The Chungui-gil region is home to numerous army facilities and reserve forces’ training quarters. The capital’s defense commands are concentrated in the Songchu area, very close to the North Korean border. The defensive infrastructure was reinforced after the 01.12 incident in 1968, when a team of North Korean commandos invaded the capital in an attempt to assassinate the President. It is not hard to spot units of sweat-drenched soldiers marching along the asphalt road all year long, regardless of the weather.
The Chinese character for chung (loyalty) in Chungui-gil is a combination of two letters: jung (middle, 中) and sim (heart, 心). It tells us that we must have a strong core embedded deep in our hearts in order to withstand raging storms. A strong mental state is not only necessary for soldiers serving their country, but is a good example to all of us.