ID :
54720
Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/54720
The shortlink copeid
(Yonhap Feature) N. Korean soldiers secretive as celebrations continue in Pyongyang
By Sam Kim
PANMUNJOM, April 9 (Yonhap) -- As North Korea celebrated the reappointment of
leader Kim Jong-il as its top military leader following a rocket launch that has
galled the world, its frontline guard posts facing South Korea remained shrouded
in secrecy Thursday, while its soldiers appeared as disciplined as ever.
"It's business as usual," said Major General Christer Lidstrom, head of the
Swedish delegation to the committee of neutral nations monitoring the 1953 truce
that ended the three-year Korean War.
Speaking at the truce village of Panmunjom that straddles the Koreas, Lidstrom
said that North Korean troops appeared markedly more confident after their
country conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.
But Sunday's rocket launch did not seem to have that effect, he said, while
tension has been running high since North Korea accused the U.S.-led U.N. forces
of provocations near the village in February.
Just four days after the launch that North Korea claims successfully put a
satellite in orbit, the communist state reappointed its 67-year-old leader as the
chief of its 1.2 million troops.
South Korea and the United States say no object entered orbit, dubbing the launch
a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska.
North Korea, nonetheless, was steeped in celebrations over the Kwangmyongsong-2
satellite.
"The country appears filled with festivities, especially as Kim reaffirms his
power," Park Sung-woo, spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said.
Park said that despite a series of threats North Korea made this year against
South Korea, no unusual sign of provocation appeared as Kim reaffirmed his post
as chairman of the National Defence Commission.
Seen through a telescopic lens, several North Korean soldiers gathered Thursday
afternoon around a guard post a few kilometers from the South Korean side of the
border, apparently working on a trench with spades.
Dressed in straight-laced uniforms, they hurriedly hid behind their refurbished
posts whenever they felt they were being watched by foreign journalists.
"They seem unusually shy. The number of soldiers exposed to South Korean eyes
shrank considerably, too," a South Korean journalist and longtime visitor to the
border said, asking not to be named.
In October last year, North Korea remodeled its guard posts, which now appear as
modern as low-rise commercial buildings in the more affluent South Korean
society. No internal details regarding the structures have been disclosed.
The refurbishment prompted a group of South Korean lawmakers who visited the
scene last year to call for the renovation of guard posts on their side. A budget
has since been earmarked to work on the structures, whose blue paint has peeled
off considerably.
"It's a type of psychological warfare," Kang Sung-yoon, a North Korea professor
at Seoul's Dongguk University, said. "This type of race, albeit not so obvious,
has been routine for decades."
Kim's rubber-stamp reappointment came after he apparently suffered a stroke last
summer, raising tension as he has yet to name a successor to rule the state
believed to have several nuclear bombs.
It also comes as the relations between the Koreas remain at the lowest level in a
decade. After taking power in February last year, South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak pledged to tie reconciliation to North Korea's denuclearization,
prompting Pyongyang to cut off dialogue and denounce him as a "traitor."
"North Korea wants to have the same kind of relationship that they had with the
former president in South Korea," Lidstrom said.
He was referring to Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal who held a summit with Kim Jong-il in
Pyongyang in 2007. Roh was accused by conservatives of funneling aid into North
Korea even though Pyongyang remained committed to its nuclear weapons programs.
The truce village lies inside the demilitarized zone, which is two km wide on
both sides of the 240 km-long border that bisects the Korean Peninsula.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
PANMUNJOM, April 9 (Yonhap) -- As North Korea celebrated the reappointment of
leader Kim Jong-il as its top military leader following a rocket launch that has
galled the world, its frontline guard posts facing South Korea remained shrouded
in secrecy Thursday, while its soldiers appeared as disciplined as ever.
"It's business as usual," said Major General Christer Lidstrom, head of the
Swedish delegation to the committee of neutral nations monitoring the 1953 truce
that ended the three-year Korean War.
Speaking at the truce village of Panmunjom that straddles the Koreas, Lidstrom
said that North Korean troops appeared markedly more confident after their
country conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.
But Sunday's rocket launch did not seem to have that effect, he said, while
tension has been running high since North Korea accused the U.S.-led U.N. forces
of provocations near the village in February.
Just four days after the launch that North Korea claims successfully put a
satellite in orbit, the communist state reappointed its 67-year-old leader as the
chief of its 1.2 million troops.
South Korea and the United States say no object entered orbit, dubbing the launch
a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska.
North Korea, nonetheless, was steeped in celebrations over the Kwangmyongsong-2
satellite.
"The country appears filled with festivities, especially as Kim reaffirms his
power," Park Sung-woo, spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said.
Park said that despite a series of threats North Korea made this year against
South Korea, no unusual sign of provocation appeared as Kim reaffirmed his post
as chairman of the National Defence Commission.
Seen through a telescopic lens, several North Korean soldiers gathered Thursday
afternoon around a guard post a few kilometers from the South Korean side of the
border, apparently working on a trench with spades.
Dressed in straight-laced uniforms, they hurriedly hid behind their refurbished
posts whenever they felt they were being watched by foreign journalists.
"They seem unusually shy. The number of soldiers exposed to South Korean eyes
shrank considerably, too," a South Korean journalist and longtime visitor to the
border said, asking not to be named.
In October last year, North Korea remodeled its guard posts, which now appear as
modern as low-rise commercial buildings in the more affluent South Korean
society. No internal details regarding the structures have been disclosed.
The refurbishment prompted a group of South Korean lawmakers who visited the
scene last year to call for the renovation of guard posts on their side. A budget
has since been earmarked to work on the structures, whose blue paint has peeled
off considerably.
"It's a type of psychological warfare," Kang Sung-yoon, a North Korea professor
at Seoul's Dongguk University, said. "This type of race, albeit not so obvious,
has been routine for decades."
Kim's rubber-stamp reappointment came after he apparently suffered a stroke last
summer, raising tension as he has yet to name a successor to rule the state
believed to have several nuclear bombs.
It also comes as the relations between the Koreas remain at the lowest level in a
decade. After taking power in February last year, South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak pledged to tie reconciliation to North Korea's denuclearization,
prompting Pyongyang to cut off dialogue and denounce him as a "traitor."
"North Korea wants to have the same kind of relationship that they had with the
former president in South Korea," Lidstrom said.
He was referring to Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal who held a summit with Kim Jong-il in
Pyongyang in 2007. Roh was accused by conservatives of funneling aid into North
Korea even though Pyongyang remained committed to its nuclear weapons programs.
The truce village lies inside the demilitarized zone, which is two km wide on
both sides of the 240 km-long border that bisects the Korean Peninsula.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
