South Korean Pastor Appeals to U.S. to Expose North's Infiltration Tunnel
A South Korean pastor and a panel of researchers presented for the first time their findings of North Korea’s active work on underground infiltration tunnels.
WASHINGTON - A South Korean pastor and a panel of researchers presented for the first time their findings of North Korea’s active work on underground infiltration tunnels and the potential threats to peace in the Korean peninsula.
The North Korean government has created at least 20 underground tunnels into South Korea including under Seoul, reported Pastor Kim Han-Sik and his colleagues at a luncheon hosted by the Defense Forum Foundation last Friday. A room of some 80 people including U.S. congressmen alongside more than a dozen media groups listened in shock as Kim compared an underground tunnel to nuclear bombs.
“One underground tunnel is more powerful than ten nuclear bombs,” declared Kim. He went on to explain that North Korea cannot use nuclear bombs because it is self-destructive but that the underground tunnels allow for thousands of North Korean troops to infiltrate the South and occupy key locations in its sister country.
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“They say that 10,000 troops can be moved per hour through the underground tunnel. There are 24 major tunnels from North Korea to South Korea,” Kim stated. “They say that in three hours South Korea will become North Korea.”
Moreover, the pastor pointed out that there were tunnels that are thought to have reached as far as U.S. military bases in South Korea.
“I appeal to you Americans, the underground tunnel that is near the U.S. bases, dig them up and see for yourself and show it to the world,” Kim urged. “Let’s dig it up and show the real pictures to the world. The whole world will realize in an instant the true nature of the North Korea regime.”
North Korea, which many observers have noted as being “the most repressive nation in the world," has remained a serious concern for U.S. leaders and human rights activists who have recently urged the state department to implement key provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004.
Among the country’s abuses, Open Doors, which kept North Korea as the number one Christian persecutor for the fourth straight year in its 2006 World Watch List released last month, estimates that hundreds of Christians were killed by the communist regime in 2005 and that many more have been imprisoned and persecuted.
"North Korea is the most repressive nation in the world," said Open Doors USA President Dr. Carl Moeller. "It breaks my heart to hear some of the atrocities against our brothers and sisters there."
An earlier human rights report released by Freedom House - Freedom in the World 2006 - gave the communist nation the lowest rankings, specifically in political rights and civil liberties. Abuses and human rights violations in North Korea were also cited in a landmark study titled Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung, which was released by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in November.
“We all work for human rights in North Korea,” said Kim on Friday before expressing his gratitude to the United States for passing the human rights acts. “But as long as Kim Jung Il is in power there will be no permanent solution of human rights in North Korea.”
According to the South Korean pastor, who has been working for human rights as well as peace in North Korea, the underground tunnels are a breach in the cease fire agreement between the two countries and could seriously threaten peace in the peninsula.
“To solve all problems, Kim Jung Il’s regime has to collapse and the tunnels can be a means to topple the regime,” said Kim.
“We will continue to work with the tunnel if you join with us in the effort we can together save our country,” concluded Kim.
