In 2003, the movie "Shio Island" was released in South Korea, triggering a movie-watching frenzy among the South Korean people.
Why is this film based on true historical events so influential? What happened in 1971 about the Shiwei Island incident?
Blue House assassination
In July 1953, the warring sides of the Korean War formally signed an armistice at Panmunjom, and the two-year war came to an end. The participants in the war withdrew from the Korean Peninsula, but the struggle on the island continued.
Later, the Korean Peninsula was divided into two countries, South Korea and North Korea. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the situation between North and South Korea was very serious, and war was almost imminent.
In 1968, 31 members of the death squad from North Korea, taking advantage of the moonlight, unknowingly crossed the barriers and marched towards the Blue House.
They are a death squad formed by North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, and the real purpose of infiltrating South Korea is to assassinate leader Park Chung-hee.
For this plan, north Korean death squads have been preparing for a long time. Prior to this, the members of the death squad had undergone rigorous training, and techniques such as shooting, judo, and taekwondo were almost in full swing.
In order to restore the entire process of the assassination of Park Chung-hee to the greatest extent, North Korea also copied the exact same building as the Blue House. The team members were there, training day and night, waiting in strict formation.
In January, North Korea's assassination plan was ripe. In order to hide their whereabouts, the members of the death squad marched from the mountain road and arrived near the Blue House on the fifth day.
At the order of the leader, the team members immediately moved, but did not expect that the target was too large, attracting the attention of the patrolling military police near the Blue House. Immediately, south Korean military police and North Korean death squad members engaged in an exchange of fire.
Although the players had received rigorous training before, they were still gradually defeated by South Korea's advanced weapons and large-scale military pressure.
In the end, 30 of the 31 death squad members sent by North Korea were killed, leaving only Kim Shin-chao alone to be captured.
Under severe torture, Jin Xinchao confessed the entire plan. Only then did Park Chung-hee learn that the culprit in the Blue House assassination was Kim Il-sung.
The North Korean commandos are haunted and have strong fighting power, and if the military and police do not find out, the consequences are unimaginable. Thinking about this, Park Chung-hee couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
At the same time, in a confrontation with the death squad members, a South Korean personnel was shot and killed, causing a great shock in South Korea. Suddenly, everyone panicked.
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee took the matter very seriously, and after much deliberation, he decided to retaliate against North Korea.
Park Chung-hee approached U.S. Ambassador to South Korea William and asked for U.S. support. At that time, the U.S. government was mired in competition with the Soviet Union and refused Park Chung-hee's request.
On January 23, the U.S. spy ship USS Pueblo was seized by North Korea while on a mission. The U.S. government urgently negotiated with the DPRK to force the DPRK government to release the person.
The following month, the United States and North Korea again held secret talks at Panmunjom to discuss the next "Pueblo" solution, and Park Chung-hee learned of this and became even more dissatisfied with North Korea.
Park Chung-hee personally issued a statement saying: "If North Korea attacks South Korea again, the South Korean government will take retaliatory measures." ”
In the hope of the past, Park Chung-hee made up his mind to form a South Korean death squad like Kim Il-sung.
Secretly plotting, the death squad turned out
Park Chung-hee ordered the head of the CIA to quickly put the construction of South Korean death squads on the agenda. After receiving the task, the relevant departments took urgent action to select the most suitable person.
Kim Il Sung was extremely wary, and North Korea's military control was heavily guarded. To enter North Korea, immediate family members must be North Koreans or have had previous experience living in North Korea. In this way, the identity of the death squad members needs to go through a rigorous screening.
At the same time, in order to enhance the combat effectiveness of the team members and overcome their weaknesses, the South Korean government specially selected special characters such as drunkards, down-and-out boxers, and criminals.
After heavy selection, 31 outlaws broke through the siege and formed the "684 Northern Dispatch Task Force". The so-called 684 is the time when the death squad was established, that is, in April 1968.
In order to motivate the death squad members, the South Korean military promised that after the mission was completed, they would receive countless fortunes. Those who have committed a lot of crimes will also get the freedom they dream of after successfully assassinating Kim Il Sung.
Stimulated by wealth and status, the members of the death squad are extremely motivated.
According to the plan, the team members will fly in a hot air balloon over Pyongyang to the Pyongyang Palace where Kim Il Sung is located.
The task of assassinating Kim Il Sung was extremely difficult, and for this reason, the South Korean government has developed a strict training plan for the members of the death squad. Soon after, they will be sent to an uninhabited island off the coast of Incheon, called Shio Island.
The island covers an area of 2 square kilometers and there is only one family on the island. Before the death squad arrived, the family left as requested by the authorities. As a result, only 31 team members and some trainers are left on Shiwei Island.
Prior to this, U.S. high-altitude reconnaissance planes had captured images of the palace in Pyongyang and handed it over to South Korea's intelligence services. According to the picture, the Koreans built a similar palace on Seio Island.
At the same time, the South Korean government has specially dispatched air force special operations units to set up various training facilities on the island to assist the death squad members in training.
In 1968, after everything was ready, 31 members of the death squad arrived at Shio Island. In the following 7 months, the team members experienced inhuman torture.
Once they were hit-and-run drivers, greasy scalpers, homeless homeless people, the lives of the former team members, nothing can not be abandoned. However, on Shio Island, the only belief of the 31 people is to live.
Movie "Real Tail Island"
The basic soldiers in charge of training the team members kept giving orders, and the team members were already exhausted and exhausted as they crawled on the muddy ground and climbed over various obstacles.
At the same time, the team members were also tortured to extract confessions. The people knew that once the operation failed, only death awaited them, and their only task was to keep the last secret.
Electric shocks, drugs... All kinds of punishments destroyed the spiritual defenses of the team members all the time, and on The Island of Shiwei, everyone's body and mind reached a critical point.
In order to gain the trust of the North Koreans, the death squad members also received targeted training. They learned the Korean dialect, sang North Korean military songs, and acted in strict accordance with the style of the North Korean army.
Seven months later, the death squad members completed their final training, and they were all well-skilled and became fighters who met the standards of their superiors.
Later, the South Korean government took advantage of the night to move the death squad members to Baekjeong Island, not far from North Korea. In the face of the upcoming freedom and money, the team members looked very excited and shook their fists.
To everyone's surprise, in 1969, the team members suddenly received news: terminate the operation and wait for the order.
The players looked at each other and didn't know what was happening. They stayed on Bailing Island for 1 month, but they still did not receive orders from their superiors, and they could only return to Shiwei Island.
It turned out that after learning of Park Chung-hee's assassination plan, the US government raised a firm objection. To appease South Korea, the United States added $100 million in military aid to South Korea in 1969.
In order to prevent the further expansion of the situation, the United States has repeatedly warned South Korea not to engage in fire with North Korea without authorization.
Under duress and inducements, Park Chung-hee could only give in, so he issued an order to terminate the operation.
The death squad members who were driven back to Shio Island did not get the freedom promised by the military in the past, and they were trapped on Shio Island, and no one was allowed to leave without the orders of their superiors.
The daredevils, who still had hope, continued to train systematically, waiting for the day when they would be reactivated. Sadly, that day never comes.
In 1970, due to a change in policy, the South Korean Central Intelligence Minister met with the North Korean vice premier, and relations between north and South Korea eased.
Park Chung-hee completely abandoned the assassination plan, and in this way, everyone on Shio Island lost its use value.
Secretly assembling death squads and plotting to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Il Sung... Once Park Chung-hee's plan is exposed, the calmed north-south situation will be completely broken. In order to hide his eyes, Park Chung-hee plans to get rid of all the death squad members on Shio Island.
In 1971, Park Chung-hee did not send special killers or troops, but quietly ordered people to cut off supplies on Shio Island according to the idea of letting him fend for himself.
The death squad members received fewer and fewer allowances, and the only money they had was withheld layer by layer, leaving them with little left.
What is even more fatal is that the food on Shiwei Island is getting worse and worse, even to the point of water and food shortage. At the same time, fuel supplies on the island were cut off, and the warriors were cold and hungry, losing all hope.
In the end, the two team members could not bear the inhuman torture, so they took advantage of the fact that the trainers were not paying attention and secretly fled to the next island. Their plans were eventually exposed, and two members of the team were also sentenced to capital punishment.
A huge fear hung over the island, and the team members clearly realized that they had been completely abandoned, and their hearts, which were originally full of hope, gradually sank... Soon after, 5 trainers died during intense training.
In 1971, the South Korean government began discussing the survival of the unit on the uninhabited island.
The newly appointed Air Force staff officer gave orders to break up the troops, but the death squad members knew too many secrets, and if they were released, Park Chung-hee would face a huge threat.
After much deliberation, the South Korean government gave the final directive: "Assassinate all members of the 684 Northern Faction Unit.".
The daredevil team members accidentally learned of this news, remembered the unequal treatment they had endured over the years, looked forward to their non-existent future, looked at their teammates who had left one after another, and the surviving team members finally couldn't bear it, and a terrifying plan of resistance was brewing.
Rise up and fight back, and the culprit will suffer the consequences
In August 1971, the death squad members banded together and launched an attack on the training staff's dormitory. The soldiers, who were asleep drunkenly, were unguarded and were killed in their sleep.
The mentally broken death squad members were unstoppable, and the other trainers were terrified and hid. At the same time, those who went out on business were spared.
In this way, the blood-washed death squad members of Shio Island broke through the first barrier, they boarded the boat that was fishing on the neighboring island, left Shio Island, and marched to the Incheon Pier with all their might.
After the Incheon landing, the team hijacked a number of cars one after another, and after many obstacles, finally came to the entrance to Seoul, Yeongdeungpo-gu.
News of the presence of criminals on the streets of Seoul spread rapidly, and the government quickly dispatched police to round up and intercept the death squads.
The red-eyed squad shot down the police and some ordinary citizens who had heard the noise and prepared to march to Seoul (now Seoul). The death squad members want to negotiate with the government to fight for their own power and a chance to live.
Faced with the menacing death squad, the police were overwhelmed. In desperation, the South Korean government can only send troops to intercept the only way for death squads.
After the encounter between the two sides, a fierce exchange of fire broke out. At first, the death squad members struggled to resist, but the South Korean army fired rapidly, and they gradually fell behind.
At 2 p.m., the death squad members were running out and there was no way to retreat. They fired grenades inside the bus, and the scene burst into flames.
Of the only 24 remaining members, 4 were captured, and all the remaining members died. At the same time, the military also found the bodies of 3 passengers who had been charred inside the bus.
Creating terrorist attacks and threatening the central government, South Korea claimed that the death squad members had committed a terrible disaster and took them to court-martial soon.
Later, 4 captured members of the team were sentenced to death. The vigorous 684 Northern Faction troops have disappeared forever in the long river of history.
Despite the South Korean government's attempts to block the news, the story of the death squads spread. In order to hide their eyes, the South Korean government insisted that these people were unidentified gangsters and even tried to blame them on North Korean guerrilla groups.
Soon after, however, South Korea feared damage to North-South relations and characterized the death squad members as a rebellion by the Air Force's special forces.
To convince everyone, the South Korean Defense Minister and the Chief of Air Force, at the behest of the government, took the initiative to stand up and apologized to the public on August 25 and resigned.
The Incident of Unit 684 was temporarily resolved, but all walks of life in South Korea have been secretive about this issue. Those who have access to the relevant information have signed confidentiality contracts under the coercion of the government, and if they violate them, they will be punished with the most severe punishment.
In 1987, the public opinion environment in South Korea was relatively relaxed, and the people were given the right to discuss Shio Island, but people still did not want to touch it.
In 1993, Kim Il-tae, an instructor on Shio Island, sent the relevant materials to New East Asia. What happened on Shimi Island was gradually known to the Korean people.
In 2004, the South Korean government was pressured to admit to the Semishima incident, but its related files are still top secret.
In 1971, behind the Madness of Shio Island, it also exposed the intricate relationship between countries in the context of the Cold War. Even if history is gone, war should always remain in people's memories and think of danger in times of peace.
Resources
[1] Procuratorial Storm, 2020-11-01, Prisoner Force: The Last Victim of the Korean War
[2] Evening News Digest, 2012-09-01, "The Truth About the Sewei Island Riots in South Korea"
[3] "Literature and History Reference", 2010-12-20, "31 Daredevils Abandoned by the State, Shio Island Riots: Rebellion After the Unsuccessful Assassination of Kim Il Sung"