The exploration team conducting core drilling in the Gyeyang district of Incheon on March 7, 2017 [Provided by the North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team]76 years after the outbreak of the Korean War, the Republic of Korea is receiving global acclaim for achieving the 'Miracle on the Han River' after rising from the ashes. However, in the shadow of this spectacular external prosperity, a security crisis that threatens the very foundation of the nation is deepening silently and imperceptibly. Behind the recent chaos and national division surrounding the political and social landscape, the shadow of security threats aimed at destabilizing South Korea is looming large.

But this is not all. Even more concerning is the existence of a critical blind spot in national security that the vast majority of the public has completely forgotten: the issue of North Korea’s long-distance invasion tunnels.

Tunnels: North Korea’s Surprise Card to Avoid Head-on Confrontation

Currently, there is a significant disparity in economic and military technology between South and North Korea. The consensus is that it is virtually impossible for North Korea to launch a full-scale direct confrontation due to the strong ROK-U.S. alliance and the presence of U.S. Forces Korea. Therefore, North Korea has no choice but to focus on causing social chaos through rear-area terrorism or unexpected surprise provocations, as it has always done. At the very forefront of this surprise strategy lie tunnels. During a press conference held in front of Gates 2-3 of the Olympic Park on the night of Wednesday, June 24, former Ambassador Mostan also mentioned during a Q&A session that North Korea is continuing to dig more tunnels toward South Korea. The question of these tunnels is no longer whether or not they exist, but rather how far they have reached and what must be done about them.

Officially, the Fourth Tunnel, discovered in 1990, was the last. Although military authorities have had dedicated departments tracking them, they have failed to achieve further results. Some conclude that North Korea gave up on tunnel excavation after the mid-1970s, or that long-distance tunnels are technically impossible due to the challenges of waste rock disposal, water management, and ventilation.

However, looking at the data from private exploration teams that have been tracking these tunnels, one cannot help but be shocked. It is believed that North Korea has already realized long-distance tunnels and has likely completed most of them. Data obtained through exploration, drilling, and subsequent audio recordings, primarily from activities in Gyeyang, Incheon, includes the sounds of dynamite blasting and drilling operations.

There are at least ten such locations just around Gyeyang Station in Incheon. Since Gyeyang is also home to important military facilities, drilling sounds were captured in some areas for several months. Based on this data, reports were made to military agencies, and joint military teams visited the sites, were guided to the specific drilling and recording locations, and were even provided with the audio recordings; yet, the response was always that the sounds were unrelated to tunnels.

However, the materials released by the civilian North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team clearly contain undeniable sounds of blasting and drilling. Some recordings even captured the sounds of motorcycles. Supporting the evidence provided by private exploration teams is the fact that there have been numerous reports from citizens nationwide in the past. Beyond the testimony of the Lee Guk-jin couple, who ran a restaurant in Ganeung 3-dong, Uijeongbu—which was reported by journalist Kim Yong-sam in the October 1996 issue of Monthly Chosun—how many more reports have been made to various private teams and national security agencies? Furthermore, the fact that forces existed to monitor the activities of these private exploration teams serves as further proof of the existence of North Korean tunnels.

A monitor with sharp eyes and a sturdy physique, appearing to have undergone special training, watching the exploration team from a hill opposite the 9th Division in Ilsan on January 26, 2016 [Provided by the North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team]

The North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team uses an "L-rod," a pair of thin metal wires used to find water veins. While some dismiss this as superstition or lack scientific proof, there are others who successfully use these L-rods to locate water veins, hot springs, and even human remains.

The primary L-rod user for the North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team is a dowser named Bok Jin-guk. Mr. Bok’s exploration skills can be considered unparalleled. All ten or so locations near Gyeyang Station where evidence of tunnel work was confirmed through drilling and audio recordings were initially discovered using Mr. Bok’s L-rod exploration. Consequently, they claim they can identify the locations of tunnels using only L-rod exploration without the need for drilling or recording, and they have been making these findings public.

Beyond Security Insensitivity to a Total Preparedness Posture

The exploration scope of the North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team is limitless. While their main theater of activity has been Gyeyang, Incheon, they have also spent time investigating areas in Ilsan, Pyeongchang in Gangwon, Cheonan, Asan, and recently, various front and rear areas where tunnels might lead into military zones. The terrain North Korea primarily uses for exits is the subway systems operating in South Korean metropolitan cities. This was already exposed by Kim Tae-san, a former representative of a North Korean foreign currency-earning company in the Czech Republic who defected to the South. We plan to introduce the subway stations in Incheon and Seoul investigated by the exploration team in a future article to support this claim.

Former Ambassador Mostan mentioning North Korean tunnels during a press conference in front of Olympic Park Gate 2-3 on the 24th. [Jeon Han-gil News YouTube screen capture]South Korea's sense of security is at a dangerously low level. Military service periods have been shortened, frontline units have been reorganized and downsized, and there is an obsession with not removing the stone barriers on roads and anti-tank obstacles in streams intended to delay a North Korean invasion. There is also a complacent belief that North Korea lacks the capability to wage war, or that even if they did, they would be no match for South Korea's modern weaponry. However, North Korea's tunnels are secret weapons intended for surprise attacks. For this reason, they have come close to being discovered several times over the past few decades, only to be covered up each time by the help of pro-North Korean forces.

The current international situation is highly unstable. It appears that Xi Jinping is in a desperate situation where he must invade Taiwan before his term ends, and scenarios are openly discussed where North Korea might invade the South to prevent the U.S. from withdrawing forces from Korea during a Taiwan invasion. Even if that is not the case, we are entering a period where the likelihood of North Korean provocation is high, as they may try to exploit South Korea's political and social chaos to utilize these tunnels before the collapse of the regime. Therefore, in parallel with issues like election fraud by the left, we must urgently shift our posture regarding the security issue of North Korea’s long-distance tunnels.

Because security is a matter of life and death, we must prepare regardless of political affiliation, left or right. A joint task force consisting of military, government, and civilian personnel must be formed to urgently destroy these tunnels, which have already been extensively mapped and located. Furthermore, we ask for the public's support and interest, both physical and financial, so that the civilian North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team can continue its work through drilling and recording, not just L-rod exploration, to raise public awareness.

Representative Hwang Jin-mu, YouTube Channel Pioneer Broadcasting

North Korean Invasion Tunnel Exploration Team: Nonghyup 301-0261-3759-11 (Account Holder: Hwang Jin-mu)