The two Koreas commemorated the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War yesterday, promoting vastly different views of the origins of the conflict that still divides their peninsula.
The war started in the early hours of June 25, 1950, with an attack by North Korean troops. The Korean Peninsula had been divided in 1945 after Japan’s defeat in World War II.
The US and 15 other countries sent troops to aid South Korea under the fledgling UN, while Chinese soldiers came in to fight with the North and the Soviet Union provided air support and advisers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
South Korea held a solemn ceremony in Seoul to remember the war, widely known as “6/25” for the date it began. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak presented plaques of appreciation to representatives of 21 countries that sent soldiers or supplies to aid the war effort.
“Sixty years ago today, North Korea’s communists opened fire on all fronts of the 38th parallel on a weekend’s dawn when all people were sleeping peacefully,” Lee said in a speech.
The gathering was attended by hundreds of South Korean and foreign veterans of the conflict, foreign ambassadors and serving South Korean and US soldiers.
“South Korean and UN soldiers, you were not only courageous and genuine soldiers but also a cornerstone of South Korea’s history,” Lee said. “We will remember your sacrifice and dedication forever.”
North Korea’s view of the conflict, which it calls the Fatherland Liberation War, is vastly different. Under the headline “US, Provoker of Korean War,” the country’s state news agency on Tuesday accused Washington of starting the war with a surprise attack.
“All the historical facts show that it is the US imperialists who unleashed the war in Korea and that the United States can never escape from the responsibility,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
On Thursday, KCNA followed up with a massive 4,300-word article listing damage done by the US since 1945. It cited the “Committee for Investigation into Damage Done by the US to the Northern Half of Korea” as finding the total monetary cost for North Korean suffering came to US$65 trillion.
The North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said yesterday that peace was still threatened “due to the US and the South Korean puppet forces’ vicious moves to provoke a new war.”
The mood surrounding the 60th anniversary is far different than during the 50th in June 2000, which came just days after the conclusion of the first-ever summit between the Koreas. This time relations are tense following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March off the west coast of the peninsula.
Lee used the occasion of the anniversary to urge Pyongyang to own up to the sinking.
“North Korea should clearly and frankly admit and apologize for its wrongdoing over its provocation,” Lee said, as he urged it to assume a responsible attitude in the international community.
At a separate wreath-laying ceremony at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, the commander of US and UN forces in South Korea issued a warning to Pyongyang.
“The North Korean leadership must know that further provocations will be dealt with swiftly and decisively,” General Walter Sharp said in a speech.
In other developments, the North has banned boats off its west coast, a South Korean official said yesterday, in a possible indication the country may hold an artillery drill or even conduct missile tests.
The official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that Seoul was closely monitoring the North’s military, though he added that no unusual movements had been detected.
The no-sail zone was set north of the port of Nampo, 80km from the disputed inter-Korean sea border.
The North has set similar restrictions before past missile tests or firing drills.
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