The hidden village just metres from North Korea

The hidden village just metres from North Korea | BBC News

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2 ай бұрын

The tiny village of Taesung sits deep in the heart of Korea’s Demilitarised Zone - the strip of no-man’s land separating North and South Korea.
The community of South Koreans, many aged in their 80s and 90s, live mere metres from North Korea, meaning they must be guarded day and night by hundreds of soldiers.
The village was established at the end of the Korean War as a symbol of peace, but 70 years later, the Korean Peninsula is still divided, and over the past year tensions between the two countries have flared.
The BBC’s Seoul correspondent Jean Mackenzie has secured rare access to the village, the people who live there and the soldiers who guard them. Filmed and edited by Hosu Lee.
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Пікірлер: 615

@alberteinsteinthejew 2 ай бұрын

Harvesting crops with soldiers watching, feels like an apocalypse movie

@c0gimyun 2 ай бұрын

we are in an apocalypse movie

@Mahlak_Mriuani_Anatman 2 ай бұрын

The world is dystopian, a bleak universe is all we got

@unvcht5046 2 ай бұрын

Maybe only to you but I would love plus not pay for tax and rent lol just have a hot girl living with you with 20 kids and live life with latest technology

@villagecat5539 2 ай бұрын

That village is an administrative district for the U.S. military. Exemption from conscription and taxes. Even the President of Korea cannot enter the country without US military permission.

@ygpwnxd_xd752 2 ай бұрын

@@villagecat5539👍👍☝🏾 Vow really dude this news if it’s true then it’s unbelievable imagining such rules N laws do take place in a unknown village .

@TheEdgeOfUnknown 2 ай бұрын

The old lady that offered cabbage to the cameraman reminds me so much of my grandma…still kind, loving and persevering through life after having for sure lived through so much trauma and hard times. Wishing nothing but the best for all Koreans, may the Kim dynasty meet its end soon.

@rajoarcheryutama Ай бұрын

But watch how she react when she met the northener. Eventough that's lawfully and politically correct reaction, I think ,humanely, she shouldn't rat the escapee to the military.

@EagerElectricCar-de1ss Ай бұрын

@The EdgeOfUnknown. . . Sweet Grandma!😊 I've been to SoKors' Nonsan Province and lived there for more than a month, old people who are farming do offer and gave some of their crops . .when i do my walking and passby an ajushi or ajuma, i do receive some tomatoes. . .cucumber. . .onions. . Etc...from them...

@MrNixe07 Ай бұрын

@@rajoarcheryutama its not only lawfully and politically correct reaction, its what she's used to. Her husband was killed by North Koreans, leaving her to care for their 6 children alone. Do you expect her to be kind to the people who killed her husband? I appreciate you're empathy, but empathy is a luxury for people like us who haven't experienced tragedy from war. You just cant judge her reaction based off of that.

@MelanieDoyle-cl6yw Ай бұрын

'people like us" is doing a lot of heavy lifting

@marymarlow3646 Ай бұрын

She was probably thinking wtf am I going to do with all these cabbages 😂 it’s what I was thinking.

@eireman51 2 ай бұрын

I'd reckon that village has absolutely no crime.

@vladimirdaljic5078 2 ай бұрын

ofc when theres only few dozen gramps and grannies and armed soldiers

@user-vg5hc3bc8q 2 ай бұрын

하지만 군부대 인근 마을주민들은 군인들에게 편의서비스를 제공할때 바가지요금을 요구합니다. 한국에서 군인은 사회 최하위 계급취급하고 있습니다.

@danielp415 Ай бұрын

Well they basically have a private army 😂

@alexandramcginnis8872 Ай бұрын

One of those grannies gotta be secretly doing some internet piracy

@sherrygadberryturner9527 Ай бұрын

@@user-vg5hc3bc8qYeah, it’s not like they would be the first line of defense for the people. 😤🤬🤬

@mexicotaco0913 2 ай бұрын

not sure why captions are missing in some parts but: 3:20 "after the armistice, there were no [buses] at all. Then they started to come once a week, once every three days..." and 3:41 "it would be nice [to do my hair] once every month, but it's too much of a hassle."

@1certain 2 ай бұрын

At 3:20 she says, "Even right after the armistice, I barely ever saw any vehicles* pass through the village. Then they would arrive once a week, then once every 3 days, and now it's 3 times in a single day." 3:41 "It would be nice to go once a month, but I'm lazy*." (Assuming she is alluding to how out-of-the-way and inconvenient it is to leave the village even for a haircut, which is why she says she is "lazy")

@jwang1978 Ай бұрын

thank you ！

@DennisTheInternationalMenace Ай бұрын

Thank you! I was just about to comment on the poor translations from BBC.

@DennisTheInternationalMenace Ай бұрын

@@1certainTy for the accurate translation!

@jkim47ill Ай бұрын

BBC sucks with the translations

@user-uw7ly5hr8j 2 ай бұрын

I'm a Korean living in Paju, but it's my first time seeing the life of a Taeseong villager. Thank you BBC.

@Ed_Stuckey 20 күн бұрын

I was in the US Army in the 1960s. On one tour of duty, I was at a base near Dongducheon. On another tour, I was stationed near Paju ree. I've seen recent images of both areas and find it beyond amazing how different the country is now. Third-world to first-world in one giant step.

@branchgaa 2 ай бұрын

The reality of families having been seperated after the war, the elderly would certainly want Korea united, but perhaps the youth don't know much about this unless they listen to the elderly. Makes me think about why they might choose to live there, in remembrance and hoping to see thier family again.

@apReaL17 2 ай бұрын

And it’s heartbreaking

@goldhawk151 2 ай бұрын

Plus the people who live there get lots of privileges like tax and military exemptions. Their crops are also sold at a good price

@Erick-ev5zt 2 ай бұрын

I literally got teary eyes when that old man told the reporter about his older brother who got trapped in the North when the war broke. That's really sad not knowing whether your sibling is dead or alive at this very moment.

@YourSense114 Ай бұрын

It’s devastation and unbearable pain created by men to separate from love ones. Unbeknownst to those who cultivated this painful policies already they have their consequences,no criminals will be at large forever, they will test painful consequences on judgement day Because of worldly materials, power, to conquer to divide and with greediness the tiny minority set it an agenda and political strategy and ideology that they propagated , promoted and manipulated. None of young generation of today or tomorrow will ever understand why’s but few who are gifted with consciousness knows why certain powerful, educated , intelligent with principle thoughts and patriotic nations were targeted and isolated or sanctioned. If you ever been bullied at school and everyday new kid is used against you and none of these kids you wronged but one devil kid is bullying everyone against you and the devil kid won’t leave you alone until you bow to the devil and if you agree to become puppet then the devil targets the next kid. But if the other kid refuses to be bullied the rest of the kids will be used a weapon against him/ her. This world will never get better either in peace or in equality, the powerful puppets will always be used to attack the helpless or the weak , no matter how hard people fight back with words, pen or with platforms justice will never prevail on this planet, the very reason God created two paths, the good and the path and will have our certificates for the next life and will know who wronged who? Every cold case you ever wondered who killed who, you will witness and all secrets will become no secrets PERIOD Try to pick the good path and avoid worshipping worldly materials and hurting others

@smek22071975 Ай бұрын

@@YourSense114 Try to pick the good path and avoid worshipping worldly materials and hurting others But you also say, the very reason god created two paths. So either path is gods path. You religious people are the dumbest people on Earth. Why must you go with some book with stories. Make up your own mind and be free?

@westnilesnipes 2 ай бұрын

It’s a bit sad to think one day this village will be as deserted as the one that sits in the North…

@linus4108 2 ай бұрын

the north Korean village is always used as a propaganda "city", you could actually see that the village actually has some modern tall buildings to prove that the north is a capable county, but it is just a shell nobody lives there except for military

@theMcWOPPER Ай бұрын

No it won't.

@mykolakozak 16 күн бұрын

Same I doubt … NK will collapse

@HLJlovejoy Ай бұрын

Praying for reunification. My mom’s siblings were separated by the war & she’s never heard from or seen them since late 40s. It’s truly unimaginable & heartbreaking.

@julianpignat9095 Ай бұрын

you know why , Truman said no do not attack korea and general MacAther the the USA army in 1950 invaider Korea

@kbengson9163 21 күн бұрын

As long as the Dictator and the family bloodline is in power reunification will never ever ever ever (did I say ever?) happen because they would lose too much control and that is the thing that scares them to death is losing power and control of the people and money.

@incisivecommenter5974 2 ай бұрын

My father fought in the Korean war 1950-1953, he was 17 when he was drafted. He passed in 2016. Towards the end of his life, he talked about the war, very traumatic stories.

@user-vg5hc3bc8q 2 ай бұрын

그의 노고에 감사합니다. Thank you for your service.

@incisivecommenter5974 Ай бұрын

@user-vg5hc3bc8q Thank you for recognizing his service❤️🇺🇲❤️🇰🇷❤️ I hope one day there's peace.

@gm2282 Ай бұрын

Same with my father

@ShutupNKissme Ай бұрын

Idiot@@user-vg5hc3bc8q

@yoobinjung35 Ай бұрын

🇰🇷🇺🇸🇺🇳 👮🏻‍♂️👮🏼‍♀️👮🏾 🗽

@thehangmansdaughter1120 2 ай бұрын

"We don't have to serve in the military" Oh Sweetie, you already are. Living under these conditions is your service.

@WilldyPS3 2 ай бұрын

Don't all South and North Koreans have mandatory military service?

@chan13153 2 ай бұрын

@@WilldyPS3 I think its just males for south korea that have mandatory service

@WilldyPS3 2 ай бұрын

@@chan13153 It was a boy who said it

@user-mc6vi8yd7l 2 ай бұрын

@@chan13153 ? isn't NK mandatory service like 10 years

@chan13153 2 ай бұрын

@@WilldyPS3 probably an exception for just those villagers then

@joshr8666 2 ай бұрын

Never heard of these two villages in any other video i've ever seen on north korea.. Thanks BBC

@kibulb3143 Ай бұрын

the story of the man who hasn't heard from his brother since the war really breaks my heart. Cellphones and stuff weren't a thing yet so I can't imagine how hard it was to contact someone even BEFORE the war.

@lisasantiago2784 Ай бұрын

The villagers looked happy and content in their simple life with friendly soldiers to protect them. 🙏🙏🙏

@mykolakozak 16 күн бұрын

Really I didn’t see too much happiness

@jrebz2329 Ай бұрын

I love Korea 🇰🇷 💕 from Philippines 🇵🇭

@rodneyjweltham150 2 ай бұрын

Incredible documentary. Thank you BBC

@nasdaq15 2 ай бұрын

Amazing documentary and reporter. God bless those people

@carolinegodden4364 2 ай бұрын

Very special Elders ❤

@MrJm323 2 ай бұрын

"Tae Song Dong" is how we G.I.s (Second Infantry Division) knew it, when I was there in the 1980s, pulling patrols inside our small section of the DMZ and pulling duty on the observation posts inside the DMZ itself: "Guard Post Oullette" and "Guard Post Collier". It was my understanding that the North Korean "propaganda village", Kijong-dong, was uninhabited, but every day the North Korean authorities would truck in civilians to farm the fields, etc.. They would trucked back out in the evening. The North Korean flag, mounted on their pole (which of course is higher than the flagpole on the South's side), is supposedly the largest flag in the world. Like the soldier, here, explained, there is no physical barrier separating the Northern half of the 4 kilometer wide DMZ from the Southern half. There are only some rusted out yellow signs indicating the "MDL" ("Military Demarcation Line") along this line. The south-facing sides of these signs were in English and Korean, the north-facing sides in Chinese and Korean. Step beyond those, and you were in the North. ...So when you see photos of soldiers walking along a fence, that fence is the southern limit of the 4 KM-wide DMZ, rather than the actual line of demarcation between South and North Korea. One impression this video doesn't provide is the audial experience I remember: the propaganda speakers from each side, projecting music and spoken propaganda. (Usually pop music from the South Korean speakers, martial music from the North Korean ones.) It was made more eerie because the banks of speakers would be swivelled in various directions, and you could hear the music or words wafting in and out. Other than that, there wasn't much noise. There was very little traffic on the road (the main road from the gate to the Joint Security Area or "Panmunjom", the "truce village", which was a compound centered on three buildings [for conferences] which straddled the MDL). The JSA is the most tense place there -- the place most likely to erupt in violence (in case someone defected or one side were to trim a tree, whatever). ...Another eerie aspect was at night: most of the DMZ seemed to be in darkness. But, when you lifted your NOD (night observation device) up to your eyes, suddenly large swaths would be "lit up", because there were infrared lamps and spot lights, lighting up what each side thought was a critical part to have under constant observation, in a light wavelength invisible to the naked eye.

@anxioushellcat6075 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this! I think the scary part too is getting kidnapped by the DPRK soldiers.

@julianpignat9095 Ай бұрын

@@anxioushellcat6075 frist go to Pyongyang, passe the official way you will have no problem

@gakidomo9561 Ай бұрын

As a Korean living in Australia for freedom, thank you for your service. Do you think Korean war will resume and the border will stay the same or be different when the Korean war ends? 🤔

@gakidomo9561 Ай бұрын

@anxioushellcat6075 Yeah, apparently it happened couple times long time ago in some other village on the upper Incheon areas, the island place at night. I don't know why they kidnapping fellow neutral villagers but it's sad

@Kitana2020 Ай бұрын

The man waiting for one day to reunite with his brother stuck in NK... This world is evil

@SourDoughBill 2 ай бұрын

Awesome. Great job Jean and Hosu. You captured both the beauty of the village and the people living there.

@FirstLast-tp8bm 2 ай бұрын

For a lot of Koreans, reunification is like the Fountain of Youth. It sounds nice on paper, but even if you keep looking, you will never find it.

@steveerossa 2 ай бұрын

it will lead to cultural clashes, solidarity taxes being sent up north, and lots of crime from people raised under communism who don't respect private property.

@user-xz6gm3bq4s 2 ай бұрын

my question has alway been what does the reunification look like? would it be the total take over of the north and haveing a westen korea lead my the US

@steveerossa 2 ай бұрын

@@user-xz6gm3bq4s Koreans will decide for themselves. There will be no more need for American soldiers but Korea will now share a border with russia. So they will need a larger army. As for ideology, it will be South Korean ideas. They succeeded, the north failed. You gotta go with what works. Can't go half and half on successful and failed ideas.

@shadowslayer9988 2 ай бұрын

@@steveerossaThen Unification ain't happening u less both sides get to keep their form of government and North Korea gets to keep it's nukes reunion will just be a delusional dream.

@shadowslayer9988 2 ай бұрын

@@user-xz6gm3bq4sReunification is not happening North Korea would NEVER except South Korea form of government and vice versa.