Border Dividing North and South Korea Quiet Despite Tensions
- 14 years ago
And on to one South Korean village that lies on the border with the communist North. The situation at the village looks calm, but releations between the neighboring countries has been anything but. Here's that story.
Amid tensions on the Korean peninsula, the truce village of Panmunjom and an observatory near the Demilitarized Zone looked quiet on Wednesday.
At Panmunjom, dividing the two countries, North and South Korean soldiers faced each other in silence.
At an observatory near the DMZ, groups of South Korean and foreign tourists looked over the North via binoculars with curiosity.
Tourists have divided opinions on North Korea's threat.
[Choi Gi-chul]:
"We need to go further than them, rather than being scared. We should make a big strike so that we don't get attacked by them."
[Lim Seon-hee]:
"North Korea was pretty quiet without taking actions before, but fired artilleries after relations got tensed. I think they're only threatening, for the sake of threatening."
Tension has mounted on the peninsula this year after the sinking of a South Korean warship and a series of military drills by the United States and South Korea aimed at boosting deterrence against the North.
The drills were staged near the site where North Korea is suspected of torpedoing a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors.
The North has denied its involvement in the incident.
On Monday, North Korea fired more than 100 artillery rounds into the seas off its west coast and some of the rounds landed south of the sea border.
Over the weekend, ties were further strained by the detention of a South Korean fishing boat by North Korean patrol.
The South has urged the North to release the fishing vessel.
North and South Korea are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce without a peace treaty.
Amid tensions on the Korean peninsula, the truce village of Panmunjom and an observatory near the Demilitarized Zone looked quiet on Wednesday.
At Panmunjom, dividing the two countries, North and South Korean soldiers faced each other in silence.
At an observatory near the DMZ, groups of South Korean and foreign tourists looked over the North via binoculars with curiosity.
Tourists have divided opinions on North Korea's threat.
[Choi Gi-chul]:
"We need to go further than them, rather than being scared. We should make a big strike so that we don't get attacked by them."
[Lim Seon-hee]:
"North Korea was pretty quiet without taking actions before, but fired artilleries after relations got tensed. I think they're only threatening, for the sake of threatening."
Tension has mounted on the peninsula this year after the sinking of a South Korean warship and a series of military drills by the United States and South Korea aimed at boosting deterrence against the North.
The drills were staged near the site where North Korea is suspected of torpedoing a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors.
The North has denied its involvement in the incident.
On Monday, North Korea fired more than 100 artillery rounds into the seas off its west coast and some of the rounds landed south of the sea border.
Over the weekend, ties were further strained by the detention of a South Korean fishing boat by North Korean patrol.
The South has urged the North to release the fishing vessel.
North and South Korea are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce without a peace treaty.