South Korea Celebrates Liberation Anniversary

Soldiers with land mine detectors searched Saturday for metal stakes buried more than 50 years ago by Japanese colonial rulers to disrupt Korea’s “life force.”

The weeklong operation near Andong, in central South Korea, was part of the nation’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of its liberation from Japan, Yonhap news agency reported.

During its 1910-45 rule, Japan drove thousands of stakes into the ground at spots geomancy experts determined were springs of life energy.

According to geomancy - a belief that geographical features can bring fortune or disaster to those who live there - the metal stakes cut off positive forces emanating from certain sites.