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Rob Ratcliff was the Content and Community Manager of IFSEC Global.com. He is a self-confessed everyman in the world of security and fire, keen to learn from the global community of experts who have been a part of IFSEC for 40 years now.
Rising tensions in recent weeks over belligerent rhetoric from North Korea’s leaders has been underlined as a fire broke out in the demilitarised zone over the weekend.
The world’s most heavily-armed DMZ, with 2 million soldiers stationed on either side, is an area where fire breaks out relatively frequently as much of the area is bush and forest. The weekend’s blaze paid little attention to political tensions as pictures showed it crossing South Korea’s barbed-wire fences marking their side of the border.
The fire affected an area estimated to be around 13km in radius with around 80 firefighters assisted by forest service helicopters to contain it within the DMZ. It reached as close as 100m to South Korean guard posts, according to reports.
Both sides are known to blame the other for starting fires, accused of trying to (literally) inflame tensions between the two nations and use a blaze as cover for increased military actions.
With tensions at an all-time high on the Korean peninsula, a blaze such as this could cause unnecessary problems. But both sides are happy as long as the blaze stays within the DMZ. However, this also potentially raises safety fears as the area is littered with hundreds of thousands of landmines following the Korean War and the ceasefire in 1953.
A spokesperson for the South Korean military was quoted as saying:
The fire broke out in the Demilitarized Zone but has been largely contained by now. There have been no casualties or damage to our facilities, but we have firefighters on standby as winds are strong on the eastern coast and residual fires are still a danger.
The blaze is believed to be largely under control now.
We talk extensively in the IFSEC Global Fire channel about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of fire safety in developing nations.
North Korea is one of the very poorest, but fire safety is likely to be the very least of citizens worries. The region of South-East Asia as a whole accounts for around 53 percent of global fire deaths in the latest study by the World Health Organisation released in 2003.
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Fire in Korea DMZ Underlines TensionsRising tensions in recent weeks over belligerent rhetoric from North Korea’s leaders has been underlined as a fire broke out […]
Robert Ratcliff
IFSEC Insider | Security and Fire News and Resources
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13 Comments
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batye
April 15, 2013 7:08 pm
I do hope no more oops will happens in the DMZ… as we are dealing with not well upstairs NK leader… I’m sad to see communism is still in existence… and people is still accept this type of slavery… as way of life…
I’m going to try my best not to open up a coversation on the merits/evils of communism, but yes, agree that fires like this don’t help to calm tensions.
While it’s a somewhat dangerous game to play I suspect both sides are guilty of starting fires as a show of force and both sides are standing by to go put out fires. I also wonder how often it is used as a diversion, start a fire in one area of the DMZ and move troops around in another area while eyes are focused on the fire.
It’s certainly working then! But it could backfire for NK. One expert on the BBCs Panorama this week said: There could be a thermonuclear war, but not because NK start it. They need to be careful.
It’s a dangerous precedent to set but I suppose it’s something that’s safer than launching missiles at each other. Hopefully the number of incidents where a fire gets out of control are low.
The first thing people should have learned is not to play with fire, or fight fire with fire, for whatever purposes. Unfortunately, this very basic rule is often ignored when tensions like these arise. I just hope fervently that this will not escalate. The tensions are already there; there is no need to fuel and aggravate them–especially when the lives of so many are at risk.
I share your sentiments, Batye. You would have thought that in this day and age, people would have learned from past mistakes. It is sad to see situations like NK, where the leaders are living in luxury while everyone else has to work so hard just to eat a meal a day.
I live in the land of controlled burns so I can’t say that a well organized government entity doing controlled burns scares me even if it is to irritate a neighboring country. I’m sure that this is less a forestry control issue and more an issue of making someone else spend time and resources on something other than building up their military presence or it’s being used as a diversion but it is probably one of the less dangerous things they could be doing.
I do hope no more oops will happens in the DMZ… as we are dealing with not well upstairs NK leader… I’m sad to see communism is still in existence… and people is still accept this type of slavery… as way of life…
I’m going to try my best not to open up a coversation on the merits/evils of communism, but yes, agree that fires like this don’t help to calm tensions.
I’m sorry but I say it how I see it…
Sorry…
While it’s a somewhat dangerous game to play I suspect both sides are guilty of starting fires as a show of force and both sides are standing by to go put out fires. I also wonder how often it is used as a diversion, start a fire in one area of the DMZ and move troops around in another area while eyes are focused on the fire.
Yeah, good point. First thing I thought on hearing this story was exactly that, safensane.
I think it is stand off showcase to draw worldwide attention
It’s certainly working then! But it could backfire for NK. One expert on the BBCs Panorama this week said: There could be a thermonuclear war, but not because NK start it. They need to be careful.
It’s a dangerous precedent to set but I suppose it’s something that’s safer than launching missiles at each other. Hopefully the number of incidents where a fire gets out of control are low.
Yes Rob, I think so but we hope it does not yield to that
The first thing people should have learned is not to play with fire, or fight fire with fire, for whatever purposes. Unfortunately, this very basic rule is often ignored when tensions like these arise. I just hope fervently that this will not escalate. The tensions are already there; there is no need to fuel and aggravate them–especially when the lives of so many are at risk.
I share your sentiments, Batye. You would have thought that in this day and age, people would have learned from past mistakes. It is sad to see situations like NK, where the leaders are living in luxury while everyone else has to work so hard just to eat a meal a day.
yes, I could not agree more… but communizm is always brainwashing of the poor… and propaganda of war… to spread communizm… Sad, Sad…
I live in the land of controlled burns so I can’t say that a well organized government entity doing controlled burns scares me even if it is to irritate a neighboring country. I’m sure that this is less a forestry control issue and more an issue of making someone else spend time and resources on something other than building up their military presence or it’s being used as a diversion but it is probably one of the less dangerous things they could be doing.