The Dadaepo Seiko Turtle (Source: The War Museum of Korea)
Today, I would like to share a story about a totally trashed Seiko Turtle that belonged to a very special owner. It’s a run-of-the-mill 6309 Turtle but circumstances surrounding how the watch was obtained from its owner is what makes it truly unique. It’s a Seiko Turtle that once belonged to a North Korean (Nork) frogman who landed on the shores of Dadaepo. But first, the story.
Dadaepo is a beach located at southwest corner of the port city of Busan, South Korea. It is a fairly quiet beach and not as crowded as other beaches scattered around the city. When the weather is clear, you can catch a beautiful sunset in the evening.
On the night of December 3, 1983, however, this quiet beach was to make headlines around the world as two armed Nork frogmen emerged from its shores and sneaked into a restroom nearby, their supposed rendezvous point, only to be captured by specially trained South Korean soldiers who had been alerted and were lying in wait in concealed positions. The two frogmen were wounded during a short melee but later recovered and both wisely decided to defect to South Korea.
SP-10 semi-submersible craft (Photo by Ryan)
A number of military hardware recovered from the scene were displayed to the public after the incident. Most notable was a semi-submersible craft, type SP-10, that had transported the two frogmen but was subsequently sunk by South Korean forces off the coast of Dadaepo. It was later recovered, restored and put on permanent display at The War Museum of Korea in the capital city of Seoul. Another piece of hardware, a much smaller in size but no less significant, was also displayed there. It was the Dadaepo Seiko Turtle worn by one of the captured frogmen.
The particular Seiko model is affectionately nicknamed “Turtle” by Seiko watch collectors because its chunky steel case resembles a shell of a turtle. Seiko Turtles are powered by Seiko’s in-house automatic movement, either a hacking 6306 calibre sold for Japanese domestic market with Kanji days or a non-hacking 6309 for the overseas market. It is not known which type of movement the Dadaepo Seiko Turtle employed. What is known, however, is that it is the only Seiko Turtle that is verified as used in actual covert operation. If its serial number can be traced back to the original Seiko dealer, it would shed light on who had supplied these hardware to Nork and under what circumstances.
Unfortunately, the last time I had seen the watch on display was way back in September 2002; it has since been locked away in the museum’s archive, away from public view. Recently, the museum’s digital archive opened up… and lo and behold the Dadaepo Seiko Turtle was there! According to the description, the watch was donated to the museum by Korea Defense Intelligence Command (KDIC) in September 1990 and that it had been confiscated from armed Nork frogmen captured at Dadaepo.
Yesterday, I finally managed to track down and got in touch with an archivist at the museum who was the caretaker of Dadaepo artifacts among others. She told me over the phone that only their digital archive was available for public view and that physical access is granted to those who engage in activities deemed a benefit to the public. The scan of the watch shown at the top of this post is the sole photo available from the digital archive. When I pressed for specifics, she explained that because the museum is a public organization, those writing a paper for an academic journal, for example, would be qualified. “Posting an article on an internet watch forum would not suffice,” she said.
Well, she had the watch in front of her, so I begged her to at least tell me the inscriptions on the back of the case. She was kind enough to read them out to me and here are the details:
Model number: 6309-7040
Serial number: 733XXX
According to multiple Seiko serial number database on the internet, the Dadaepo Seiko Turtle was manufactured in March 1977. As for the dial, the condition was so bad, she could not decipher anything. I thanked her, got off the phone, then found myself searching for suitable journals that might accept my supposed paper. I soon gave up, though, as I found the entire notion silly. I mean, writing a paper for the sole purpose of gaining access to a totally trashed Seiko, a model that I already own in mint condition?!
Well, the story does not stop here. The two Dadaepo frogmen, after having been interned, gave a press conference on December 14, 1983. Thanks to youtube, you can view it here. It’s in Korean so I don’t expect you to understand it but towards the end of that video clip, it shows some of the hardware used by the Dadaepo frogmen. And hidden among various scuba gears, you will see a Seiko… but it wasn’t the Turtle!
Seiko diver shown at Dadaepo press conference on December 14, 1983 (Source: KTV)
It was a Seiko 7548 150m quartz diver, a model that was introduced in 1979. My guess is, the quartz model, being relatively new at the time, belonged to the junior of the two frogmen while the earlier 6309 Turtle to the senior, an old-salt. It’s only a guess and I have no proof to back it up.
You may also notice a piece of thick string attached to the rubber strap that got broken off from the quartz diver. That’s a neat hack to convert a two-piece strap into a one-piece strap. In the event one of the spring bars fails, your watch would still stay on your wrist, thanks to the string holding the straps together. Now go back to that scan of Dadaepo Seiko Turtle at the top of this post. There is a small piece of string hanging loose at the buckle. The museum has other Nork watches in their archive, mostly dress watches and stop watches, but only the Dadaepo Seiko Turtle has that string.
Mid-size Seiko diver displayed at Gangneung Unification Park (Photo by Ryan)
There is also a mid-size Seiko 6458 150m quartz diver displayed over at Gangneung Unification Park located on the east coast of Korea (above photo). The watch was found on the wrist of a dead Nork frogman who had washed ashore on a nearby beach on the morning of July 12, 1998 (video clip here). That Seiko dive watch also has a string connecting the two strap parts. I think Nork frogmen are obsessed over this string hack. Why not? It’s cheap and it works. Perhaps you should give it a try, too, especially if you dig original Seiko rubber dive straps.
The story of Dadaepo Seiko Turtle does not end here. There are still unanswered questions, like… Which of the two frogmen is the rightful owner? Where was the watch sourced based on the serial number? What type of string was preferred and how was it tied? Et cetera. I will let you know as more information is uncovered on this exciting watch.
“People lined up from the day before in rain and winds… physically fighting for a watch.”
“I couldn’t choose the color I wanted because my number was towards the end so I just bought whatever remained.”
“Police were dispatched after a fight broke out in front of the store.”
“When I heard tickets were handed out yesterday, my thoughts were, ‘Oh, why am I even here now?'”
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