially erased, as if they had never been to this world.

In the era of park chung-hee and Quan Doo-hwan, the Korean media was controlled by the government, and no one dared to pursue the truth.

Since then, the Shiwei Island incident has become a restricted area.

02

In the Shiwei Island incident, two major events promoted the development of the whole incident: First, the north launched the 1.25438+0 Cheongwadae attack, and the south set up the "684 North Sending Army" in retaliation; Second, the north and south eased, and the assassination ended in the south, which indirectly led to the riots and destruction of the "684 North Sending Army".

It can be seen that whether the north attacks the south or the south attacks the north, the behavior of both sides depends on the relationship between the two sides-attacking each other when nervous and restraining each other when relaxed.

Here comes the question: What determines whether North-South relations are good or not? Is it random or particular?

Under the background of the Cold War, the change of the relationship between the north and the south of the peninsula depends on the confrontation between the two camps headed by the United States and the Soviet Union.

In the 1950s and the first half of 1960s, North Korea was still moderate, hoping to achieve the reunification of the peninsula through peaceful means.

After the Korean War, with the assistance of the great powers, North Korea quickly recovered its war wounds, and all its construction progressed steadily and prospered.

On the contrary, South Korea is in turmoil and its economy is exhausted, and it is an absolutely poor and backward country. Although there is American aid, mud can't support the wall.

In contrast, South Korea is dwarfed.

People don't really believe in slogans. They often vote with their feet and go to places with higher living standards.

At this time, North Korea's social and economic achievements are more attractive to the people. If unified, the people's hearts will definitely fall to the north.

In addition to self-confidence, there are external reasons for North Korea to choose peaceful reunification.

At that time, the United States was not involved in other wars. It has enough energy to deal with various crises on the peninsula, and North Korea has no room to take advantage of.

In Khrushchev's era, the Soviet Union pursued the policy of "three less and one less", sang the tune and reduced its arms aid to the DPRK.

Without the support of the Soviet Union and the preparation of the United States, it is impossible for North Korea to use force.

Things changed around 1965.

Since the coup in 196 1 park chung-hee, the political turmoil in South Korea has ended and the economy is on the right track. With the "First Five-Year Plan" in full swing, South Korea's economy began to take off.

At the same time, in order to strengthen South Korea's military strength, the United States has proposed a five-year military assistance plan to South Korea, and plans to provide 250 million US dollars of military assistance to South Korea every year, which means that the South Korean army will obtain a large number of advanced equipment from the US military.

Not only that, the United States has also vigorously promoted the normalization of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan and stepped up the deployment of various advanced weapons in South Korea.

Under such circumstances, the peaceful reunification expected by North Korea cannot be realized.

Obviously, with the passage of time, South Korea's economy and military have developed rapidly, and North Korea's comparative advantage has gradually disappeared. When South Korea catches up with or surpasses North Korea, North Korea will be very passive.

On the other hand, the United States was deeply involved in the Vietnam War and had no time to take care of the peninsula, which provided North Korea with an opportunity.

North Vietnam's struggle against the United States and reunification also greatly stimulated North Korea's desire to fight. Similarly, if North Vietnam dares to fight, why can't North Korea fight?

In addition, China successfully tested an atomic bomb in 1964, Brezhnev replaced Khrushchev, increased military assistance to North Korea, and provided Soviet submarines, missile boats, tanks, radars, surface-to-air missiles, MIG -2 1 and so on, which gave Kim great confidence.

Various factors are intertwined and superimposed, which makes North Korea change its previous moderate attitude and become fierce and aggressive.

02

North Korea's strategy is to help North Vietnam while accelerating the Korean revolution.

It is easy to understand that South Korea sent troops to help South Vietnam and North Korea naturally helped North Vietnam.

Focus on promoting the Korean revolution.

Without the support of big powers (big powers support it, but don't support it to wage war, which are two different things), a large-scale invasion to the south is not feasible.

The way North Korea thought of was to infiltrate and attack South Korea in the form of guerrilla warfare-after the successful infiltration, it established a base area and formed a situation similar to the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front. The unsuccessful infiltration can create a sense of tension and oppression, shake the morale of the Korean army, and promote the collapse of the park chung-hee government.

In the face of serious threats, South Korea may reduce or even withdraw its troops stationed in Vietnam, which will reduce the pressure on North Vietnam and cause discord between the United States and South Korea. The United States believes that provocation from the north cannot pose a real threat to South Korea, and South Korea should strengthen its reverse osmosis capability and oppose South Korea's withdrawal from Vietnam.

Provoking South Korea is bound to anger South Korea. Park chung-hee has always been tough on the DPRK and is likely to fight back. The United States, mired in the Vietnam War, will not support park chung-hee's counterattack, which will intensify the contradiction between the two countries.

With the disharmony between the United States and South Korea and the weakening of the alliance, the US troops stationed in South Korea may be withdrawn and put into the battlefield in Vietnam. By then, North Korea will compete with South Korea and win.

From 1966 to 10, the armed conflict between the north and the south increased sharply. In just two months, the number of crossfire incidents has caught up with the total since the armistice of 1953.

Shooting snipers, raiding barracks, touching checkpoints, and bombing military cards and gunboats are all normal. When it is fierce, the two sides will also shell each other.

While creating tension on the front line, the north also selected elite soldiers from the army, set up commandos and sent them to the south for guerrilla warfare after special training.

After these people infiltrated into South Korea, they attacked everywhere and incited the people to rise up for revolution. In 1967 alone, commandos had at least 2 15 armed conflicts with Korean military police, and more than 200 commandos were killed.

1968 was the most violent year. The Qingwatai incident, the Pueblo incident, and the Megatron Sanyi armed invasion all occurred in this year. A year later, South Korea arrested 1245 commandos.

This kind of conflict and confrontation is the general trend of this period, and the Qingwatai incident and the Shiwei Island incident are just one of them.

Just look at a point and you will know why. Look at it together and explore the reasons behind it, which is why.

03

Let's look at the second question: Why did the operation stop?

Immediately after the Cheong Wa Dae incident, park chung-hee summoned U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Porter and asked the United States to support South Korea's retaliatory actions. But Porter said that the United States did not want a war on the peninsula and refused to support South Korea, which made park chung-hee very disappointed.

At that time, the command of the South Korean army was in the hands of the United Nations. Park chung-hee can't mobilize troops to fight back unless the United States nods. So I have to secretly form a death squad and play a little trick.

Two days after the Cheong Wa Dae incident, the Pueblo incident broke out, and park chung-hee thought it necessary to fight back hard, otherwise North Korea would push its luck.

In stark contrast to the indifference to the Qingwatai incident, the United States made every effort to solve the "Pueblo" crisis-which involved more than 80 American hostages.

During this period, the United States abandoned South Korea and began negotiations with North Korea. Park chung-hee requested that the Qingwatai incident be included in the negotiations, but the US military directly refused. In order to avoid provoking North Korea, the United States has repeatedly warned park chung-hee not to act rashly and unilaterally attack North Korea.

In order to appease park chung-hee, the United States also made other concessions, such as increasing aid to South Korea and expanding the autonomy of the South Korean army.

After receiving the benefits, park chung-hee promised Vance, the special envoy of the United States, that South Korea would not take revenge because of the Qingwatai incident and Pueblo incident, and even if it retaliated because of other provocations, it would consult with the United States in advance.

What park chung-hee promised happened in February, and the formation of "684 sending troops to the North" happened in April, which shows that park chung-hee was not persuaded by the Americans.

Revenge can be put aside for the time being, but the preparations for revenge can't stop, so the central intelligence department is still secretly training the "684 North Army".

The Pueblo crisis lasted from 1 to 1 1, almost running through 1968.

In the Shiwei Island incident, the "684 troops sent to the north" received an order to stop operations after July. At that time, the "Pueblo" crisis had not been resolved, and the two sides launched a fierce war of words around "signing another contract", and the negotiations entered the most critical period.

At this time, what would happen if the "684 North Army" went to Pyongyang to do something?

Park chung-hee certainly understood the consequences, so he terminated the order.

These are the direct causes.

Of course, the film didn't show this, only said that the relationship between North and South eased, so it stopped.

04

1968+0 1 lift the "Pueblo" crisis,1971"684 troops sent to the north" riots, nearly three years have passed. Why did park chung-hee never use "684 troops sent to the north"?

Because the international situation has changed.

1969 1 Nixon's inaugural speech denounced the detente between the east and the west, releasing the signal of the global strategic contraction of the United States. The following year, Nixon unilaterally decided to reduce the number of US troops stationed in South Korea by 20,000, and also withdrew the Second Division of the US Army stationed near the 38th parallel, and replaced it with the South Korean army in the forward position.

Not only that, the United States also suggested that South Korea start a dialogue with North Korea.

South Korea is very dissatisfied with this and feels that the United States is gradually giving up on itself, and the American umbrella is unreliable.

In the eastern camp, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated to a climax and a series of border conflicts broke out. Both sides regarded each other as the most serious threat, and then both began to ease relations with the United States, and neither supported North Korea's tough behavior.

The Soviet Union, in particular, has repeatedly hinted that it is dissatisfied with North Korea's "unauthorized actions" and "excessive actions".

On the other hand, the tough policies pursued by northern park chung-hee in the past few years have not achieved the expected results. The government did not collapse, but became stronger, and the US-South Korea alliance did not collapse. This forced North Korea to adjust its policy again.

At this time, South Korea's national strength has caught up, and the overall military strength of the North and the South is basically balanced. Without the support of external forces, neither side can completely defeat the other.

The big countries behind the North and the South do not support the conflict on the peninsula, and the two sides are equally powerful, and no one can eat anyone.

Further fierce confrontation is not only unnecessary, but will anger the big countries behind it.

In this case, harmony is the general trend.

Since August 1969, when the American helicopter was shot down and the American pilot was captured, North Korea has obviously reduced its cross-border provocations. 1June, 970, North Korea once again put forward the idea of peaceful reunification.

After North Korea released the detente signal, park chung-hee responded quickly and issued a declaration of dialogue and peaceful reunification between the North and the South.

1971August 6, Kim expressed his willingness to contact all political parties, social organizations and individuals in Korea.

In June, 5438+02, Korean Red Cross Society proposed to hold talks with Korean Red Cross Society to solve the problems of postal service and meeting separated family members. This proposal won the approval of park chung-hee and the response of the North.

On August 20th, representatives of the North-South Red Cross made initial contact in Panmunjom.

At this critical moment, any factor affecting the North-South peace talks must obey the overall situation, and the "684 troops sent to the north" has become an unstable factor.

Three days later, the "684 troops sent to the north" rioted.

In the movie "Shiwei Island", the North Korean Central Intelligence Agency ordered the person in charge to dispose of "684 troops sent to the north", and the troops rioted.

Whether such an order exists in real history is unknown.

However, getting rid of them is in the interest of the Korean government and logically meaningful.

05

The "684 North Army" is the victim, and they can't help themselves.

In fact, South Korea is not a victim, and it is also involuntarily in the chess game of big countries.

Those little things on the peninsula are just a projection of the global confrontation between the two camps. Whether the north and the south advance together or retreat together depends on the general trend.

What is the general trend?

The result of the multi-party contest between big countries determines the direction of world politics, which is the general trend, and small countries can only go with the flow.

reference data

Event movie Studies in Korean Politics.

A Study on the Korean Peninsula Crisis in the Middle and Late 1960s (1960s)

1968: tension on the Korean peninsula and trust crisis between the United States and South Korea

The easing of inter-Korean relations in the early 1970s and its influence.