A retired U.S. Navy officer who served in the DMZ for eight years as part of the United Nations Command cited meeting Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as the most awkward moment during his service.
On the 28th (local time) of the United States, the New York Times (hereinafter referred to as the NYT) introduced the life of former Major Daniel Edward McShane, a retired U.S. Navy officer who served in the DMZ for eight years, in Panmunjom.
He is a living witness who personally experienced the ever-changing inter-Korean relations while working at Panmunjom for the longest period from 2013 to 2021.
The NYT reported that former Major McShane watched the historic North American summit held at Panmunjom in June 2019 on the spot, and experienced hair standing on end in the last remaining Cold War powder keg around the world.
The DMZ is strewn with 2 million mines. “It was a culture shock,” he recalled, saying that one landmine exploded in the vicinity on the first night of work in Panmunjom, and two exploded the next day.
One of his daily routines was to call the North Korean side twice a day at 10:00 am and 5:00 pm. It is said that most of them were casual conversations such as “I am in the middle of mowing (mistaking it), so don’t shoot me.”
Former Major McShane said, “When officers from both North and North Korea occasionally met at Panmunjom, they would talk about personal things like baseball.
After taking care of a white dog that roamed around Panmunjom for about two weeks, he also introduced an anecdote that one day he naturally crossed the Military Demarcation Line and went into Panmungak, an area on the North Korean side, and joked that “the dog was a North Korean spy” among US officers.
However, the atmosphere within the DMZ was not always peaceful. He said that when two South Korean army sergeants patrolling the DMZ were seriously injured by a North Korean wooden ship mine in 2015, and when a North Korean soldier broke through gunfire and defected through the Panmunjom Joint Security Area in 2017, inter-Korean relations deteriorated and the airflow around Panmunjom froze. said to be stuck
Former Major McShane cited meeting Deputy Director Kim at Panmunjom in 2018 as the most awkward moment during his eight years in the DMZ.
He recalled that Vice Minister Kim visited Panmunjom to prepare for a summit between Chairman Kim and then-President Moon Jae-in, and at the meeting place, he sat next to him and smiled and lightly touched his arm. He added that the soldiers who worked at Panmunjom made fun of him, saying, “Is Vice-Chief Kim Kim your girlfriend?”
Currently teaching guitar to injured US soldiers at the US military base in Pyeongtaek, he expressed regret, saying that the détente between the two Koreas he witnessed at the DMZ was too short.
The NYT emphasized the importance of continuing to manage the “tree of peace and prosperity” jointly planted in Panmunjom by former President Moon and Chairman Kim in April 2018 by former Major McShane so that it does not die, and hoped that reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas would continue. He said that he expressed his desire.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.