South Korea to resume blasting propaganda, K-pop music across DMZ border with North Korea
SEOUL: South Korea is ready to reactivate fixed and mobile propaganda loudspeakers near the border with North Korea as Seoul took steps to fully suspend a 2018 inter-Korean military pact. The loudspeakers used to blare criticism of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un regime’s human rights abuses, news and K-pop songs. The loudspeaker campaigns were part of […]
Korea and its striving for unity remains unabated
By Kuban Andymen SEOUL: It is possible that even clairvoyant predictors of the future could not have foreseen that the temporary division of Korea in 1953 along a line almost coinciding with the 38th parallel would remain unchanged for more than 70 years. To the north of this line, one system of government was established, […]
DMZ: The zone where the 1950-1953 Korean War never ended
By Habib Toumi SEOUL: As she was looking into North Korea from the Dora Observatory at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Khadija was enveloped by an eerie feeling that mixed dramatic history with people’s tragedies without any regard for peace or compassion. She has never been so close to a highly fortified border with wire fences […]
Only school in DMZ holds graduation ceremony amid heightened inter-Korean tension
PAJU: Tensions have escalated amid tit-for-tat military moves between the two Koreas along the border, but life goes on as usual for the students of Daeseongdong Elementary School, the only school inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Five sixth-graders wearing the Korean traditional clothing, hanbok, enjoyed their unforgettable moment with parents and teachers during a graduation […]
70 years after it was created … Is DMZ a geographical wound across Korea or a fortress to preserve status-quo?
By Habib Toumi SEOUL: Seventy years after the bloodshed ended with the division of the Korean Peninsula along the 38th parallel, the past is still very much alive. The past defines where Koreans live today. South Koreans to the south of the 250-kilometer Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and North Koreans to the north. My first visit […]
Amid international in-person and online participation, 2020 DMZ Peace Festival stresses peace is more precious than triumph
By Seok-Jae Kang GCS International Secretary-General Vice President of the Asian Journalists Association SEOUL: The 2020 DMZ Peace Festival was held successfully in both on- and off-line formats on October 7 in Seoul, Korea. The 2020 DMZ (demilitarized zone) Peace Festival, the second of its kind, was jointly promoted by GCS International, a Seoul-based […]
Humane approach needed as first step to peace on Korean Peninsula
By Habib Toumi BAHRAIN: One of the most emotional sights that has struck me throughout my career in journalism that has taken me to numerous countries was the desperate messages and worn pictures left by Koreans to their northern brethren at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the world’s most fortified border keeping Korean families apart for seven […]
North Korea blows up joint liaison office in Kaesong
SEOUL: North Korea blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in its border town of Kaesong on Tuesday, sharply escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after near-daily threats to punish Seoul over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets. The surprise explosion sparked concern that the communist nation could put other threats against the South into action, including taking […]
Multiple gunshots fired from North Korea hit South Korean DMZ guard post
SEOUL: Multiple bullets from North Korea hit a South Korean guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), prompting the South to broadcast a warning and fire back, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The gunshots hit the guard unit in the central border town of Cheorwon at around 7:41 a.m.. No casualties or damage […]
South Korea uses helicopters to spray disinfectant over DMZ to prevent spread of ASF
Seoul: South Korea’s military flew helicopters to spray disinfectant over the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas Friday as it launched a weeklong quarantine operation to prevent the spread of African swine fever, the defense ministry said. The military began the operations near Yeoncheon, north of Seoul, earlier in the day after traces of […]