Axe Murder Incident (판문점 도끼 살인 사건)

     I know that the title is not suitable for this blog, but I have something I want to say about this incident.
     When I was waiting for the next class in my high school, the teacher of social affairs stormed into the classroom. I was a high school student preparing for the next year's entrance examination for universities at that time. It was a hot day in August. Most high school students were on summer vacation in Japan, but we were called and given special lectures for the examination. The teacher told us that the U.S. aircraft carrier, Midway, went up north on the Yellow Sea. Within the next couple of days, or even today, the war might start again in the Korean Peninsula. The Korean Peninsula is a neighbor of Japan. If the war broke out there, the influence on Japan would be immeasurable.
     We asked him what caused that serious situation, and were surprised with his explanation. The object of the conflict was a poplar tree standing in the JSA (Joint Security Area) at the border between South and North Korea. I vividly remember when I heard of this incident in my last high school year.

     The story was like this;
     The U.S. and Korean soldiers cut poplar trees down in JSA. North Korean soldiers didn't want them to cut the trees and interfered with them. It lead to the cruel murder of two U.S. soldiers by an axe, so the incident is now also known as The Hatchet Incident and The Poplar Tree Incident. The killings and the response three days later (Operation Paul Bunyan) heightened tensions between North and South Korea as well as their respective allies, China and the United States.

     JSA is located in a small area called Panmunjom (판문점) and used to be controlled by the U.N. and North Korea before the incident. However, JSA is separated strictly between North Korean and the U.N. ruled area now. I had been eager to visit Panmunjom since my high school days, and finally I visited Panmunjom.
     You can see a bridge over Han River in the left side of the picture. If I had my GPS, I would have recorded the site where I took the pictures. I'm really sorry I didn't take it.

(Vocabulary)
within the next couple of days  　 一両日中
poplar　  ポプラ
JSA  (joint security area) 　 共同警備地区

このタイトルがこのブログにふさわしくないことはわかっているが、どうしても話しておきたいことがある。

　次の授業を待っていたとき、社会科の先生が教室に飛び込んできた。高校３年生で受験を翌年に控えた夏のことである。暑い夏の日だった。アメリカの空母ミッドウェーが黄海を北上し戦争準備に入ったというのである。一両日中には朝鮮半島で戦争が始まるだろうと。もしそうなれば日本への影響は計り知れない。その原因を尋ねると、ポプラの木を切ったからだという。なぜそれが戦争になるのか？話はこうである。

　アメリカと韓国の兵士が共同管理区域（ＪＳＡ）にあるポプラの木を切った。共同管理区域は南北朝鮮の国境にあり双方により管理されていた。ところがその木は北朝鮮にとっては切り倒したくはなかったため戦闘に発展し、二人の米国兵が殺害された。そのためこの事件は斧殺人事件、ポプラの木事件とも呼ばれ、南北朝鮮間とそのそれぞれの同盟国、米国と中国の間に緊張をもたらした。

　今ＪＳＡは完全に二つに分けられ、その場所は板門店と呼ばれる。この場所にずっと前から、３０年以上前から行ってみたかった。そしてやっとそれが実現した。

　写真には漢江にかかる橋が写っている。ＧＰＳを持参していたら正確な場所がわかるのだが残念ながら特定できない。道は漢江沿いに北上している。

 

Comments

[Simonn]

I truly appreciate you taking the time to share this . Look forward to more posts from you