[USFK Forums] Civic groups claim N.K. still drilling infiltration tunnels [Yonhap]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, April 1, 2006

Civic groups claim N.K. still drilling infiltration tunnels

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea continues to drill underground infiltration tunnels, some of them reaching far into South Korea, civic group leaders claimed here Friday.

Retired Col. Gordon Cucullu, speaking at a session sponsored by the Defense Forum Foundation, said North Korea's tunnels are nearly as long as the New York city water system.

"I think it gives everyone here a chance to recognize not only this is doable from an engineering standpoint, but in some cases, if you look at it through the eyes of the enemy, it is practical," he said.

"Tunneling is not rocket science. North Koreans are now experts at tunneling through, drilling and blasting, so it's not high-tech," he said.

South Korean Army officials have said earlier that North Korea in the 1970s dug more than 20 underground tunnels to infiltrate into the South, some of them across the military demarcation line.

Their estimate at the time was that more than 15,000 North Korean soldiers could pass through a tunnel in an hour.

But they said thousands of drilling missions near the demilitarized zone since 1979 have not discovered any North Korea-built tunnels.

Rev. Kim Han-sik, leader of a conservative civic group, claimed North Korea can use the tunnels to "hold U.S. and Korean troops as hostage."

"The tunnels have passed through under Seoul and reached deep down to the South already," he said.

ldm@yna.co.kr


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