SCP-7429 is believed to be recreating the death of Private Kim Lee Hyung, a KPA guerrilla fighter and member of the 5th Special Infantry Unit, a specialised unit who were assisted by various anomalous artifacts and entities during the Korean War.
The main entrance to Gwandong Cave before the construction of Outpost-705, 1952.
Item #: SCP-7429
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: Outpost-705 has been constructed around the main entrance to Gwandong Cave, disguised as a South Korean military outpost, and all other entrances have been sealed. Two Foundation personnel must stand guard at all times. Any non-Foundation personnel attempting to enter Outpost-705 or Gwandong Cave are to be detained and investigated for connections to sub-Veil organisations.
Any online posts within communist-aligned South Korean and Chinese forums, message boards, and social media communities mentioning Gwandong Cave and/or containing multiple of the following keywords are to be flagged and investigated: immortal, running, soldier, eternal, and revolutionary.
Description: SCP-7429 is a constant, identical, recurring spectral phenomenon located within and just outside of Gwandong Cave, a manmade tunnel system 12 kilometres south of the demilitarized zone dividing South and North Korea, built during the Korean War.
During the event, an incorporeal humanoid entity, designated as SCP-7429-A, resembling an armed Korean male (estimated age 20-23) wearing the uniform of the Korean People's Army manifests 9 metres into the system's main tunnel whilst mid-sprint. The entity charges through the cavern, and out through its opening. At this point, a patch of uniform near the soldier's heart ruptures due to an unseen force, and SCP-7429-A is abruptly re-manifested back to its starting position. This event lasts approximately 25 seconds, and repeats indefinitely. SCP-7429-A does not disturb physical matter, produce sound, or respond to external stimuli.
SCP-7429 is believed to be recreating the death of Private Kim Lee Hyung, a KPA guerrilla fighter and member of the 5th Special Infantry Unit, a specialised military unit who were assisted by various anomalous artifacts and entities during the Korean War—one of many such units active on both sides. On 23 March 1951, Kim's unit were forced to retreat north to the 38th parallel after the United Nations Command's Operation Ripper expelled them from Seoul. Two days into their retreat, they were attacked by UNC and South Korean soldiers while taking refuge in Gwandong Cave, one of the KPA's many manmade tunnel systems. The soldiers attempted to force them out through the cave's primary entrance, where more infantrymen were waiting to ambush them. However, the unit escaped through various hidden tertiary tunnels, bar Kim, who fled through the main entrance and was subsequently terminated by UNC gunfire.
SCP-7429 is theorised to be caused by an anomalous artifact Kim was carrying at his moment of death. This artifact, designated SCP-7429-B, has yet to be recovered. The only known record of SCP-7249-B's existence is a Korean War-era military document found during an investigation of a former GoI-822 office in 1952. The following is an abridged version of this document:
DAO-106
Object, Curse. High merit.
47 deployed, 0 undeployed.
Appearance and Ability:
Ornate timepieces of various makes, cursed by mudang. When worn on a revolutionary's person during his moment of death, he will be transported through time to briefly before the lethal event, allowing him to avoid his fate.
Deployment:
Forty of these artefacts have been assigned to the 4th, 5th and 6th Special Units, who are currently defending our ongoing liberation of Seoul from imperialist forces. The remaining seven were given to important and invaluable members of the Workers' Party of Korea, including General Secretary Kim Il Sung.
Procurement:
All forty-seven timepieces were donated by generous villagers to aid our war effort. They say these items are family heirlooms, dating back to the pre-colonisation era, given by grateful mudang in thanks for favours. A way to reproduce this curse is currently being investigated.
It is believed that members of the 5th Special Unit were initially terminated outside the tunnel's main entrance, where SCP-7429-B's properties then transported them back through time by approximately 25 seconds. Using their knowledge of future events, they escaped through alternate exits and evaded termination. However, it is assumed that when Kim was shot, the bullet pierced SCP-7429-B before entering his heart, causing the anomaly to malfunction and create SCP-7429.
Discovery: SCP-7429 was initially brought to the Foundation's attention in 1951, after UNC soldiers reported an "immortal, running soldier" near the 38th parallel. Due to the Foundation's unstable and shambolic presence in the Korean Peninsula at the time, SCP-7429 was left un-investigated until early 1952, when Foundation personnel successfully confirmed the anomaly.
Upon initial discovery, several small shrines were found near the main tunnel's entrance, along with many offerings littering the area. Since its creation, SCP-7429 had apparently become a site of pilgrimage for Korean and Chinese communists, with SCP-7429-A acting as a symbol for the ongoing communist movement in the Korean Peninsula, and abroad. All shrines and offerings were removed and destroyed, and known visitors to the site were amnesticised.
Addendum: Since Outpost-705's establishment, a number of individuals belonging to left-wing sub-Veil groups have been detained while attempting to access Gwandong Cave. During raids on these groups' bases of operations, various art and literature relating to SCP-7429 were discovered, including paintings, monographs, poems, and pamphlets.
The following is an example of such literature; a poem written in 1963 by Jiang Hongwei, a member of a Chinese sub-Veil militant group operating in South Korea:
Elegy for the Running Soldier
Do you know they won, soldier?
Forgive us, we forgot to tell.
Boots forever on ground,
we dare not disturb you.
You, perfect soldier,
who does not sleep,
does not falter,
are the exemplary revolutionary!
Do you know, soldier?
When the young people think of revolution,
they think of your grimaced face,
charging towards eternity.
Run! Soldier!
For those with no boots,
those with no guns.
Run! You eternal revolutionary!
- Close Footnotes