Singer Rain joins fans in hiking ‘infiltration route’

Published : Jan 20, 2013 - 19:52 Updated : Jan 20, 2013 - 19:52

Conscripted K-pop star Rain, joined by hundreds of fans, hiked the route used by a group of North Korean commandos to infiltrate the capital city 45 years ago on a failed mission to assassinate then President Park Chung-hee.

On Jan. 21, 1968, 31 North Korean armed agents infiltrated into Seoul after slipping past the heavily guarded inter-Korean border.

They were stopped several hundred meters from the presidential Cheong Wa Dae, and all but one were shot to death.

The Army’s Capital Defense Command organized Saturday’s hiking event to raise anti-North Korean security awareness among Seoul citizens. The 31-year-old K-pop star, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, walked the 5-kilometer “infiltration” route, along with 1,600 people, many of them his fans.

Pop singer Rain, on military duty, participates in an event of walking the 5-km route in Seoul that was used by North Korean agents 45 years ago to infiltrate the South Korean presidential office. (Yonhap News)

“I’m honored to participate in this event,” Jung said, executing a military-style hand salute. “I will do my best to commemorate the event.”

Jung was conscripted into the Army in late 2011 for 21 months of mandatory military service. The hiking was his first outing after he was reprimanded earlier this month for dating a top TV actress while on official duty.

The singer now serves as an “entertainment soldier” for an Army unit that provides TV and radio programming aimed at promoting the military. He is scheduled to be discharged from active service in July.

Surrounded by a pack of reporters and his fans, Jung was asked various questions about his military life and relationship with actress Kim Tae-hee. He avoided answering most of the questions. (Yonhap News)