There aren’t many of us who can boast about having stepped foot inside a North Korean submarine. But for those who wish to, it is possible. To be able to step inside of a captured North Korean submarine, you will need to visit Jeongdeokjin, Gangwon Province, on the east coast of Korea. Before I divulge into my trip though, a little back ground, and the unfolding of tragic events back from when the submarine was first spotted, and the North Korean infiltration team was hunted down, and the murder of the naval personal who delivered the special unit team. Sadly, this makes for some grim reading.
My memory of the events as they unfolded on the news, half a world away are a little fuzzy, but I remember this making the headlines and the ensuing manhunt with pictures of the Korean city of Gangneung in September of 1996. By this time I was fully investing my free time into Asian studies so naturally this was a massive blip on my radar.
On September 15th, 1996 a North Korean Sang-O class submarine landed a three man special infiltration team about 20 kilometers south of Gangneung on the east coast of South Korea. Their mission was to gather intelligence on local navel and coastal defense facilities in the area and return undetected. The first attempt to retrieve the special infiltration team failed and was again attempted the following day. Unfortunately for the North Korean crew, the submarine ran aground and could not free itself in the swiftly lowering tide. A decision was made by the crew and team to destroy all sensitive documents and make a run to the DMZ. More misfortune befell the crew as they were making their preparations they were spotted by a civilian who promptly reported the suspicious activity to the authorities. The manhunt was on.
The 49 day long manhunt for the 26 crew of the submarine began on September 18th, right up to the 5th of November when it is believed the one remaining crew member made it back across the DMZ. In the time it took to find them, 4 south Korean civilians would be killed, and 12 ROK soldiers, 27 more soldiers were wounded. One North Korean was captured, and later defected to the South, while 13 died in gun battles with the ROK Army. The bodies of 11 executed crew members were found on September 18th after the first crew member was captured.
I remember following the events, images of smoke billowing over the towns where gun battles were fought to capture or kill the crew and special infiltration team are forever burned into my mind, even half a world away. And then, it was all forgotten. A formal apology for the incident was eventually made and the cremated remains were returned to North Korea, the surviving crew man is now an instructor at the Korean naval academy, and that was that.
I can’t recall what I was searching for at the time, but for whatever reason it reminded me of the incident, and I wondered what ever happened to the submarine. I imagined it was taken apart and investigated in detail to analyze the potential of these sea craft. To my surprise, it was kept as a trophy and wasn’t scrapped. Not only that, it was going to be in a park open to the public in just a few months time. So naturally I began planning my trip, one of several in fact.
The Tongil Park (Unification Park) is two sites, a collection of Aircraft up on the hill, and the submarine and retired Destroyer ROKS Jeon Buk DD 916 (ex USS Everett F. Larson DD 830). Also included is a North Korean fishing boat, the type that is washing up on Japan’s western coast with increasing frequency. The park is reached by taking a train from Gangneung down to Jeongdeokjin, which also have lovely beaches and is worth stopping by as well. From the station it was a quick 10 minute taxi ride, possibly longer if you have a driver who wasn’t a former race car driver, to the park. Pretty easy trip to make, and the entrance fee only set me back 3000 won. As a bonus you get to work your way inside of both the submarine and destroyer, which also has a cafe because, Korea. It is worth visiting as its not too far out of the way, and is a good day trip if you time the trains and buses right. There are many other things to do nearby as well, such as hiking in the mountains, taking a trip along the coast and nice gentle beaches.
The submarine is of course the main attraction, and how 26 individuals could possibly have crammed themselves in there confounds me. Clearly the endurance for these vessels was meant to be short espionage drops and surveillance, however they are equipped with torpedoes so they do have an attack role. The marks from the fire and most signage is in Korean, which was a little too technical for my translation abilities. hard hats are provided, and encouraged as there are many parts of the sub which didn’t have western bodies in mind obviously. Its a tight space, so it isn’t easy to get through, and it is also encouraged to not have loose articles of clothing or straps that can get caught on the equipment. The submarine is not as primitive as imagined which was of some excitement, but before you know it you are back outside to then work your way to the destroyer. I included an interior of the sub in a slide show, which also includes some pictures of the destroyer as well.
Lost in Linklandiya 
Leave a comment