Digging for treasure at the DMZ

[maverick87]

Is it legal if I were to go over to areas near the DMZ and use a metal detector and dig around? I currently live in the northern most part of Greater Seoul, so I'm fairly close. I don't know the regulations and I don't want to go to jail.

[81REDSTAR]

It is better to ask south korean authorities for the permission and availiability.

[jerryrehr]

I was there in the early '70s and the people up by the zone salvaged everything.......everything. On the firing lines at tank gunnery they would fight to get even the spent rounds out of the berms day and night. Brass was a priemium and could and policing it up was a must, Yes you will go to jail until they think up something to charge you with just for being out near the zone.

Jerry

[D. Michael Kim]

I was there in the early '70s and the people up by the zone salvaged everything.......everything. On the firing lines at tank gunnery they would fight to get even the spent rounds out of the berms day and night. Brass was a priemium and could and policing it up was a must, Yes you will go to jail until they think up something to charge you with just for being out near the zone.

Jerry

I was there in 64-65 and can remember the Koreans following us to pick up spent brass on exercises. What was more frightening was when they would pop up after cease fire was announced down range to salvage mortar shrapnel.

[MaxxBrunn1938]

I was there in 64-65 and can remember the Koreans following us to pick up spent brass on exercises. What was more frightening was when they would pop up after cease fire was announced down range to salvage mortar shrapnel.

OH The Horrors.... I went twice for Team Spirt when I was with 3/4 Cav in the early 80s... The koreans would hang around us during the mock war and just about climb one the APC's to collect the brass...We got smart and rigged a catch bag in the .50 and collected the 60 brass and traded it for food and SoJo.. Man I miss that stuff...lol

Joe

[26Charlie]

Is it legal if I were to go over to areas near the DMZ and use a metal detector and dig around? I currently live in the northern most part of Greater Seoul, so I'm fairly close. I don't know the regulations and I don't want to go to jail.

"
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You wouldn't want to get blown up either.
On my first walking trip to the DMZ fenceline (jul, '73) from our hilltop nearby, i ignored a gruff ROK soldier's attempt to get me to halt, from his sentry post halfway up a hill, by claiming gross, dumb ignorance (i didn't want to be denied something as simple as visiting the fenceline.) My instinct was correct about the accessibility for troops stationed up there. But i couldn't have imagined what i saw next, once i turned a corner on the road. The soldiers in that sentry's company were all spread out in the flat areas and stretching string taughtly between them, while their officers looked to be measuring and recording each length of string. I'd never seen that done before, but it was intuitive that they were laying a mine field. No wonder that ROK sentry was so adamant for me to go no further. I felt like such a dork with that camera hanging on my neck, so didn't attempt to ask if i could snap a photo of their plan - i wanted to turn around and slink away, but it was too late. An officer barked an order and i complied with putting my hands up when they pointed their weapons and motioned for me to do it. There was just a few seconds of horror when the attentions of those 100 soldiers was on this dumbass GI with a camera - the grins were embematic of their control over me. My dread was, whether i had accidentally strayed over the border because the fence wasn't there? Fortunately not, but i got a semblance of what it would be like to be taken prisoner. Claiming ignorance works well, so they quickly let me go after some contrition and paying respects. They got back to laying out their minefield.

I mention that minefield because there is a story that shows up in google searches about a 52 yr old korean being killed by a mine at the foot of my hill, just a few years ago. I'm a born skeptic and risk taker - much experience as a teen doing treasure hunting for live ordinance and ww2 souvenirs around philippine battle sites (which were strictly off limits - for all but the adventurous) . But seeing the risks is believing.

The military people around the Z are very anal - theres really not a good reason to keep you out of the area, but they will anyway. You may not have to go to the dmz for souvenirs though. The defensive positions on some hilltops near you can sometimes have a variety of metal parts to find. Do a little research and find which hills nearby might have been defended by either side. If you find a trench or foxhole, then you're likely to find something interesting. Start with the smaller hills adjacent to the major roads leading north. I recall a hilltop battle for euijongbu somewhere?

If you're able to make it to a hill named yawlsan -which has a great view of the dmz and chorwon valley (hill 487) there might still be alot of stuff on it to find. I had lost my interest in collecting these things when i came across two live american pinapple grenades in this photo, while having nothing to do but explore our hill.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7461577...7594206222237/[/URL]

They weren't hidden - just laid out together in plain view beside a foxhole. I figured there had to ber alot more stuff for anyone that wanted to search for it. One can only guess the last unit up there left the area at night and in a hurry?

[ChrisCook]

DMZ stuff

Just went and looked at all of 26Charlies photos on Flickr in the linked album, very interesting! Thanks for posting... Chris...

[juoneen]

Hey JOE what do you miss most...KIM CHEE ??