The Mungyeongsaejae mountain pass in Korean history
and all that it has seen

An ancient mountain pass called Mungyeongsaejae separates South-East Korea from the mid-region of Korea where the capital city is located.

Mungyeongsaejae, which literally means a mountain top so high that even birds have difficulty flying over, cuts over the Baekdu-daegan (백두대간) the mountain range which runs through entire length of the Korean Peninsula.

Since the 10th century, in order to take imperial examinations, equivalent to civil service exams today, prospective Seonbi (scholars) in areas south of the Mungyeongsaejae pass had to risk tigers and other road hazards to cross the mountain passage to reach the capital city in Gaesong during the Goryeo period (918 -1392) and in Seoul during the Joseon period (1392 - 1910).

For several millennia, the ancient passage was the original gateway for traveling salesmen who delivered news and goods to the Silla Kingdom. Roman glassware which would have been carried over the ancient overland route through the Eurasian Steppe have been found in Silla royal tombs. Silla had a remarkable history in Korea for about a thousand years from 57 BCE to 935 CE.

During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, battle hardened Japanese military marched through the Mungyeongsaejae mountain pass singing and dancing according to historical accounts.

General Shin Lip (신립 申砬, 1546 -1592) who was an in-law to King Seonjo, the 14th King of Joseon Dynasty, ignored his lieutenant's advice to launch surprise attacks against the enemy by bombarding them with deadly arrows from archers hiding in the treacherous Mungyeongsaejae pass. Instead, General Shin Lip opted for an open-field battle near the upstream of the Han River.

General Shin Lip's army, mostly made up of farmers, was annihilated and Shin commited suicide by jumping in the river after losing the battle, according to the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty.

Lots of blood and sweat were spilled over the Mungyeongsaejae pass during the 1950 Korean War which broke out on June 25, 1950, in which, both North and South Korean military marched through the pass.

Mr. Yang Won-jin, 92, vividly recounts his November 1950 climb over the Mungyeongsaejae in the middle of the night. "We always marched in the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness," said Mr. Yang, who voluntarily enlisted into the North Korean People's Liberation Army in September 1950 while attending college in Seoul.

Mr. Yang said he joined the Workers' Party of South Korea, after witnessing U.S. soldiers on 3/4 GMC trucks confiscating sacks of rice on student's backs at the Mokpo harbor in August 1946. The students were arriving from remote islands, carrying the rice sacks on their back, to pay for the room rental for the September start of their school year. Rice was the currency for the rural families to exchange for room and board. The student housing cost was 100 pounds (45 kg) of rice per month, according to Mr. Yang.

The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) ruled the southern half of Korea from 1945 - 1948. Managing the newly liberated Korea with insufficient institutional knowledge of its ancient history and culture. Such ignorance led to catastrophic failures in following years, and turned many rural residents against the U.S. military during the Korean war which ensued.

One of the major flaws with the US Military was that it employed Japan educated technocrats who continued the forced rice collection policies of the colonial government.

The farmers were forced to give up rice at a considerably cheaper price than the market value of the rice. Rice was and is the main staple of Korean civilization and it has deeper emotional significance beyond its cash crop value.

Since ancient times, successful rice planting led to sustainable population growth in Korea which enabled organized communities and labor force during the bronze age. Successful settlements of ancient people enabled civil constructions projects such as Dolmen monuments.

The Dolmens are found more abundant in Korea than anywhere else in the world. Researchers also excavated the oldest known rice in the world in Korea, carbon dated about 15,000 years old, in the village of Sorori in the Chungbuk Province.

Needless to say, Korean people value rice and it was the working currency for people.

When Maj. Gen. Archer L. Lerch, Military Governor of Korea announced a decree on January 25, 1946 that the U.S. Military Government was going to collect rice from farmers, the U.S. lost the rural people's support.

Documented records show spontaneous protests in various parts of Korea demanding "No Rice Collection."

The U.S. military was confronted with protesters everywhere in the country when they assisted the national police in collecting rice. The Korean police force was mostly trained by the Japanese colonial government,

In many places, the people refused to surrender their rice to the police, and the demonstrators wanted the U.S. Military Government to stop rice collections for the benefit of “profiteers”.

Those "Profiteers" were the mainstream commerce establishment, who benefited under the Japanese colonial rule, and sent their children to study in Japan.

Those Japanese educated Koreans with distorted views of Korean history and culture later returned to Korea to teach in Korean universities in the 20th century.

In many ways, the intellectual struggle between the establishment class and those who seek change are still going on today.

"Not even Japanese took rice from students." Mr. Yang went on to say, "How can a wealthy country like the U.S. steal rice from Korean people!"

During the Korean War, Mr. Yang fought on the side of the North Koreans against the U.S.. "We plundered everything from uniforms to guns and ammunition from the U.S. military after launching surprise attacks." said Mr. Yang. "We fought the war only during the night. The Americans usually didn't fight at night. We won every surprise attack which we launched."

The same colored uniform was confusing to both sides at times.

"After a fierce night of fighting a fierce battle in Yeongwol County in Gangwon Province, we woke up the next morning mixed with South Korean soldiers.

Because the South Korean (Republic of Korea) soldiers were wearing the same kind of uniforms issued by the U.S., and the North Korean (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) soldiers were wearing U.S. military uniforms plundered from previous battles, when we hunkered down during the night fight, we only realized in the morning that we're on different sides." chuckling Mr. Yang, "It was kind of awkward but we quietly walked away from each other during that morning."

The last time Mr. Yang's platoon climbed the Mungyeongsaejae pass, was in February 1951 with snow on the ground.

"As we were retreating to the North, during a night march, I was carrying 500 M1 Carbine rifle ammunition plundered from a previous surprise attack on a U.S. military convoy. It was heavy and I was exhausted and I felt like I couldn't walk anymore. Then suddenly a military marching band played music as we were climbing the pass. I don't even know how, but that music moved us over the pass." said Mr. Yang.

Mr. Yang served 29 1/2 years in South Korean prisons for National Security violations.

Since being pardoned from the prison in 1987, he's been requesting the South Korean government to repatriate him to North Korea.

Following the historic June 15th North–South Joint Declaration between President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, "63 prisoners of conscience were allowed to move to North Korea through Panmunjom, the truce village between North and South Korea in September 2000." according to a spokesperson Kwak Eun-kyung at the Korean Ministry of Unification.

33 additional prisoners of conscience requested their repatriation since 2000, but 22 have died waiting.

Mr. Yang and another 10 prisoners of conscience, all of whom have served in South Korean prisons for not renouncing their support of North Korea, are awaiting inter-Korean dialogue to work out their return to North Korea.

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