[imText1]In 1989, when we reached the summit of Onsok Heights, a secret killing field in Settlement No.13, we found the rocks we needed and started to move them. When I picked up the fifth rock, I noticed a piece of cloth. I didn’t give it a second thought. Then, I noticed wet human hair attached to the bottom of the rock. When I moved the rock, I saw a human corpse, wet and covered with worms. The skull was crushed beyond recognition. The presence of long hair indicated that it was a woman. The rock was wet at the bottom from the decaying corpse and a revolting smell filled the air. I looked around at the other stones and found most of them wet at the bottom. I was going to shout for help when I heard other guards shouting and running, “There are human corpses here!” We all ran away and stumbled on the way down. It was so disgusting that I felt like vomiting.
The officers at the bottom of the hill slapped some of us, saying, “You weaklings, such cowardice! You are supposed to be soldiers. Go back up there and roll down the rocks.” We all pleaded, “Sir, there are human skulls up there! We can’t go there!” The officers compromised, “All right, pick up some of these stones around here and let’s go back.” This was the first time I had seen rotten corpses in my life and I never went up there again. When I went on my routine patrol near the area, I felt my heart beating with fear and I tried to turn my face away from the hill.
There was a place called Onsok Height some 500 meters from my duty post at Detention Settlement No. 13. The height was wet and sometimes there was a bad smell in the air in springtime. There were many stones on the height. All of us knew that there was a secret killing field and about the rumor of ghosts up there.
No one wanted to go up the hill. Once we were told to bring big stones from the height for the construction of a bulletproof wall around our headquarters. The officers were obviously afraid and stayed at the foot and made us go up there. There was a drive way up to the summit. We chased away crows as we walked up. My feet were trembling with fear. We loudly laughed and talked to each other to overcome the fear. The height was surrounded with barbed wire walls and was off limit to prisoners. When we reached the top, it was flat with a few stones and little holes here and there. At first, we thought there was nothing to fear, but as soon as we tried to collect big rocks, we started to discover so many corpses.
When we returned to our barracks, we all agreed that the rumor about the secret executions was true.
