Third Tunnel of Aggression - Secret North Korean Passage Discovered

This article comes under the heading of I never heard of that, but interesting. It seems that there is at least one and probably several more secret passages in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

From the article:

"For the most part, every inch of the world can be explored. If you can fly, drive or walk to it, it’s fair game. The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea represents one of the few stretches of land that is off limits, or at least the surface of it is. There are tunnels, it turns out, underground that can be visited."

"Called the Third Tunnel of Aggression, it was built by North Korea in the 1970s and discovered in 1978 by South Korea. It was the third tunnel found by the South - a total of four have been discovered - and it is rumored there are more than a dozen other undiscovered North Korean passages. At the time of its discovery, the United Nations estimated the North could move 30,000 men per hour through the tunnel to the Southern side."

Not that I will ever go there, or be in that area, but if I was, it sounds like it would be an interesting place to explore. Go to the full story below for more information:

Source: www.atlasobscura.com...

a reply to: manta78

How this is even thing in the day of ground penetration radar is beyond me is what I was going to say. Then I actually denied ignorance and read up on it and turns out it’s only good for a couple of feet of depth.

Should be no surprise however the DPKR have been making tunnels for years. They have uncovered quite a few but not all.

It’s rather ingenious they know can’t win a war of attrition so they maximize mobility. Get the shock troops into Seoul as quick as possible and push for massive destruction on the door to door level. Pretty much blitzkrieg.

No longer dangerous (soon anyway).

The Koreas have both openly agreed this week to open the border up to civilian travel as soon as they can, remove the now unecessary mass-military presence and immediately begin work on the rail link to go from Seoul into Vladovostok, Russia.

The future is looking good over there. Denuclearization by 2021 is the target I believe was set by Kim himself and agreed by all parties. I really hope I'm not having the wool pulled over my eyes but it does look like the DPRK is making genuine steps toward peace.

This tunnel will be one of thousands of incredible sights and stories waiting to be discovered when the general public is able to freely travel there. Safely. I imagine the North has been busier than a hive of bees when it comes to preperations for war, there will be so many awesome gems waiting to be revealed.

Cool story.

originally posted by: Breakthestreak
No longer dangerous (soon anyway).

The Koreas have both openly agreed this week to open the border up to civilian travel as soon as they can, remove the now unecessary mass-military presence and immediately begin work on the rail link to go from Seoul into Vladovostok, Russia.

The future is looking good over there. Denuclearization by 2021 is the target I believe was set by Kim himself and agreed by all parties. I really hope I'm not having the wool pulled over my eyes but it does look like the DPRK is making genuine steps toward peace.

This tunnel will be one of thousands of incredible sights and stories waiting to be discovered when the general public is able to freely travel there. Safely. I imagine the North has been busier than a hive of bees when it comes to preperations for war, there will be so many awesome gems waiting to be revealed.

Cool story.

Thanks. And I agree. It will be ironic if a place that has been forbidden for most, someday becomes a tourist attraction. Who would have figured?

a reply to: manta78

**double

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: manta78

3,500 more or less tunnels estimated in the whole of the mostly mountainous N.K.

And THOSE are where they've hidden all the stuff they got already.

De-nuke regulations means nothing overall. We are all being fools...we know they've dug for 50 yrs....

We're gonna inspect a decom'd "test facility" above ground and a few below? Ridiculous.

We will never see it all...and they won't give up anything...same with Iran.

Their troops and weapons are underground...and will stay there...no matter what we are told.

It's laughable and an unrealistic assumption. Dont be fooled....

originally posted by: Athetos
How this is even thing in the day of ground penetration radar is beyond me is what I was going to say. Then I actually denied ignorance and read up on it and turns out it’s only good for a couple of feet of depth.

Should be no surprise however the DPKR have been making tunnels for years. They have uncovered quite a few but not all.

It’s rather ingenious they know can’t win a war of attrition so they maximize mobility. Get the shock troops into Seoul as quick as possible and push for massive destruction on the door to door level. Pretty much blitzkrieg.

GPR can go much deeper than a few feet in almost all soils but it is very dependent upon the soil type. IIRC wet soil is much more difficult to penetrate (and by wet I mean soggy) and there are some soils that really dampen the signal. Depth also depends upon the frequency used, lower frequencies can go deeper but they give less resolution and the amplitude (or volume or strength) effects how deep things can go, the higher the amplitude the deeper, but again, there is loss of resolution with high amplitudes. The thing is, you don't need great resolution to identify tunnels as they are voids that show up clearly using low frequencies and from there if you want to verify drilling with a relatively small bore (inches) can be done to verify.

I've seen tests that are 20+ years old that were done in dry soil (desert, maybe Israel??) and were successful at over 100ft with fairly good resolution. I think this is what has been used recently to identify tunnels into Gaza & West Bank. Supposedly it can now be done from low flying drones though IDK if that is propaganda or not.

I don't understand why this isn't used more on the US's southern border as it is the ideal soil on which to use GPR. It seems more like a lack of will to identify the tunnels than an actual want to stop and destroy them.

originally posted by: mysterioustranger

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: manta78

3,500 more or less tunnels estimated in the whole of the mostly mountainous N.K.

And THOSE are where they've hidden all the stuff they got already.

De-nuke regulations means nothing overall. We are all being fools...we know they've dug for 50 yrs....

We're gonna inspect a decom'd "test facility" above ground and a few below? Ridiculous.

We will never see it all...and they won't give up anything...same with Iran.

Their troops and weapons are underground...and will stay there...no matter what we are told.

It's laughable and an unrealistic assumption. Dont be fooled....

3500 tunnels? Wow. Any link for that?

I did find this article stating about 84 tunnels possible and more detailed photos:

"KIM’S SECRET CROSSINGS Inside the sprawling North Korean war tunnels Kim Jong-un could use to shift 30,000 troops an hour to the South in a stealth attack. Fears have been raised that 84 secret tunnels have been built, with some boasting a railway and enough space to move tanks".

www.thesun.co.uk... -south/

No wonder South Korea is so anxious to make the peace with NK. Here's hoping that happens!

a reply to: manta78

I just remember they dug tons of them...not under the border alone....deep in-country where it's all mountains...
….
and those started being dugout in the 50's!

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: manta78

I just remember they dug tons of them...not under the border alone....deep in-country where it's all mountains...
….
and those started being dugout in the 50's!

I thought that was N. Vietnam
??

a reply to: Gothmog

I'm not sure of your age...but it was once Viet Nam and stories of our soldiers called "tunnel rats"...clearing them.

Yet all the while..for 10 years before Nam, all through Nam wartime, and since Nam...North Korea never stopped digging in and putting giant ops.,supplies, housing and weaponry underground. 65+years of non-stop digging.

Big difference btwn the smaller V.C.tunnels-jump out-shoot-jump-back-down-and-disappear to whole city size carved out areas with tanks, planes, nukes...in and under the mountains of North Korea. (Same digging in Iran as well).

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: Gothmog

I'm not sure of your age...but it was once Viet Nam and stories of our soldiers called "tunnel rats"...clearing them.

Yet all the while..for 10 years before Nam, all through Nam wartime, and since Nam...North Korea never stopped digging in and putting giant ops.,supplies, housing and weaponry underground. 65+years of non-stop digging.

Big difference btwn the smaller V.C.tunnels-jump out-shoot-jump-back-down-and-disappear to whole city size carved out areas with tanks, planes, nukes...in and under the mountains of North Korea. (Same digging in Iran as well).

You appear to be right. Here's another article found today on this topic:

Report: US has mapped North Korean underground escape facilities

"SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean military journal says the U.S. Army has mapped a network of secret underground facilities in North Korea, based largely on defector accounts, that the provocative country’s leaders could use to hunker down or escape if war were to break out.

In a seven-page article published last month in “Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Maj. Park Sung-man said the U.S. thinks the North has 6,000 to 8,000 such facilities, including underground shelters constructed under empty buildings."


www.stripes.com...

originally posted by: manta78

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: Gothmog

I'm not sure of your age...but it was once Viet Nam and stories of our soldiers called "tunnel rats"...clearing them.

Yet all the while..for 10 years before Nam, all through Nam wartime, and since Nam...North Korea never stopped digging in and putting giant ops.,supplies, housing and weaponry underground. 65+years of non-stop digging.

Big difference btwn the smaller V.C.tunnels-jump out-shoot-jump-back-down-and-disappear to whole city size carved out areas with tanks, planes, nukes...in and under the mountains of North Korea. (Same digging in Iran as well).

You appear to be right. Here's another article found today on this topic:

Report: US has mapped North Korean underground escape facilities

"SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean military journal says the U.S. Army has mapped a network of secret underground facilities in North Korea, based largely on defector accounts, that the provocative country’s leaders could use to hunker down or escape if war were to break out.

In a seven-page article published last month in “Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Maj. Park Sung-man said the U.S. thinks the North has 6,000 to 8,000 such facilities, including underground shelters constructed under empty buildings."


www.stripes.com...

Appears all the "testing" stopped doesn't deal with the ones all ready to nuke they had already underground. Iran's bad too....but the U.S. and Russia has the same.

Younger folks are excited about "de-com'd" nuke sites. The reality is far far worse....everyone of these countries has stashed ones already made.

And no we're not talking about delivery system capabilities or not...they still have multiple weaponry stores in multiple locations...

Thanks for the reply about the real N.K. underground...big enough for cities.

ETA: It's my understanding there are tunnels wide enough for 2 -747 airplanes wing to wing that can take off from underground...the US, China, Russia and all the others to too.,.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I'm not sure of your age.

Not old enough yet.
But I can eat corn bread without choking on it.
Yet the number of tunnels and the words "starting in the 50s" sounded a lot like someone confusing the Viet Cong with N. Korea.

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: mysterioustranger

I'm not sure of your age.

Not old enough yet.
But I can eat corn bread without choking on it.
Yet the number of tunnels and the words "starting in the 50s" sounded a lot like someone confusing the Viet Cong with N. Korea.

It's you...the Korean war was 1st in the 50's...

June 25,1950 was the start in Korea...must be the age thing.

*Viet Nam 1954

Y're welcome!