Sunday, April 28, 2013

New Military Constructions for Artillery

I was going about my business mapping North Korea when I came across an odd set of trenches, and then more of them and more. After looking at their design it became somewhat obvious that these were new hardened emplacements for artillery.

This map gives you a broad view to help you understand their location with respect to well-known cities and islands.



In all I found 21 new sites as well as 1-2 more in the process of construction. Some of the placemarks represent two sites which are side-by-side, in total there are 24 of these "tunnels."

Here is a close-up map of all of the new locations:




The one in the center of the group can be found at 37°48'23.31"N 125°28'5.17"E. All of the other ones are within 1.5 miles of the center.

They all have the same layout, a curved entrance with a "pad" in front and they're all dug into the sides of hills. This is a detailed image of several of them in a cluster.


Each entrance is 21-24 feet wide and from the entrance to the access road is around 100 feet. All of the access ramps are aligned so that the entrances are either facing the north or west.

Also, the area has had a fair amount of new construction with new roads and new buildings.

Here is the central region on Nov 25, 2011:


The same area except on June 20, 2012:


A close-up of some of the buildings:


And finally, a detailed image of the northern most region:


Based on the dates for the past imagery this entire project was built in less than a year. The location of this facility is less than 14 miles from Yeonpyeong Island, SK and less than 61 miles from Incheon International Airport and mainland South Korea.

This has been a rather unpleasant discovery.


--Jacob Bogle, 4/28/2013
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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Coastal Defenses

North Korea's coasts are littered with defensive positions, a hodgepodge collection of modern defenses mixed with those remaining from the Korean War.

Their design takes a layered approach and is dependent on the topography of the area. Naturally, locations closer to the DMZ and those along the eastern coast (facing the historical enemy of all Korea, Japan) are more built up. To the southwest, the land border between North and South Korea gives way to a series of river mouths and tidal inlets, most notably at the confluence of the Imjin and Han rivers. This area opens up to the sea and is where I consider the North Korean coast in this region to being.

Within 3 miles of the Northern Limit Line (the de facto maritime border between the two countries, although it is disputed) are a series of observation posts located along the river banks, fences to the rear of the posts, a number of sand berms which divide up the patty fields, successive layers of road blocks/tank traps, and mixed throughout are anti-aircraft artillery sites (AAA), gun lines, trenches dug into the hills, and hardened artillery sites (HARTS). There are also ammunition caches and other storage facilities dispersed throughout.

Here is a sample region.

(click images for larger view)

The Northern Limit Line runs in the middle of the river, naturally South Korea is to the south. The wider yellow line is the area I have marked as encompassing most of the border defenses which include the DMZ. It is approximately 3 miles (with some variation) from the NLL and the Military Demarcation Line which serves as the land border. The "P" icons are small position, observation posts etc. The red circles are HARTS positions, the "S" icons are storage facilities, "F" is for fortifications, the pink icon denotes bunkers or tunnels and the "policemen" mark road blocks of the type I discussed in this post

Here is an example of the sand berm and fence which runs the length of this region (as well as nearly all low-lying coastal areas).


To the north of this beach, in an area about 5 miles wide, there are 8 road blocks.


Now, moving away from the NLL here is a map of some of the small coastal positions located along the coast of South Hwanghae province. 


The island to the bottom right, labeled Keunyeonpyeong-do (also known as Yeonpyeongdo), is the South Korean island which was bombed by the North in 2010 which killed 4 and wounded 18 others. 

This is a close up of one of the larger positions. 


Literally thousands of miles worth of trenches can be found throughout the county. Some are left over from the Korean War and have no real use, but others are part of their active defenses. Like these:


Both east and west coasts are intermittently lined with obstacle courses aimed at preventing any rapid movement inland during an invasion. These "dragon's teeth" consist of row after row of concrete blocks which have been sunk into the sand. The rows, usually 10 running parallel to each other, make up a full "band" around 100 feet wide. Most of these were put in place decades ago, some have been removed and others still have simply been covered up with drifting sand and mud. Still, in some areas they would slow an advancing force. They tend to be found in low-lying areas which lack mountainous terrain within a few miles of the coast and they are often paired with road blocks and berms further inland as well as rows of berms along the beach itself.

In this example the obstacle band has been marked in red, you can see the multiple sand berms in nice little rows.


And a close-up of the dragon's teeth themselves:


Next is the defensive positions around a few coastal towns. If you look at the coastal defense map I gave you above, this area is roughly the 4 blue places marks in a cluster, to the north of Yeonpyeongdo Island. 


The blue lines are fences and the three red lines are the tank traps. As before, the red circles are HARTS, the blue marks are small positions, "G" is a gun line and "B" is a coastal battery.

Finally, these are just three additional images of some interesting coastal places:

An AAA site with trenches - 


A close-up of a hardened artillery site - 



And a reserve fleet of 10 ships. There are a number of these types of locations dotted around the coast. Some are just sitting in dry docks like these and others are actually housed in underground naval yards.


--Jacob Bogle, 4/27/2013

Monday, April 15, 2013

News on the Nuclear Situation

According to an unclassified section of a report released by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (Dynamic Threat Assessment 8099: North Korea Nuclear Weapons Program):

   "D.I.A. assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles; however the reliability will be low.” 

This definitely raises the stakes of the game. China has helped to funnel billions into Pyongyang (£4 billion yearly in official trade and £7.6 billion via black market activities) as well as provided them with military technology. And now, despite taking some actions against North Korea in response to UN sanctions, it would seem that the link between the two countries is anything but severed.

Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang


Based on war preparations by Kim Jong-il, North Korea has stockpiled six months worth of fuel to support any war effort they may undertake. And while they do not expect help from China should they invade or attack another country, they do expect China would come to their aid should the US or South Korea attack the north. That being said, the technology needed to hit a mainland US city with a nuclear warhead is very advanced. The north hasn't been keen on acquiring modern missile technology from either Russia or China but rather seems intent on developing their own technology as required under the Juche (self reliance) policy. The problem isn't that they lack the ability to miniaturize a bomb, it's the ability to mount it (with confidence)  and have the guidance systems needed to reliably hit something that they lack.  

Tonghae (Musudan-ri) Missile Test Center


Which leads me back to some statements I made in my previous post on the issue. Even though North Korea has thousands of tons of mineable uranium ore, they only have enough processed material to make 3-12 weapons (depending on who you ask). And while they have begun to restart the Yongbyon reactor, it could take a year or more for them to process enough fuel rods (they have 12,000 of them) to extract fissionable materials of the quality needed for a bomb. So what is a more likely threat - the threat of launching a missile at us and chance wasting the valuable materials should it fall into the sea, or the risk of them sending a miniaturized bomb in a shipping container?

Yongbyon reactor facility


North Korea runs one of the most successful smuggling programs around. They ship weapons parts to Iran, Syria, Burma  and Libya, plus drugs and counterfeit US currency to places like China and throughout Africa. Not to mention human trafficking. All of this to me says that if North Korea wanted to attack the US mainland with a bomb, they would most likely use unconventional means.


Additional Reading:
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues, Congressional Research Service (PDF)

--Jacob Bogle, 4/15/2013
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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Pyongyang Palace and Update

First, I have set up a dedicated "Google Site" to host my KMZ files. This way I don't have to wait for moderators to approve them and can easily publish updated versions. The following areas have been completed:

Rason Special City
The Demilitarized Zone
Pyongyang (city and district)
Ryanggang District
Ryongsong Residence

You can find them all here https://sites.google.com/site/mynorthkorea/files

(NOTE: the above areas have been substantially updated since this post was published. The new files will all be released sometime around Dec. 2015 and early 2016. Please check newer blog posts for additional updates.)

Now, I'd like to introduce you to the Ryongsong Residence (also known as "Residence No. 55"); the main palace compound of the Kim family.

Located 7.5 miles from Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, the compound grounds total between 5 to 7 square miles (depending on which areas you include). You can find it by using these coordinates 39° 6′ 58.96″ N, 125° 48′ 20.94″ E

Originally built in 1983 by Kim Il-sung, the compound is heavily defended, contains multiple houses (for the Kim family and ruling elite), man-made lakes, a private train station, is supplied power via 3 (known) substations, and much more. Outside the complex lies several anti-aircraft artillery sites and within are numerous underground facilities aimed at keeping the military functioning in the event of a nuclear war. It is also rumored that there are minefields in and around the compound, but I have not been able to verify their locations.

This gives you the location of the complex in relation to Pyongyang proper and the main airport. This image also shows the outline of the main outer and internal fences. As always, simply click on an image for a larger view.



Here is the area without any markings:



A up-close image of the fences. Red is the outer fence, purple is the main fence which is actually several electrified fences, walls, firing positions, etc. which encircle the compound as a thick fortified band.


The complex is also further divided by multiple internal fences (yellow). These fences often surround high priority areas, like the official residence of Kim Jung-un.


There are other fences and walls inside the complex which usually surround various buildings, greenhouses, barracks, etc. I have not marked those as they are difficult to fully discern and are rather numerous.

This shows you the location of the defensive ring around the compound which includes 15 AAA sites and 1 HARTS (hardened artillery site) position. These are only the ones closest to the complex, if you were to zoom out there would be more and more of them which are a part of Pyongyang's overall defensive network.



Here is a map of the multiple guardhouses and gates. There are also at least 2 berms (denoted by the square icon) which would prevent tanks from being able to rush certain areas.


This close-up gives you a better understanding of where the main residences are located and the layout of the internal fencing system. The blue circle denotes a bunker.



Here you can see the main fence design as it snakes across the image:



The private train station:


The location of the 3 substations. It is possible that there are underground power supplies but obviously, you can't see them from the air.


Here is an example of a livestock area within the compound (probably chickens or pigs). The compound, like a small city, is surrounded by agricultural, livestock, and military units. The building to the right is one of the substations.


This shows you some of the bunkers and underground facilities.



The Kim family have long held a fascination with horses and so, they have their own horse track. You'll notice the single, small viewing stand.


The main horse arena with stables:


Some of the smaller residences:


These 2 buildings are the largest single residential structures that have been on the property.


Here we have the main residence of the Kim family. The man-made lakes are a staple of the many official residences scattered throughout the nation. The distinctive geometric walkways over the lakes are likewise a mainstay of the palaces.


And now we get to see a bit of fun, a pool with a rather wild looking water slide:


Over the years the complex has undergone many changes and since 2009 there have been a number of them. The structures below were built between April 2009 and October 2010. These are located immediately adjacent to the livestock area and occupy the field to the center-bottom of the image I used for that site.


A number of homes were destroyed between April and September 2011, and after the death of Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un ordered the destruction of many (but not all) of his father's palaces and villas, as well as those homes belonging to those who did not show proper loyalty to Jong-un after his rise to power. The demolished homes have their approximate date of demolition, two of which may be candidates for Jong-un's demo project.


This large residence was demolished after the death of Kim Jong-il. You'll notice that it is one of the larger homes I showed you earlier.


The money spent to build and maintain this complex, along with all the others, cannot fully be ascertained. But given the fact that anywhere from 1-44% of the nation's economy is spent solely on the cult of personality that pervades North Korea, one can suspect that the finances used for these palaces are placed at a far higher priority than that of the starving and tortured average North Korean.


Additional reading:
Ryongsong Residence (Wikipedia article)
Cult of personality figures: 1% (based on GDP of $40b) - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/05/kim-jong-il-cult-costing-north-korea-millions_n_2245711.html and 44.8% http://www.nknews.org/2013/04/what-to-make-of-pyongyangs-recent-political-meetings/


--Jacob Bogle, 4/11/2013
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Friday, April 5, 2013

Mapping Update 3

First, I'd like to apologize for not posting lately, especially given the rising tensions. I moved into a new apartment and ran into some issues with my Internet, leaving me without it until today.

That being said, the total number of new placemarks is now over 4,000. I have also published the KMZ file for the Rason Special City. It contains 77 placemarks and you can find it here (this will take you to the Google page where you can download it by clicking the link on that page, you must have Google Earth to view it.)

I am nearing completion of Pyongyang (around 1,000 items) and I am in the process of making a special file specifically for the main palace in Pyongyang. The palace and surrounding area are well known but the descriptions and related files are incomplete. It will also be the subject of one of my next posts so you'll get to see lots of images.

Also, version 1 of the DMZ file is available. You can find it here. It has roughly 190 items marked. I am working on version 2.0 which will have ~30 new places as well as being better organized.

Finally, I have changed mapping techniques. In the past I would map a large city and work my way outward and follow rivers and valleys. This worked surprisingly well but inevitably I missed places and the shear volume of space to cover was rather daunting. So now, I've begun to divide the whole country up into 5x5 mile squares. Given GE's eccentricities this is taking up a fair amount of time, but I can easily manage the 25 sq mile blocks, be fairly confident that I have spotted everything in them and being able to "check-off" each completed square gives me a bit of a morale boost.


--Jacob Bogle, 4/5/2013
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Nuclear Question


Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founder, had seen the devastation wrought by the bombs dropped on Japan in WWII and witnessed the obliteration of the Korean Peninsula by Allied forces during the Korean War. Almost from the start Kim Il-sung desired to develop his own nuclear weapons program. But his desires were placed on hold as more pressing issues were on the table at the end of the Korean War, namely, rebuilding the country and completing his restructuring of the entire economy, military, and culture.

With the Soviets as allies, North Korea felt relatively safe from American "imperial aggression" and so they went about more basic national concerns. However, they engaged in lower level nuclear activities with the USSR. In 1956 their scientists were given basic knowledge on how to begin a nuclear program and in 1959 the DPRK and USSR signed a "nuclear cooperation" agreement.

The collapse of the USSR marked the beginning of many changes in North Korea. It precipitated the famine, helped to wreck their economy, and a few years later they restarted their nuclear program after losing their primary defensive shield - the Cold War threat of all out nuclear war with the ruin of the US. Their nuclear program had been on hold since 1994 but in 1998 they tested a ballistic missile and restarted processing nuclear fuel.

Today, North Korea lacks any ability to sustain a long-term, full-scale war. Most of their tanks and other weapon systems are around 25-30 years old and many sit idle or broken because North Korea lacks sufficient fuel, replacement parts and even bullets. But we should not let that lull us into a false sense of security. The North Korean soldier is one who is strongly motivated, loyal to the point of religious zealotry, and is constantly reminded that all of their problems are directly caused by the US.

For us, the Korean War ended in 1953. For the North Koreans, it's still happening. The country's leadership knows full well that without Soviet and Chinese support during the War the North Koreans would have been wiped off the face of the earth...and they very nearly were. And so today, they see South Korea flourishing, they see thousands of US troops stationed in the South and they realize they probably can't count on Russia or China in the event of a new war. At the same time, they also remember that prior to the early 1980's they had a stronger economy and better infrastructure than their southern cousins. So, what is a tiny country with a schizophrenic superiority/inferiority complex to do?

Their insistence on developing a serious nuclear defense program is one we find difficult to understand. After all, the money they've spent pursuing this goal could have fed the entire population for several years. We have to realize that what the national leadership does is for its own survival alone and not necessarily for the well-being of ordinary citizens.

For decades, North Korea has promoted itself to its people as a strong nuclear power and fully capable of sending satellites into space; at the forefront of any and all technologies. The reality is that they're bumbling about with little to go on except what they learned via the Soviets and their interactions with Iran, Syria and Iraq. Their brightest scientists are decades behind the modern world. And so, in an effort to ensure their legitimacy in the eyes of the people, and to reap the benefits of aid monies and arms deals, they have become hellbent on developing nuclear weapons and all the ancillary technologies that goes along with it.

The military is the lifeblood of North Korea. The official policy of North Korea is "Songun" (military-first) which means, in essence, the entire purpose of the nation, its economy, agriculture, technology, everything is to serve and enhance the military. And while the Kim family seems like they have had an iron-fisted grip on the county's affairs the reality is that they (more precisely, he; Kim Jong-un) must maintain an uneasy alliance between himself and the military leadership. It would go a long way toward cementing his rule if the military was well taken care of, which would include a nuclear arsenal.

This leaves us with a few questions:
What about sanctions?
What is the real threat?
Where does all this leave us today?

The first question deals with sanctions. The US and UN has levied multiple rounds of sanctions against North Korea since 2004. The problem with this is sanctions more often than not hurt the people of a country more than the leadership. Sanctions have attempted to squeeze the ruling elite into submission, in reality they have played right into their hands. The sanctions have drastically limited the amount of fuel oil and other necessities flowing into the country thus exacerbating their economic problems and hampering the ability of everyday Koreans to thrive. Exceptions have been made in the realm of food aid but this too has had a negative effect. By their very nature any aid that goes to North Korea must first go through government bureaucracies and the military is usually the one who ends up with the aid. Then soldiers take truck loads of food and sell it on the black market fueling the corrupt and the terminal kleptocratic state of the country.

The international community has also failed to realize that what constitutes "luxury goods" to the West is not what people in North Korea consider luxury. A simple TV is a luxury good in the North, not necessarily a gold-plated toilet. And the elite have had little problem getting their "luxury" goods since the UN doesn't provide a strict list of what exactly luxury means, rather they let each member country determine what is or isn't.

Sanctions, normally US led, also fits into the propaganda. By engaging in sanctions and severely harming their domestic economy the North can easily blame all their woes on the US and can use them as an excuse to use their sovereign imperative for self-defense by citing a "need" for a nuclear deterrence. So, while sanctions may make the West feel good about "stopping a rouge regime", the North is busy working their starving people into a frenzy of anti-American sentiment, ready to wage war at the drop of a hat. Not to mention that despite sanctions the North has recently tested two nuclear devices and multiple long-range rockets. Sanctions are clearly not working.

Furthermore, North Korea is not as dependent on outside help as one might expect. Their successful "satellite" launch in 2012 was a prime example. Based on the examination of rocket parts found in the ocean the world was shocked to discover that much of the rocket was domestically made. North Korea also has a fair amount of natural uranium deposits (32,000 TONS of pure uranium to be exact). Uranium enrichment is a rather straightforward process and the technical skills needed to produce a uranium-based nuclear device is much less than needed to produce a plutonium bomb. All of this tells us that while sanctions may make things difficult for the North, they are not preventing them from moving forward with their programs...obviously.

The next question is a rather simple one, what is the real threat?

North Korea, more a socialist nightmare than utopia. A broken economy and starving people with an obsolete military. What could they possibly do? Well, obviously they can build nuclear weapons and place objects into orbit and we dismiss or poke-fun of North Korea at our own risk.

There is no way the North could currently launch a nuclear missile (or any missile) at the US mainland and even dream of hitting it with any certainty. Theoretically, they could however send a bomb over in a shipping container. The North has been able to maintain an arms, drug and information trade with multiple nations the world over so it is conceivable that they could blow up the Port of Los Angeles by sneaking something on board one of the 8 million shipping containers (using another country as a 3rd-party mediator) that flow through the port. After all, ports are a notorious weak spot.

More realistically, I think we should focus on South Korea and the mood within the North. When Kim Jong-un came to power as a young, European educated man, the world hoped for real reforms. Unfortunately, it seems that the young Kim suffers from youth induced arrogance and a desire to prove himself to his people (undoubtedly egged on by seasoned and hawkish military advisers). The North has also been "gearing-up" for war since 1953 and I imagine that the citizenry is growing tired of constant war propaganda without ever releasing the tension.

Historically, North Korea has engaged in small hit & run tactics such as the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan and the bombing of Yeonpyeong Island or limited incursions. In fact, the North has technically violated the terms of the 1953 Armistice 221 times. So there is little question that the North is capable of hits, the question is, are they ready to engage in a full blown war? Politically speaking, the time is ripe for an escalated conflict. We've seen the North take provocative actions but now South Korea has also stepped up its rhetoric. The newly elected ROK (Republic of Korea) president has made it clear he is willing to be much more aggressive in the face of any threat from North Korea and this willingness on both parts will make it very easy for an otherwise small event to blow up into war.

North Korea maintains a secretive and elite rapid strike force of about 180,000 men. These troops are well trained in asymmetric tactics and have a network of tunnels beneath the DMZ which, in the event of war, means that the South could be taken off guard as 180,000 enemy soldiers surround their forward defensive lines. Additionally, Seoul is within reach of thousands of field guns and rocket launchers which could inflict massive damage. North Korea could use its 500-forward deployed, long-rang guns to rain down 500,000 shells an hour for several hours. All of this would result in up to 1 million South Korean casualties within the first few days of war. Not to mention the rest of the North Korean military which in terms of raw numbers dwarfs the South's. And while the North lacks any real ability to engage in a sustained invasion, the goal may not be to "win." Like the Taliban, the goal could be to bleed the US dry. We would be forced (by treaty) to send large amounts of aid and soldiers to back up the 28,500 US soldiers already stationed in the South and to help the South Korean military. The disruption in trade between the US and South, as well as the disruption of South Korea's overall $560 billion in global exports, could cause very real economic problems for the "enemies" of North Korea.

In the end, North Korea would be turned into a pile of ashes, as was the case during the Korean War but, not without costing the US and its allies a great deal first.

What do we do now?

I doubt North Korea genuinely wants an all out war. The end game of war would be bad for everyone involved. It is more likely that the North is simply wanting some breathing room. If it weren't for their nuclear program it's doubtful the world would even give the North the time of day. But there can be a positive outcome. Although sanctions haven't worked to stop their weapons programs, they have succeeded in making life very hard for them and rumors of assassinations and internal power struggles surface from time to time.

I think it is time we re-evaluate our position with North Korea. The North is like a spoiled child and our approach to keep him from doing bad things is by starving him to death. To me, this doesn't sound very wise -or moral. It is obvious that all of their bellicose language has been in an attempt to gain attention and aid. It is equally obvious that the international community lacks the ability to stop the North from doing as they please since they have a fair amount of domestic capability (even if it's at the expense of other sectors). At the height of the Cold War, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, both sides understood that any escalation would result in both sides losing. There is no doubt that while we would technically win the war, we would also lose it. Sanctions against the USSR did little to stop their activities and in the end the USSR collapsed from internal forces and a never-ending asymmetric war in the Middle East.

Today, the US trades with many of our mortal enemies, Russia, China, Germany, Japan, Vietnam etc. Russia and China maintain militaries that could easily take our military to task if pushed to. Russian and Chinese human rights abuses are well known and their systems of government and economics are not the same as America's. That being said, the lives of modern Russians and Chinese are better now than at any point in history and at the same time the Chinese Communist Party has never been stronger. I am not saying that their horrid human rights record, or the deaths of millions caused directly by their governments should be ignored. I am saying that there are ways of opening up societies, of making lives better, without bombing the hell out of them or holding such threat above their heads. As is evident by Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, you cannot bomb "freedom" into a culture unable or unwilling to accept it. Sometimes change must be gradual.

The US and China have been at odds over rare-earth metals and there is a grave threat to the world economy if China decided to play bully. North Korea, surprisingly enough, has up to $6 trillion (yes, trillion) in rare-earth metals. Would it not make more sense to extend an olive branch to the North Koreans, to not demand the end of their ruling elite, and instead allow them to implement gradual economic reforms while we reap the benefit of another source of needed materials? Economic freedom breeds personal freedom. The only way for North Korea to really benefit from their natural resources is to change their economic model and in doing so the yoke of serfdom which pervades North Korean society will naturally lessen.

As long as we threaten them directly or indirectly, they will never relent. Morally, North Korea does have every sovereign right to defend itself and to develop nuclear technologies, and we have no moral (or Constitutional) right to stop them. We do have the moral and legal right to trade with them and if they launched an actual attack against us then fine, we'll erase them from the universe. I would rather have a country of full bellies which still has a Kim leading it than further continue a nation where 1/3 of those under 5 have stunted growth as a result of malnourishment with a Kim leading it.

I think we owe it to the millions of starving North Koreans, to our South Korean friends, and to ourselves to try a new path. Instead of holding on to Cold War fears and maintaining policies which clearly do not work, let us engage.

Additional Reading:
Timeline of North Korea's nuclear program, Wikipedia
Study on nuclear terrorism against US trade, Abt Associates (PDF)
North Korea's nuclear program, International Institute for Strategic Studies

--Jacob Bogle, 3/20/2013
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Arduous March


The North Korean famine began in 1994 and lasted 4 years. The famine occurred as a result of several external and internal factors, namely: the loss of the Soviet Union's support for their economy and a series of floods which destroyed valuable crops and farm land.

The USSR had been the closest of allies with the DPRK and the DPRK relied heavily on "friendly rates" for foodstuffs, fertilizer and fuel oil to support their economy. When the USSR collapsed the North Korean economy tanked and over the course of the 1990s their economy contracted by at least 50% and the floods in 1995 really pushed the famine into overdrive.

During those 4 years an estimated 1-3.5 million people died either as a direct result of starvation or illnesses related to starvation.[1][2] In North Korea this period is known as the "Arduous March" which was a reference to a propaganda story circulated in 1993. This propaganda campaign called on the people to summon up the strength and courage from the story "Arduous March" in which Kim Il-sung and his guerrilla fighters waged a heroic campaign against the Japanese, "fighting against thousands of enemies in 20 degrees below zero, braving through a heavy snowfall and starvation, the red flag fluttering in front of the rank." Part of the famine propaganda also included the "Let Us Eat Two Meals A Day!" campaign in an effort to preserve resources.[3]

The famine resulted in an entire generation having extremely high rates of stunted growth and mental retardation. The UN estimates that 1/3rd of North Korean children under 5 are malnourished today.[4] While the national famine itself has ended there are sporadic food shortages, flooding and regional famines which continues to this day.[5] Stories of cannibalism, including parents eating their children, surface every few months.[6]

As I discussed in a previous post, North Koreans tend to bury their dead in mounds. So I would like to expand upon that topic and show you a number of examples. There are two types of mounds found in North Korea; the large mound and the small mound.

Large mounds are often located in a well-maintained spot, either alone or with other mounds. They could be ancient mounds containing nobility or mounds for the elite and Korean War "martyrs." Here are some examples:

A single mound on a hillside. The white spot is a marker. (you can see 4-5 smaller mounds in this picture too)



Nine large mounds.


Most probably modern mounds of the elite/martyrs.



Next, a mound 'cemetery' with an anti-aircraft artillery site nearby. These mounds are located in a large city. 


Now, here are the small mounds. Nearly every example you can find of these come from the famine period. It is basically impossible to not find them dotting hillsides, in the midst of farmland, and near just about any city, town and tiny village. A large number of people were also buried in mass graves. As you can see, these were placed anywhere there was a spot of unused land with little order.

On a hill.

In the middle of farmland.


Here are 3 groups of mounds arranged in a rough triangular shape. I've circled them because they may not be very clear due to the image's lighting. I imagine that these were some of the first people to die and that the townspeople tried their best to put some care into their arrangement. As time went on, those who survived simply lacked the energy, time or resources to do more than a basic and quick burial.


These mounds are scattered along the ridges of low-lying hills which the village below has grown in and around.

(Click for larger.)

Finally, here is a large-view image of the locations I have found so far. I try to mark all of the "elite" mounds (purple arrows) because they are far fewer and may be of special cultural/historical importance (I have no way to find out). The white arrows mark large areas of "common" mounds. The shear abundance of the common mounds makes it impractical to mark them all, especially since they are easily found, so I only mark the largest groupings in a given area.




Sources:
1. Famine in North Korea, One Free Korea
2. 3.5 million starved to death, BBC News
3. Kim Il-sung turns 80, LA Times
4. Millions of North Korean children malnourished, The Guardian
5. Famine reports for 2010, The Telegraph
6. Parents eating children out of hunger, AllVoices


--Jacob Bogle, 3/13/2013
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