Prof. Pak Seon-ju, of Chungbuk National University's Archaelogy Department

In the last five years, he and the "6.25 Fallen Soldiers Excavation Team" that he leads have conducted excavations in about 40 places nationwide, including the DMZ and from Hwacheon and Yanggu in Gangwon Province to Dabu-dong (near Daegu), Gwangju, and even Jeju Island. In the process, he's turned up the remains of 935 fallen soldiers.

Pak served as a consultant for the movie "Taegugki," and provided materials and information for those movie sets shot at the excavation sites. "When the movie ended, I thought of the images of those fallen soldiers whose remains I have dug up, and my heart ached," he said.

The motivation behind "Taegukgi" -- the unearthing of a fallen soldier in Dabu-dong, Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang Province -- was Pak's work. The movie was inspired by the story of a fallen soldier, whose remain were dug up at the Chilgok site, who was re-united with his elderly wife after 50 years.

"They were the remains of a man, presumed to be in his mid-20s. A set square with the name 'Choe Seung-gap' written on it, a fountain pen, and a whistle were discovered along with the remains," recalled the professor. "When we checked the soldier's records, we found that his wife, now in her mid-70s, was still alive, and they were finally able to meet after 50 years. I'll never forget the image of her wailing, 'Why have you come now?'"

Even though Pak has been lost amidst his work of uncovering human remains for a few years now, he majored in prehistoric archaeology at Yonsei University. In 1980, while he was at UC Berkley as a foreign student, he decided to major in physical anthropology. "Physical anthropology is the study of people from a biological perspective," he said.

He said that he keenly felt the need for such a subject in university when it came time to determine the sex and age of remains turned up in digs. In Korea, however, it was an unknown academic subject at the time. Since one needs a knowledge of medicine, he decided the way to go would be to sit in on classes in medical and dental schools.

In 2000, the Ministry of Defence decided to engage in finding the remains of the fallen soldiers as part of its remembrance ceremonies for the 50 year anniversary of the Korean War. Pak, who had studied physical anthropology, was tapped for the job.

Since the remains are usually found on hillsides, high grounds, and other strategically important places, Pak has become somewhat of a mountaineer. "When we first start a dig, we usually stick around the place for 3~4 weeks," he said. "When we excavated along 'Bloody Ridge' around Yangu, Gangwon Province, the car couldn't go up the mountain paths, so everyday I had to hike up to the high ground at 1,000m above sea level."

He predicts that his Korean War excavation work will accelerate. When the project was a joint civilian-military venture, many mistakes were made, Pak said. From this year, however, Army Headquarters has properly formed a 20-man office tasked with the job.

Starting from next Monday, Pak plans to give the men and officers assigned to the project a two week basic training in handling remains, collecting personal effects, and anatomy.

He said, "People who died for this country are lying underground along cold mountain ridges, too long forgotten. Some of those families have spent decades not knowing if their loved ones were alive or dead, and we should have helped wipe away those survivors' tears a little earlier."

(Kim Seong-cheol, enki@chosun.com )