Unit 684 (Silmido)
EstablishedConfirmed as fact in the official record
The claim
The armed men who marched toward Seoul in 1971 were said to be a secret unit trained by the intelligence services, not the infiltrators the government described.
Where it started
Immediately after the August 1971 incident the government called them enemy infiltrators. The truth stayed unexamined until bereaved families and the press raised it again in the 1990s.
Where it stands
In 2006 the Ministry of National Defence's commission on past incidents confirmed that an air force special unit had been formed in 1968, that members died during training, and that survivors were executed after the incident. The commission recommended locating remains and restoring the men's names.
Primary sources
- 대한민국 국방부, 과거사진상규명위원회 조사 결과mnd.go.krOfficial source
checked 2026-09-07
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