The "Records of History" once recorded such an incident: during the Spring and Autumn Period, the City of Beiliang in the State of Wu and the Zhong in the State of Chu were very close to the city (Note: in the territory of present-day Fengyang, Anhui), and the people of both places were engaged in growing mulberries and raising silkworms.
One day, a Wu guo child and a Chu guo child got into a fight over a mulberry tree, and when the children returned home, they all complained to their families, saying that they had been bullied outside.
When the two adults heard it, they paid it back, so they both copied the guy to find each other to settle the account. As a result of the fight, the Wu people suffered a loss, and when the Wu governor of Beiliang learned of it, he took his men and horses to attack the Chu state and avenge his people.
When the King of Chu learned of this, he was also very angry and sent an army to attack Andi Liang. When King Wu learned of this, he was equally angry and ordered a counterattack on the State of Chu, and a great war broke out.
History is always strikingly similar, and more than two thousand years later, on the Korean Peninsula, a group of people also fought because of a tree.
At about 11:00 a.m. on August 18, 1976, six American soldiers, five South Korean soldiers, and five South Korean workers, driving several military vehicles, came to the Panmunjom Joint Garrison area on the border between South Korea and North Korea, preparing to cut down a poplar tree.
Established after the armistice in 1953, this common garrison is administratively neither south nor North Korea, and is considered a "neutral" land.
North Korean soldiers, south Korean and "United Nations" soldiers are free to carry light weapons in the garrison.
Both sides of the garrison area have set up sentries, always keeping a close eye on the opponent's every move.
But coincidentally, a poplar tree in the garrison grew larger and larger, and the leafy tree successfully blocked the observation line of sight on the side of the US-South Korean post, so that they could not detect the movement on the North Korean side, and the Americans decided to cut down this obstructive tree.
The poplar tree blocks the view of the United States and South Korea, which is naturally a good thing for North Korea, so they hope that the tree will continue to remain intact.
So when the American and South Korean soldiers and workers were ready to cut down the trees, 17 North Korean soldiers followed The orders of Colonel Park Chul and came forward to stop them.
However, Captain Arthur of the American army who was in charge of this side ignored this and ordered his men to continue cutting down trees.
Colonel Park Chul was very angry and ordered more people to come to the scene, ordering the other side to stop cutting down trees.
But the Americans still insisted on going their own way, grabbing the axe and sawing and doing it. Colonel Park Chul was already out of anger, and he ordered the soldiers to give the other side some color to see.
So north Korean soldiers armed with wooden sticks rushed toward the United States and South Korean personnel, and the two sides quickly wrestled together. As a result, because of the large number of people on the North Korean side, the beating immediately turned into a unilateral beating.
Captain Arthur was killed on the spot, and nine other U.S. and South Korean officers and men were also wounded, including 1 U.S. lieutenant who died of his wounds.
It can be said that in this conflict, the Americans suffered great losses, and history has also told us that once the Americans suffer losses, it is often easy to get dizzy, and then formulate a series of war plans.
News of the death of two U.S. officers for cutting down a tree soon reached Washington. Then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger immediately informed President Ford, while discussing with other colleagues how to deal with the matter.
Kissinger's first thought was that North Korea had deliberately done it, and in response, the United States should take military action against North Korea. But Deputy Secretary Habib reminded Kissinger that if he did, his ally South Korea could face the same retaliation.
Kissinger had to put the thought aside for a moment and wait for Further Instructions from Ford.
While ford ordered a strong condemnation of North Korea in public opinion, he organized military and political leaders, including Kissinger, to hold a meeting to discuss how to deal with the matter.
The United States in 1976, just a year earlier, had just emerged from the mud pits of the Vietnam War, and was still at home licking the wounds of the Vietnam War.
As a result, the North Korean side gave the United States a sullen blow very "at the right time", making the Americans' faces even more dull. As a result, a large number of senior US officials attending the meeting expressed their positions one after another, demanding tough action against North Korea
A CIA official believed that this was a deliberate provocation initiated by North Korea, one of the links to drive U.S. troops away from the Korean Peninsula, and north Korea could not be allowed to succeed.
After listening to his men's statements, Ford also believed that the United States must take some tough action. In the end, the US top brass finalized several retaliatory measures at the meeting and immediately handed them over to the front-line troops for implementation.
Twenty aircraft capable of carrying out strategic nuclear bombing missions were deployed to Japan from the U.S. mainland, some bombers originally deployed in Japan were transferred to South Korea, and the U.S. Navy's USS Midway carrier task force in Japan was put on alert in preparation for possible military operations.
The U.S. military in South Korea raised its combat readiness alert level and entered a quasi-war state, which is the first time that the U.S. military stationed in South Korea has upgraded its combat readiness level since the Korean armistice in 1953.
Of course, there is another action that cannot be left unnoticed, that is, to send someone to cut down the poplar tree that was not cut down with the lives of two American officers.
The United States has developed an operation called "Paul Bunyan", a giant in Greek mythology known for cutting down trees, so this operation is also known as "tree cutting" operation.
(Note: Then Commander of the U.S. Military in South Korea)
After the Americans moved, South Korea naturally had to show something. The commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea, Stilwell (note: not the one who dealt with Chiang Kai-shek), informed South Korean Defense Minister Seo Jong-cheol about the retaliatory measures and "tree cutting" actions being taken by the United States, and then the two went to the Blue House to meet President Park Chung-hee.
Park Chung-hee hopes to keep the situation as tight as possible, and it would be better if there was only a physical confrontation rather than a large-scale weapons exchange.
To this end, Park Chung-hee suggested that 50 taekwondo masters from the South Korean army be selected to be incorporated into the US military, so that the next time there is a brawl, the North Koreans can also taste the taste of fists and feet.
But after all, South Korea is under the "protection" of the United States, and Park Chung-hee does not dare to openly take an anti-US approach.
So after expressing his opinion, Park Chung-hee added that south Korea will follow what the United States does. Stilwell returned to the troops and began to work out a more detailed plan of action for cutting down trees.
(Note: Park Chung-hee)
But at this time in the United States, the situation changed.
Some US media learned from the Department of Defense that the top level was working out military operations against North Korea, and then expressed their opposition in the name of Defense Department officials.
When Kissinger, who advocated revenge on North Korea and even went to war, was very angry when he learned of this news.
Kissinger yelled at the military: "The other side killed both of us, have you forgotten this?" With this time there may be another time, if we do nothing, they will also see us as Saigon paper tigers! (Note: Saigon, the former capital of the South Vietnamese regime)
(Note: Kissinger)
An enraged Kissinger also offered to bombard the North Korean barracks with artillery, sending Colonel Park Chul, who had ordered the attack on the U.S. army, to the west.
But the military is no longer willing to take further action, the bombers fly, the aircraft carrier moves, scare and frighten the other side, and then cut down the tree, there is no need to do it with real knives and guns.
President Ford, who is busy campaigning, also rejected the idea of an artillery barracks, because it would directly provoke a large-scale war, at which time the United States would have no way to retreat.
(Note: President Ford)
However, it was also very difficult to get the Americans to completely abandon the means of war, and although the United States did not want to do it first, it formulated a military plan code-named "Accidental Plan".
Nevertheless, the United States developed a military program code-named "Contingency Plan." Judging from the plan, the United States' intention to use force is still very strong.
Because as long as there is any accident, then the means adopted by the United States will quickly expand the conflict to the point of no return.
And these pits are all dug for North Korea, as long as North Korea steps on one of them, then the United States will immediately launch a war machine, and it is not impossible to return to the Korean War.
Now it depends on how North Korea responds.
(Note: The second time to cut down the tree)
At 7:00 a.m. on August 21, 1976, a team of American and Korean personnel drove to the common security area with tools according to the plan they had made.
At the same time, the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and ground forces are also ready for war.
Outside the garrison, 50 North Korean soldiers wearing helmets watched closely at their opponents who were cutting down trees, but they did not stop them until the American and South Korean personnel had finished their work.
If North Korea did not move this time, the United States would not be able to find an excuse to go to war, and all the troops that had already been dispatched were withdrawn to their original positions, and it was as if nothing had happened on the Korean Peninsula.
However, in the common security area of Panmunjom, the change is still obvious. A poplar tree was cut down, two American officers lost their lives, and the security district was demarcated, and military personnel were not allowed to enter the opposing area at will, and this is still the case today.
If we look at it from this point of view, the division between the two Koreas seems to have deepened a little, and in the past, the soldiers of the two countries could still walk side by side in this small place, but in the future they could only look at each other without words.
Then again, it's better to have one more dividing line than to have another war.
In the end, the war was not fought, which was the result of the interests of the United States, South Korea, and North Korea involved, and more importantly, it was Because of China, which "never showed up.".
Because although the United States fought the Vietnam War and was seriously injured, it was still more than enough to move a small country. However, since the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea many years ago, the United States wants to make waves on the Korean Peninsula again, and it obviously needs to consider China's ideas in advance.
Content Source:
Deng Feng, "Helpless Choice: The Ford Administration's Response to the Panmunjom Incident", Journal of South China Normal University (Social Science Edition), No. 4, 2018
Deng Feng, "The Origin of the Panmunjom Incident in 1976 Stems from the Reaction of the United States," World History, No. 6, 2015