Why this man’s simple photo of a North Korean mountainside sparked an intense stand-off with soldiers

An innocuous mountainside hiding a dark secret sparked an intense stand-off, with one man threatened with prison and torture over a simple photo.

What’s the riskiest photo you’ve ever taken?

We’ve all found ourselves in a dicey situation or two, whether it was a sneaky pocket snap of Michaelangelo’s David while touring through Italy, or trying to take a cheeky picture of a guy at the pub who looks exactly like your mate.

Usually, you can claim ignorance and talk your way out of things after being caught. No harm done, just another tourist doing the wrong thing.

But the stakes are a bit higher when your happy snap leads to being swarmed by North Korean henchmen.

South Korean journalist Sung Yoon Ri found himself in the stickiest situation imaginable after nonchalantly pointing his DSLR at Mount Kumgang, perched about 20km from the secretive nuclear state’s southern border.

Sung Yoon was on a sanctioned media trip to cover the emotional reunion between families who were divided from the Korean War. After the guns stopped blazing and a new border was drawn up, several Koreans discovered that their loved ones had unfortunately found themselves on the wrong side of the fence.

In other cases, the families were separated because some chose to risk their lives to flee the North for a radically different life in the South.

Covering the 2005 reunion was already a highly-stressful task for the young reporter, given the fact the North subjects all foreign visitors to around-the-clock surveillance.

There’s not much you can do in North Korea without raising suspicion. Every visit is heavily stage-managed by the authorities to make sure the Kim dynasty and its draconian military state are respected at all times.

Even folding a newspaper with the dictator’s picture on it can land you in strife.

As a reporter from the South, Sung Yoon was acutely aware of the differences between the two Koreas and the trouble one misstep could lead to.

But he wasn’t expecting to be swarmed by soldiers after pointing his camera to the scenic view of Kumgang mountain.

“I took a picture of the beautiful scenery of Kumgang Mountain in my leisure time,” Sung Yoon told news.com.au.

“At that moment, I totally forgot the mountain was filled with more than one hundred military bases.

“Suddenly, one North Korean soldier came out and forced me to show the picture.

“Unfortunately, the battery of my digital camera was just dead and he insisted that I was spying.

“Although I denied his assertion, he was quite insistent and summoned other soldiers.”

Sung Yoon had no idea the trouble this photo would cause. Picture: Sung Yoon Ri

Nothing to see here, Mr Journalist. Picture: Sung Yoon Ri

As a reporter from the South, Sung Yoon was acutely aware of the differences between the two Koreas. But nothing prepared him for the stand-off that came after a single picture of a mountain. Picture: Sung Yoon Ri

Sung Yoon said the situation had deteriorated extremely quickly. His mind immediately turned to the horror stories of prisoners being tortured in nameless prisons in the North.

“I was about to be arrested by the North Korean army and tortured or punished with fines of more than $US10,000 … although North Koreans detest the US, they loved the US dollars,” he continued.

“Fortunately, other South Koreans soon came out and joined the confrontation. North Koreans were so persistent that they summoned more soldiers.

“When the tension reached its climax, together with the staff of the Ministry of Unification in South Korea and Hyundai Asan staff who operated the Hot Springs recognised this situation and attempted to solve this dispute.

“They and their counterpart in North Korea finally reconciled the North Korean soldiers and the South Korean reporters.”

Sung Yoon had expected a more relaxed day at the Kumgang Hot Springs “because even communists take a rest on Sundays”.

But evidently, authoritarianism always has one eye open.

His altercation is made even more interesting given the fact there has been no reports of a military site existing in Mount Kumgang, until now.

A nation fundamentally opposed to the US and cooperation on the global stage, North Korea has an untold amount of secret military bases it shields from the West.

In the age of Google Earth, the hermit kingdom has worked incredibly hard to hide large portions of its military from satellite cameras.

Even today, the South’s military admits it is still unaware of just how many secret tunnels the North has built underneath the Korean demilitarised zone. The most famous tunnels, originally claimed by the North to be “mining tunnels” have been turned into tourist attractions, but many others may still remain undetected.

Sung Yoon was on a high-stakes media trip to cover the emotional reunion between families who were divided from the Korean War. Picture: Sung Yoon Ri

The visit was under heavy surveillance. Picture: Sung Yoon Ri

Sung Yoon went on to explain the emotional scene of witnessing elderly family members who had been separated for over 50 years reunite for one last time.

Because it is illegal for North Koreans to leave their country, it was likely this would be the final time they could see each other.

North Korea saw the financial opportunity in promoting a reunion trip and co-ordinated with the South for a rare piece of co-operation in the midst of their own 21st century Cold War.

“Since the Korea War in 1950, separated families in North Korea and South Korea have missed each other for such a long time,” he said.

“To earn money from South Korea, North Korea combined the separated family reunion with tourism in the Kumgang Mountain area of North Korea.

“Hyundai Group invested money in building the tourism facilities including Hot Springs, hotel, gas station, and so on. These facilities were used for the separated family reunion.

“Although some family members have already passed away, the remaining family members participated in the inter-Korean separated family reunion events.

“Because North Korea uses the reunion as propaganda, the communists never allow all the separated family members to meet altogether.

“They have used the events as a political leverage.

“North Korea is such an isolated country that only South Korean family members were allowed to visit North Korea to see their lost family members in North Korea.”

The reunion program was given a small three-day window with media and security officials to attend.

The reunion would likely be the final time the separated families could see each other. Picture: YTN

A rare photo from inside the North. Picture: Sung Yoon Ri

“On the first day of the reunion, separated family members meet each other all together in Kumgang Mountain hotel under the strict monitor of the communists,” Sung Yoon said.

There was another heated exchange between North and South Koreans during the event after a female reporter piped up about the North’s overreaching surveillance of the whole trip.

Eavesdroppers periodically tuned into each family’s conversation to make sure the North Koreans weren’t saying anything against their living standards or the regime.

“It was so surprising and annoying to see that North Korean family members, who were so busy catching up on what they had been doing, abruptly praise their dictator when the communist observers eavesdropped on their conversation with South Korean family members,” he continued.

“My colleague reporter was so angry with the communists’ surveillance that she quarrelled with the communists. After the argument, she was locked in the hotel room and deprived of the opportunity to cover stories of the family reunion.

“In my case, I knew that the communists were so aggressive that I had to evade and coax them.

“The communists usually limited the freedom of press and provoked a (fight) with South Korean reporters.”

After almost five years, North Korea is set to open its border to foreign tourists in a bid to generate some much-needed cash.

Beijing-based Koryo Tours recently published an announcement that the city of Samjiyon near the China-North Korea border will resume tourism, with the rest of the country potentially to follow.

See you there?

Alex Blair was part of Australia’s press delegation organised by The Walkley Foundation, Korea Press Foundation and the Australia-Korea Foundation.