Posted on 03/13/2003 2:19:36 PM PST by vannrox
Korea visit an eye-opener
The two North Korean soldiers appeared suddenly at the window, separated from Alexander Downer by only a pane of glass. In the truce village of Panmunjom, where South Korean troops eyeball their North Korean counterparts only a few metres away, the Australian Foreign Minister was inspecting a building on Conference Row. The microphones are always on in the squat blue building known as T2, divided by a North-South line, where commanders from each side meet. The gathering surrounding Mr Downer, which included senior US officers, had drifted to the North Koreans' side of the room. The two soldiers did nothing more threatening than stare, although the sight of one adjusting his gun holster was intimidating enough. For the past two days, Mr Downer has been involved in meetings in Seoul on the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program. Now, two North Korean faces peering through the window was a reminder of just how close the potential enemy is on the Korean peninsula. "It's one of the strangest places I've ever been to," Mr Downer said. "I think it's very sad. It's sad that there is still this confrontation, that the North Koreans take such a hostile approach to the rest of the world. "This isn't just the frontier between South and North Korea. This is a frontier between most of the world and North Korea." The truce village, where the armistice was signed in 1953, lies inside the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two Koreas, the world's last Cold War frontier. Yet on the day North Korea warned its people to be prepared for war, signs abounded that it could suddenly become hot. To get there, you travel alongside minefields, through two anti-tank walls and kilometres of barbed wire. The brown building on the right houses the United Nations Command quick reaction force, able to be deployed in the field in 60 to 90 seconds. Along Conference Row, South Korean troops wear sunglasses to look more menacing, and adopt a tae kwon do fighting pose known as the Republic of Korea (ROK) stance. A few metres away on the North Korean side, their counterparts amble around, staring back hard. Sometimes, they make throat-cutting gestures. "It's like something out of the Cold War," Mr Downer said of the DMZ. "It does, I think, reinforce a point that we still have a major problem to deal with here with North Korea. This is one of the truly major issues the international community has to try to resolve." Yesterday, that process continued when Mr Downer met South Korea's new President, Roh Moo-hyun. Mr Roh thanked Mr Downer for Australia's efforts to try to resolve the crisis. It followed Mr Downer's meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, in which Australia urged China to exert pressure on North Korea.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/26/1046064102907.html
By Shane Green
Panmunjom
February 27 2003
Which are ONLY there to keep their citizens IMPRISONED!!!
A worthwhle institution. /sarcasm
Yeah, just LIKE something out of the cold war. Brilliant.
Ditto for me. I was in that building, on the North Korean side, one week before the infamous Sea of Fire comment in 1994, with a Japanese tour group. This place is in a time warp, akin to East Berlin in the Cold War. You are literally looking at people who have no clue what the rest of the world looks like and use 1950's Soviet-style grooming methods.
If anyone gets the chance, its worth the trip. Be sure to get the requisite photo of an NK grunt staring menacingly, they seem to like doing that.
>Yeah, just LIKE something out of the cold war. Brilliant.
Y'know, life is like.....an analogy.
And then???
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