How a second Korean war nearly started over a poplar tree

This article is republished from the book Uncle John's 24-Karat Bathroom Reader.

The unoccupied Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea has been a tense place since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s. It's been the site of periodic flare-ups, one of which involved a tree.

(Image credit: Wikipedia user Filzstift)

TWO KOREAS

For most of its history, Korea has been a single country, often a very powerful one. In the late 19th century, the nation lost its independence to Japan. At the time, Japan was trying to build a global empire, and Korea was a valuable strategic target. After World War II, the Japanese Empire fell apart, and the countries it once controlled became independent nations again. But a new conflict was developing: The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Korea's strategic location made it an important ally to both sides.


The United States assumed the administration of the southern part of Korea, taking steps to assure it would develop into a capitalist economy. American diplomats and politicians micromanaged the region's political process to produce leaders sympathetic to the West. At the same time, the Soviet Union oversaw the development of the north, and encouraged that part of Korea to develop along socialist lines. The split was formalized in 1948, when the north refused to participate in the United Nations-supervised free elections. Both sides claimed to be the only legitimate government on the Korean peninsula. The Korean War was fought over this issue, which led to two separate nations. To this day, South Korea claims that it lawfully controls North Korea, while North Korea believes the same about South Korea.

Technically, the Korean War never formally ended. There was no peace treaty -only an armistice that ended the shooting (it was temporary, but it's lasted since 1953) and established a two-mile wide DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone, as a neutral buffer between North Korea and South Korea.

STAY POSTED

Like all Cold War hot spots, the DMZ was rife with political intrigue and paranoia (and heavily guarded by troops). North Korea accused the South of periodically sending spies into the North, and in 1975 South Korea discovered secret tunnels that North Korea had built under the DMZ.

Command Post #3 in 1975.

In the early 1970s, the United Nations set up multiple command posts within the DMZ to help control the situation. UN Command Post #3 was critical. It was the northernmost post, situated within sight of North Korean territory. North Korean soldiers had repeatedly attempted to kidnap UN officials from Command Post #3, so soldiers stationed at the southern end of the DMZ believed it was vital to keep a close eye on the post at all times. Only problem: Commands Post #3 was surrounded by dense foliage, which made the post impossible to observe during summer months. One particularly troublesome poplar tree directly blocked the view.

THE KOREAN AXE MASSACRE

So on August 18, 1976, under UN orders, the South Korean military sent five soldiers, escorted by a dozen US troops, into the DMZ to chop down the poplar. Because soldiers are not allowed to carry firearms inside the DMZ, the squad carried only the axes and machetes they planned to use.

Just as troops began trimming the tree, a delegation of North Korean soldiers arrived at the site and demanded that the South Koreans drop their axes. The tree in question, they said, had been personally planted and tended by Kim Il Sung, North Korea's first "great leader." Despite repeated warnings from the North Koreans, the squadron from the South continued to chop… prompting the commanding officer of the North Korean detachment to order, "Kill them!"


The South Korean troops immediately dropped their axes and attempted to flee. The North Koreans -unarmed because of the weapon-free DMZ rule- then picked up the axes and attacked the American escorts, killing the commanding officer, Capt. Arthur Bonifas, and fatally wounding Lt. Mark Barret, and injuring most of the South Koreans. United Nations soldiers at Observation Post #5, watching the proceedings unfold, recorded the entire incident on camera, and it was quickly reported to the leaders of North Korea and to the general public in South Korea. Through it all, the poplar tree remained standing.

THE ART OF WAR

Because two Americans had been killed, many expected the full military power of the United States to come down on North Korea. But waging all-out war would have been extraordinarily dangerous during the Cold War. Seoul, the bustling capital of South Korea, was located directly south of the DMZ, well within range of North Korean artillery. And while the US had superior air and sea power, North Korea maintained a close diplomatic relationship with China, which had tens of millions of troops that it almost certainly would have sent to aid North Korea.


Henry Kissinger, then serving as both US Secretary of State and national security advisor to President Ford, was prepared to fight. He suggested to Ford that the best course of action would be a full-scale bombing campaign of the North. Kissinger believed that holding back would make the United States appear diplomatically and militarily weak. Ford, however, did not want to start a new Korean War, or worse, another world war, so he devised a solution that he hoped would allow the US to save face while avoiding a major escalation: Send in the troops… and chop down the tree.

TIMBER!

"Operation Paul Bunyan," as it was called, commenced on August 21, 1976, just three days after the original confrontation -which was being referred to as "the axe murder incident"- and involved a major military incursion into the DMZ. The primary "attack arms" consisted of two six-man units from the US Army Corps of Engineers, all armed with chain saws. Each unit was accompanied by a support unit of 30 heavily armed soldiers, and backed up by two dozen attack helicopters and a wing of B-52 Stratofortress bombers. Meanwhile, every military unit south of the DMZ was on high alert: Aircraft patrols were launched from air bases all over South Korea, and the USS Midway carrier group held a position just off the Korean Peninsula. Artillery units stood by to detonate critical bridges in the vicinity, and South Korean special forces ran secret scouting missions along the most critical areas of the DMZ. North Korea responded in kind, dispatching hundreds of sharpshooters and machine gunners to their forward posts along the DMZ. Northern forces set up machine-gun nests in view of Command Post #3.


Despite the armed build up on both sides, the operation ended without incident. The poplar tree was chopped down in just under an hour. The chain-saw crew left a stump 19 feet high as a visible reminder of what had occurred there, and that was that.

In the mid-1980s, Command Post #3 was abandoned, and in 1987 the rest of the stump was removed. But in its place, a small shrine -a stone monument with a bronze plaque- was erected to honor the memory of the two American soldiers who died there.

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The article above was reprinted with permission from Uncle John's 24-Karat Bathroom Reader.

Scamsters Target Northeast student Bank Accounts

Chennai, Feb 8 : Lucrative offers of money through SMS and email seem to have found a whole new set of gullible victims who have ended up as silent collaborators in such operations.

Curiously, young people from the northeast, particularly Nagaland and Mizoram, who are in Tamil Nadu for education or jobs have been falling prey into helping fraudsters.

According to sources in the central crime branch, dormant or hardly used bank accounts and debit cards of students from remote areas of Nagaland and Mizoram who are studying outside the region, are being freely used for transactions by such fraudsters.

The victims were mostly account holders of commercial banks in remote locations in Nagaland and Mizoram. They have been targeted by the fraudsters who have been freely indulging in depositing and withdrawing money from their accounts in remote places.

“Although the account holders of such transactions become party to criminal activity, in most cases, the young people whose account numbers were being used by the fraudsters failed to foresee the legal consequences mainly due to lack of awareness,” said a senior police official.

He cautioned that a person allowing a fraudster to use his account for committing the fraud in banking parlance is called a ‘mule’, and he would be held responsible for the illegal transactions.

Officials point out that such illegal activities could be avoided if banks step up their security measures. Seshasai, joint commissioner, CCB, said “Account holders should report to their bank branches or police if one found such transitions or lost his or her debit card.

That way they can make sure that they are not held responsible if their cards are used for illegal activities by these online fraudsters.”

100 Year Old Rubber Tree Attracts Tourists in Arunachal

A new tourist attraction has emerged in Arunachal in the form of a giant 100 year old rubber tree.

The Forest department declared the tree as the largest tree in the state. Locally known as "Atang Ane", the rubber tree with a girth of 59.3 metres was located near the remote Kallek Village in East Siang district's Kebang circle under Yingkiong Forest Division.

The tree is situated in the sub-tropical forest range at 28 degrees north latitude and 95 degrees east longitude. Its elevation is measured up to 648 metres. To add to the tourism potential of the state a plan was mooted by Governor JJ Singh under which the largest tree in the state was identified.

According to State Forest Research Institute scientist R K Taj, "Such trees are traditionally important for religious purpose also. The plant is also important in decorating avenues and lawns." One can visit the tree after a three-hour trek from the nearest motorable road.

"The tree was planted in the early part of the 20th century, much before the Anglo-Abor War of 1911, by villager Sibeng Tamuk," Kallek head Tamang Tamuk said.

The tree was planted to obtain rubber from it during the time of practicing jhum cultivation in the area and it is believed that the sapling of the tree might have been brought from nearby Myanmar by him.

The tree may grow still larger in the coming days as it grows vertically, Tagom Darang, a villager, said. "If proper care is taken and the state government constructs a porter track from Kallek to the spot where the tree is located, the site will become one of the hotspots for tourists in the state," said Tajir Tamuk of Kallek village. Tamuk also stated that an ancient bat cave is situated just nearby the giant tree and if it is explored, it too would become a favourite tourist destination.

The Governor had last month awarded Rs 15,000 to Takom Tamuk, a resident of the village, and Rs 10,000 to Rai Yayer, another villager, for locating the second largest tree a banyan tree with a girth of 17 metres at Kankar Nallah near Nirjuli under Banderdewa forest division in Papum Pare district.

A Damned Race For Power

How we threw away the green rulebook in our obsession to keep up with China

By Jay Mazoomdaar

With more than 80 percent forest cover, Arunachal Pradesh is one of the last repositories of virgin wilderness where new species are still discovered every few months. The state also faces a 15 percent power shortfall. So, a section of Arunachal’s political leadership is desperate to harness the vast potential of its numerous fast-flowing rivers. More than 140 MoUs have been inked to set up hydro-electricity projects (HEPS) in the state.

In Tawang district, this power rush reached an absurd high. Seven rivers flow through the Tawang basin, where as many as 13 HEPS have been proposed across just 2,085 sq km. There is hardly any agricultural land left in this hilly district where the armed forces and civic infrastructural facilities occupy more than half the area. Once the HEPS come up, even the remaining cropland by the rivers will be lost. Besides, 13 HEPS will require a peak workforce of more than 1 lakh people, double the population of the district. One can imagine what the influx will mean to the Monpa residents, whose indigenous rights are protected by the Constitution.

A part of the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity hotspot, Tawang is also one of the 200 globally important eco-regions and the only place on earth that hosts all varieties of Rhododendron. It is also home to the red panda, snow leopard, mountain goat and 150 species of birds. The impact of intensive blasting, tunnelling and submergence required for building 13 HEPS in this pristine landscape will be an environmental disaster.

Only nine years ago, then chief minister Gegong Apang announced a plan to set up a 2,000 sq km bio-reserve. As political priorities changed rapidly in Itanagar and New Delhi, Buddhist monks from the Monpa community made the Tawang monastery the centre of resistance. Since April last year, Save Mon Region Federation has repeatedly defied Section 144 and clashed with the police to demand that all 13 proposed HEPS, including the 600 MW Tawang-I and 800 MW Tawang-II, be scrapped. As recently as Christmas Eve last year, a violent showdown led to several arrests and injured protesters.

While both Tawang-I and II already had the required green clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the pressure from the local communities and the obvious irrationality of setting up so many HEPS in such a tiny basin made the Forest Advisory Committee recommend a cumulative impact study instead of evaluating each project on its own. That was last September. In just four months, the table was turned.

Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan came under strong pressure from various infrastructure ministries and the PMO. Her high-profile face-off with Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the proposed National Investment Board (NIB) forced the PMO to dilute the NIB’s overriding powers and rechristen it a Cabinet committee. But soon enough, it was time for quid pro quo.

The NHAI claimed the first pound of flesh by making the MoEF allow work along the non-forest parts of the projects, pending forest clearance. With the coal ministry already breathing down her neck, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia paid Natarajan a visit. Then, China announced three new dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) along the border.

While construction of a 510 MW plant at Zangmu in the Tibet Autonomous Region is going on since 2010, the three new projects — at Dagu (640 MW), Jiacha (320 MW) and Jiexu (unspecified) — took the cumulative yield to beyond 1,470 MW. The Indian answer, insisted the power ministry, had to be fast-tracking Tawang-I and II and generate 1,400 MW.

So, the MoEF promptly wrote to Arunachal CM Nabam Tuki to proceed with the basin study and the Tawang HEPS were granted stage-I clearance without bothering for any cumulative or specific impact study. There is a rider of a consolation though: the other 11 HEPS will have to wait till their cumulative impact is assessed. That is until China decides to come up with a few more dams.

Mizoram Shines in Anti-tobacco Drive

Aizawl, Feb 6 : This figure is higher than the national average of three per cent during the same period, the meeting of the Mizoram Smoke Free Group chaired by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, was informed today.

About 67 per cent people -- 72.5 per cent men and 61.6 per cent women -- consume tobacco in one form or the other, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (India).

Lal Thanhawla, addressing the meeting, said Mizo people should quit smoking and consuming other tobacco products to improve the health of the whole society.

Even after the declaration of Smoke Free Mizoram, the state was yet to be far from free of tobacco and smoking, he added.

Mizoram was declared a smoke-free state in July 2011.

PRISM Asks Congress To Withdraw Nominee

By Linda Chhakchhuak

Aizawl, Feb 5 : Clean election and anti-corruption watchdog People’s Right to Information and Development Implementing Society of Mizoram (PRISM) has slammed the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee, the ruling party and asked it to withdraw its ‘controversial’ candidate for the Chalfilh Assembly by- elections and nominate another. The elections is slated to be held on February 23.

PRISM, which is part of the National Election Watch movement for clean elections and a member of the Election Commissioner’s committee for clean elections wrote a letter to the Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, who is also the president of the ruling party.

PRISM warned that if the party did not do so the organisation would go all out to have the candidate defeated or even take recourse to filing an election complaint. PRISM believes that the ruling party’s choice of candidate is an outrageous insult to the people of the State who want clean candidates.

While many expected the Mizoram People’s Forum, a church-based platform formed to enforce ‘clean elections’ and ‘clean candidates’, it was the PRISM, a growing public movement against corruption in governance which finally belled the cat.

With this controversy, the ruling Congress seems to have messed up its sure-fire walk over in the Chalfilh Assemby bye-elections.

The party candidate, Dr H Ngurdingliana is popularly known as one of the three then candidates who were kidnapped in Suangpuilawn constituency during the 2003 Assembly polls, an incident which had shocked the State till it was revealed that it was faked by the candidates themselves.

Several local people said that the Congress choice was shocking for many as the 2003 ‘incident’ and its aftermath is still fresh in their memory.

“When we heard they were kidnapped, I had almost died wondering what had become of our Mizo culture. When they were found by the police, there were rumours that they were never kidnapped. A police inquiry was commissioned but the then Mizo National Front Government refused to make it public. It was Zoram weekly which made it public by getting the report through RTI. Only then did the public come to know that those candidates kidnapped themselves to fool the Election authorities,” said Maliana, an Aizawlite recalling the dark days of 2003.

“If the MPCC believe that the public have short memories as most politicians seem to think, they were reminded earlier that this is far from the reality by the Phuaibuang Students Union which had called on the political parties to desist from fielding any of those persons who could plan such a charade to fool the voters.

But, apparently sound sense did not prevail. This turns out to be a windfall for the opposition parties like the MNF, Mizoram People’s Conference, Zoram Nationalist Party.

Chalfilh has 13 sensitive polling stations where the shadow of the armed Hmar People’s Convention-Democratic falls heavy. It was part of the Suangpuilawn constituency before the recent delimitations. A large community of Hmars make up the electorate. The last day for filing nomination is February 6.

He is the POOREST CM in India, But He Donates His Salary

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar can arguably be dubbed 'the cleanest and poorest' chief minister in the country with personal property, movable and immovable, valued at less than Rs 2.5 lakh.

According to the affidavit submitted by the 64-year-old Sarkar during filing of nomination in Dhanpur constituency for the upcoming assembly elections, he had Rs 1,080 cash in hand and his bank balance stood at Rs 9,720.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader is aiming for a fourth consecutive term in the northeastern state.

He inherited a home of 432 sq ft with a tin-shed house from his deceased mother Anjali Sarkar whose present market value was Rs 2,20,000.
However, his wife Panchali Bhattacharya, who is a retired officer of the Central government has a cash fixed deposit of Rs 23,58,380 and jewellery worth 20 gm of gold, the present market value of which is Rs 72,000. She has cash of Rs 22,015 in hand.
Her family sources said she had got the money as part of her retirement benefits. The couple has no movable property and the total value of immovable property and cash is Rs 24,52,395.

A state Committee member of the ruling CPI-M, Haripada Das, who looks after the accounts of the party said, like other party members, Sarkar donates his full salary and subsidiary allowances to the party and instead the party pays him Rs 5,000 as subsistence allowances.
According to official sources, the chief minister's monthly salary is Rs 9,200 which, perhaps, is the lowest in the country. When contacted, State Party Secretary Bijan Dhar said, "I can only say that he has no leaning for increasing his own personal property. He has dedicated his entire life for the party and people."
Even his bitter critics do not blame him for any kind of corruption.

Beauty Pageant Winner From East India Seeks to Make Northeast Proud

Kolkata, Feb 5 : After winning the tiara as the Femina Miss India (East), Darjeeling girl Sagarika Chhetri said she wanted to make the youth of her home town, and the North East in general, proud.

"People of my place are happy. I will try to make the youth of my place, and the north-east proud, I would try to make my co-contestants here, all very warm-hearted and simple girls, proud if I cross the final hurdle. I have to give it my best shot," said Sagarika.

She also emerged as winner in the Timeless Beauty and Miss Fashion Icon categories.

"One part of my dream has come to be true. I had always wanted to walk the ramp, face the judges and then wear the tiara. Now I don`t want to remain contented with that. I wish to be crowned Miss India-Universe or Miss India-World," Sagarika told PTI today before leaving for Darjeeling.

While Sagarika won Femina Miss India (East) title, popular Odiya actor Archita Sahu was crowned the first runners-up and Sukanya Bhattacharya of Patna became the second runners-up at the eastern leg of the pageant titled "Ponds Femina Miss India Kolkata (East) 2013" earlier this week.

The final round of the contest, where the three beauties will vie with others from other zones, will make them fight for the Miss Universe and Miss World crowns.

Archita said, "As of now I am the brand ambassador of UNICEF in my state. If I am known nationally I can be of use to similar social campaigns at a bigger level."

Archita, who idolized former pageant winner Priyanka Chopra and was floored by her acting in Barfi, said she would wish to emulate her.

The three girls were chosen from 10 contestants by a jury comprising cricketer Manoj Tiwary, singer Usha Uthup, and designers Agnimitra Paul, and Dev & Nil.

The 10 were shortlisted from over 200 in auditions, and the selection went on for four days of grooming.

"Kolkata always throws up one of the most daunting challenges to pick up the finalists and this time it was no exception. It was a tough, really tough call," Robinson said.

This would be the 50th year of the Ponds Femina Contest final round to be held in Mumbai.