U.S., Seoul Report Finding Tunnel Dug by N. Korea as Invasion Path
The United States and South Korea found a large tunnel under the demilitarized zone Saturday that they contend North Korea dug to infiltrate troops into the south.
Defense Minister Lee Sang Hoon said at a nationally televised news conference that the tunnel, the fourth to be found since 1974, is an “intolerable act of aggression.”
Echoing the views of U.S. officials, he accused Communist North Korea of having dug more than 20 tunnels to sneak tens of thousands of soldiers into South Korea in a surprise attack.
The tunnel, uncovered in a mountainous area about 100 miles northeast of Seoul and about 15 miles from a town called Inje, measures about six feet by six feet, officials said. Dug through deposits of granite, it runs as deep as 400 feet and extends at least 1,000 yards into South Korea’s sector of the DMZ, they added.
When the three previous tunnels were discovered--in 1974, 1975 and 1978--North Korea denied any role.
The two Koreas fought a war that ended in a truce in 1953. There was no formal peace treaty, however, and the two sides are still technically at war.
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