A Tauranga-born New Zealand Army officer has completed a six-month deployment at one of the world’s most heavily guarded borders.

Captain Steen Hemmingsen, who grew up in Tauranga and attended Ōtūmoetai College, was stationed in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea as part of Operation Monitor, a release from the New Zealand Defence Force said.

Operation Monitor is New Zealand’s commitment since 2001 to the United Nations Command (UNC) and the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) in Korea.

Under the United Nations banner, 22 nations, including New Zealand, contributed either combat forces or medical units to support South Korea during the Korean War.

UNCMAC was established in 1953 as a condition of an armistice agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Hemmingsen served as an assistant joint duty officer, with responsibility for assisting communication with North Korea – considered the mission’s highest priority.

“Our office controls the ‘pink phone’, which is the only overt line of communication to North Korea from United Nations Command,” he said in a statement.

“I was involved in drafting message content and overseeing the passing and reporting of the message.”

His other priorities were coordinating and controlling access to the Joint Security Area (JSA), and providing briefings and orientation about the JSA to those who need them.

These included local unit soldiers, ministers of foreign national governments, ambassadors, distinguished visitors and three-star generals.

“The role has seen me interact with people I would have never imagined being in the same room as,” he said.

Captain Steen Hemmingsen during a presentation to VIPs at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarised Zone.

The deployment placed him within sight of armed North Korean guards, although he was not permitted to carry a weapon under the terms of the armistice agreement.

“Our best safety measure is routine and normality in activity. Predictable actions create predictable reactions,” he said.

Since joining the New Zealand Army in 2017, Hemmingsen has pursued a career combining academic, physical and leadership challenges, including studying mechanical engineering.

“I wanted a career with diverse challenges. I was also drawn to national service to be part of a higher purpose,” he said.

“The New Zealand Defence Force’s mission of upholding and defending the New Zealand way of life aligned with those ideals.”

Hemmingsen said Operation Monitor was his preference for deployment because of the mission’s location, history and wide engagements with other nations’ militaries.

“It’s been enlightening learning about New Zealand’s previous and ongoing commitments to the ‘forgotten war’ of the Korean War and the ongoing armistice.”