[KS] Re: Koreanstudies digest, Vol 1 #504 - 1 msg

[rupert]

> "I have heard that the North Koreans drove long
> metal rods into the ground during the Korean
> Conflict. The South Koreans had to remove these
> after the war. The purpose was to disrupt the
> natural energy flow within the country (most
> probably a concept based in their religion or
> ancient teachings).
 
I wonder, in War Museum in Seoul I remember seeing a quite different metal rod that I had previosuly only read about. It was a long spike with a looped end. Basically, the idea was that the retreating communist soldiers would ram the rod into the ground, tie one of their bretheren to it, in effect staking him to the ground, and leave him with a machine gun to cover their retreat. The idea was, I suppose, that the unfortunate 'hero' had no chance of escape and thus had no choice but to fight to the death. Such a spike would certainly have disrupted his energy flow.

RMJ Atkinson