INTERACTIVE:
North Korea staged a weekend of nationalistic ceremonies to commemorate the liberation of the Korean peninsula
MESSAGE BOARD:
North Korea: new beginning?

August 15, 1999
Web posted at: 6:20 p.m. EDT (2220 GMT)

From Correspondent Mike Chinoy

PANMUNJOM, Korea (CNN) -- North Korea's communist regime staged a weekend of regimented ceremony to commemorate the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 -- and to stoke the fires of Korean nationalism.

In Panmunjom, on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone that separates the country from South Korea, a colorful ceremony featured buglers, acrobats and schoolchildren, as American and South Korean troops looked on impassively from their side of truce line.

The theme of the event was that the United States and South Korea are responsible for the division of the peninsula, which took place just after the Japanese were forced out.

"Why have you divided our country?" a children's chorus chanted.

A group of South Korean leftists joined the celebration, risking possible jail time for making an unauthorized visit to North Korea.

"The U.S. imperialists have occupied Korea since 1945," said delegation leader Lee Sun-woo. "Now, the United States has initiated provocative war plans against North Korea."

In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, a group of South Korean soccer players were given a huge send-off after making an anniversary weekend visit. The regime mobilized 100,000 people to line the streets and bid the soccer players farewell.

Tensions between the regimented, impoverished, isolated North and the capitalist, prosperous and pro-Western South have been heightened in recent weeks by signs that North Korea may test a long-range missile.

South Korea, the United States and Japan have warned that such a step could lead to severe consequences. This weekend's staged event provided no clues of the North Koreans' possible missile intentions.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.