Stood on the border of the scariest place on Earth... as Bohemian Rhapsody blasts out
WHERE NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA COME FACE TO FACE
IT’S the most heavily militarised border in the world, where opposing armies train their weapons of destruction on each other... to the sound of a Queen song.
As Freddie Mercury begs “spare him his life from this monstrosity”, Bohemian Rhapsody wafts over the two-and-a-half mile wide demilitarised zone.
It is a message of defiance to North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-un from sworn enemy, South Korea.
The border – once labelled “the scariest place on Earth” by US President Bill Clinton – is not for the faint hearted.
The South’s daytime playlist is a mix of western songs designed to highlight the freedom enjoyed by their people compared to the unbearable regime endured on the darker side of the DMZ.
Only when they change tracks can the retaliatory sound of the North Korean propaganda machine be heard on the other side. All day and all night, chirpy tunes, with lyrics trumpeting the virtues of Supreme leader Kim, can be heard along the 160-mile border – keeping awake the few locals that live the zone.
“The music is a constant reminder they can attack us at any moment,” says Kyong Young-hwan, 71. “It never goes away. Living under the threat of his guns and his bombs is part of everyday life here. There is no escape.
“It was here long before Donald Trump became US president and, unless Kim is removed, it will be here long after too.”
The few hundred residents of Daeseong-dong, also known as Freedom Village, have a front-row seat to the rising crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang increased further yesterday as diplomatic efforts began to secure the release of a US citizen detained on suspicion of “hostile acts” by North Korea. Kim Hak-song worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology before his arrest on Saturday.
The professor joins three other US citizens being held by Kim – said by America to be human shields against a preemptive strike by the States. It came a day after North Korea accused US and South Korean agents of plotting to assassinate its Supreme Leader.
In a 1,800-word report, North Korea said a “hideous terrorist group” had conspired with the CIA and South Korea’s Intelligence Service. It said the plan was to “commit bomb terrorism targeting the supreme leadership”.
The report said Kim would be killed by “assassination by use of biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance.”
But despite the escalating crisis and Kim’s threat of “all-out war”, those living
the DMZ try to go about their business harvesting rice and growing ginseng.
Their future, much like millions of others living in the two countries, now depends on a game of brinksmanship played out by Kim and Trump.
There is an impasse. Trump is demanding an end to the North’s ongoing nuclear weapons pro- gramme. Kim is intent on pushing ahead with a bomb capable at striking at the heart of their sworn enemies. A US naval task force is heading into the Yellow Sea in readiness for possible action. Vice President Mike Pence was sent to South Korea last month making a stop at the DMZ where the second-in-command stagein managed pictures of himself breaking from protocol to stare down North Korean forces a few hundred yards away.
“I thought it was important that we went outside,” Pence said. “I thought it was important people on the other side of the DMZ see our resolve in my face.”
Those on the border were not impressed, with some ridiculing Pence.
“If the US think Vice President Pence ‘mean-mugging’ the North Korea soldiers across the border will deter Kim’s nuclear aggression. They need to think again,” said IT worker Kim Byung-chul, 44.
Mr Kim questioned the motives behind Trump’s sudden interest in North Korea. “It is a way to deflect the attention he was receiving back at home,” he said.
“He should not be playing with our lives to sort out his domestic problems.”
Pence’s visit to the DMZ, which was created two years after the 1953 armistice in the Korean War, took place near Daeseong-dong. It was built after both sides constructed model villages inside the zone to demonstrate the superior virtues of the two countries.
With only a field between them, the North created Kijong-dong, known as Peace Village, just 440 yards away.
The village, with its 525ft flagpole, is said to be served by a child care centre, kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, and a hospital.
However, looking through binoculars, it appears deserted with the only sign of life being soldiers who patrol the village.
Daeseong-dong, however, is very much still a working community. Most families farm about 17 acres of land to generate about £64,000 a year - much higher than the average farming income in South Korea. Pasto r Lee Deuk-jin, 55, said of the growing crisis: “The current situation we have seen so many times before. It is a way of life here in South Korea.
“Everybody wants North and South to unify, to come together as one, but while Kim is in place, this will never happen.”
Trump is playing with our lives to sort out his own problems KIM BYUNG-CHUL WHO LIVES ON S KOREA BORDER