MIA: Lost in Operation is a military horror webtoon,
which will bring you to think twice before entering an abandoned outpost in the DMZ.
Story:
We follow Corporal Chan Soo Gim, member of the education department, Communication Security in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. He is assigned to a ten-man squad as a camera operator, tasked with recording the mission, reason told being that another unit deployed in the DMZ had an Insubordination Incident, making the total unit size 11 instead of the original 10. The unit gets tasked with the inspection of a fence in the Demilitarized Zone, reason being that named fence has been moved over 30 meters since last inspection. The mission is getting special attention from the division commander, for later revealed reasons. The unit is not in the best shape: an inexperienced platoon leader, fed up experienced soldiers (one of them close to finishing his service), green privates, and an unstable chain of command to name a few problems they have. When they make contact with a group of KPA soldiers, the simple mission evolves into a serious shit-show: a march into a minefield, losing long-range radio contact with Command, malfunctions of the personal short-range radios and an ambush by an unknown, ghostly rifleman. During their retreat, they find a bunker: an abandoned general outpost, built during the Korean war. With thick fog surrounding them, they decide to shelter in for the night. At least the concrete structure will protect them from any danger, right? Right?
Art:
Nothing special to say personally. It’s not exceptionally good or bad, but it perfectly fits in with the theme of the story, not very colourful and rather dark. It’s full colour, and I’m sure it would be equally as scary in Black and White, but the colour really boosts the perception.
Characters:
Holy fu**ing sh*t! I yet have to serve my country in my conscripted service, but if conscripted army units are like this, I’m really fu**ing scared.
You can separate them into following categories: The normal “I’m-an-army-conscript-I-don’t-like-it-but-I’m-doing-my best”-kind (MC clearly being one of them) and the guys who you would never want to be alone with (the “You-know-If-you-die-out-here-No-one-will-ever-know-what-really-happened-to-you”-kind). Problem being:
The line separating these two groups is redrawn every minute they spend on this nightmarish mission, and you never know who’ll snap (quiet literally) next!
If you want a brief introduction of all squad members, you can find one here (Chapter 20.5) from page 12-21.
Overall:
This Manhwa fulfils everything it promises: A psychological, military horror webtoon in full colour.
The story can sometimes be confusing and the characters hard to identify, but it's none then less great.
You don’t want to go MIA in this story…
Story read on Mangakakalot.com
Link to Scan
WARNING, SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD!
Did you ever hear what happened in early 1980? The Goblin valley…
Barbecue GP
It was different then, we encountered each other and had gunfights.
We smoked cigarettes over the barb wire fence…
Once they picked up a girl, you could say they kidnapped her…
Anyway, they drank together and let us go.
Then one night when it was raining, eleven soldiers who were drunk and were asleep in the living quarters…
They had their throats cut with a machete by the enemy battalion.
And then they burned the bunker with a flame thrower
Only one survived that day…
