“Silmido” 2003 S. Korean movie poster

Blue House Raid – Wikipedia Page

Watching this movie called “Silmido” while I get some writing done. Interesting stuff and quick history lesson for ya whether you want it or not. In 1968 North Korea dispatched a unit of Commandos to assassinate Park Chung Hee, the President of South Korea. The North Korean unit failed in this attempt.

In response, Park Chung Hee began to train his own unit of South Korean commandos to take out North Korea’s president. The training was so brutal that several trainees died. And just when the unit was up and ready to go, relations between the two countries improved and the hit was called off.

It’s clearly speculation up to this point as to the motives of this now disbanded South Korean unit, but the facts indicate that this unit hijacked a bus in 1971. The South Korean Army confronted them and killed twenty commanders from the unit. Four remaining soldiers survived but were executed months later in a tribunal.

The South Korean government covered it up for years, until after 2003. When the movie “Silmido” came to light, bringing nationwide attention to the incident. In 2009, members from this ill-fated unit sued the government for harsh training conditions that were a violation of their basic human rights.

In 2010, the South Korean government awarded those families with a payout of 273 million won in compensation. This is nothing compared to other “incidents” that have happened around the world. I just wonder…What kind of mentality would us “entitled” Americans have if we were taught about such oppressions growing up.

It still rings in my head. What an old friend told me back in 2008. “That’s North Korea, Rock. This is America. Why do you care?”—–Love thy neighbor….such a sentiment.