As I was enjoying some ski events on TV last night, a thought occurred to me. The United States (among other nations) was involved in a war on the Korean Peninsula within living memory. Were there battles fought over the territory that I am now seeing on TV? Did American soldiers die on the very mountains that athletes are skiing on today?
In other words, do the events of the Korean War intersect at all with the geography of the Olympics today?
Apparently, yes. Gangwon (the province that Pyeongchang is in) stretches across the DMZ (1/3 of it is in NK).
If you really want to get into it, there probably are very few Olympic locations that were not a battlefield at some time.
I think it might be pretty rare for Winter Olympics venues, considering most of them are off the beaten track and not on likely invasion routes. Lake Placid, Squaw Valley, Lillehammer, Salt Lake City, St. Moritz, Vancouver, and Calgary don’t come to mind as battle sites. Obviously there are some exceptions such as Sarajevo.
Summer Olympics I’ll grant you since most of them have been capital or major cities that have been contested in one war or another.
If you really get into it, your use of the work “Olympic” in that sentence is superfluous.
We do like to kill each other.
Not in any numbers. Although Pyeongchang is in a part of Korea which the war passed through at least 4 times, that immediate area wasn’t the scene of heavy fighting.
The initial KPA offensive in summer 1950 outflanked ROKA units in that area with advances to the east and west, no US forces there.
The KPA retreat back north in September/October 1950 involved little fighting once they started withdrawing.
Likewise the UN retreat from North Korea in December 50-Feb 51. That Chinese/NK offensive was stopped in heavy fighting not far west of Pyeongchang around Weonju, but not right there. Then the Communist forces withdrew again to near the 38th parallel again without a lot of fighting.
The Chinese/NK spring 1951 offensive pushed the line back down to near but still north of Pyeongchang city and the Olympic venues, again mainly in ROKA sector. Then again the Communist forces retreated with limited fighting.
Then the static war in summer 51 to summer 53 was all within a pretty short distance of the current DMZ. Not that far north of Pyeongchang but not right there.
I don’t recall anything about the battle of Stratford…
The 2012 Olympics were held in Stratford East London. Now the Germans certainly dropped bombs on it, but that does not count as a ‘battle’.
You are thinking too recently–don’t you think it likely at some time over the past 20,000 years or so some battle was fought in the East London area?
I understand that nearly every square centimeter of the Earth has been fought over at some time or another. I was mostly interested in the relatively recent Korean War that involved the United States, China, United Nations forces, and others.
Thank you, Corry El, for your brief summary of action in the province.
You’re saying the Battle of Britain was not a battle?
Lillehammer actually saw some (small-scale) battles during WWII - following the German invasion of Norway in Apr. 1940, when the Germans were pushing north from Oslo and towards the middle parts of Norway. So not that long ago
The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above England, so tennis, beach volleyball, and to some extent soccer could be said to have taken place there.
Interestingly, the archaeology of the site seems to indicate fairly peaceful history.
Love it.
In seriousness.
Darren Garrison is spot on. All it takes is to delve far enough into the past and there would’ve likely been some kind of battle at many of the places. Not akin to modern warfare, but even some tribal battles.
For instance, the Olympics that took place the closest to me (a couple of hours drive away) definitely took place in a former battlefield.
Actually, there really were several skirmishes in June 1648 between Royalists and Parliamentarians at Bow Bridge, the main crossing over the River Bow, when the Parliamentarians were trying to attack the Royalists camp at Stratford.
Thank you Mr Garrison,
I had this concept in mind, but couldn’t find good phrasing. (The brain is logie)