North
Korean Soldiers
Tensions have
increased significantly along the Demilitarized Zone since North Korea's recent
nuclear test and rocket launch, a North Korean military official told The
Associated Press on Monday, adding that while he could not comment on
operational details, "the reality is that it is touch and go."
Though parts of the world's most fortified border can seem like a
tourist trap, drawing throngs of camera-happy visitors on both sides every
year, to the military-trained eye the Cold War-style standoff along the
257-kilometer (160-mile) DMZ — established when the 1950-53 Korean War ended in
an armistice, not a peace treaty — is an incident waiting to happen.
That's now truer than ever, the North Korean officer said, as tensions
are escalating between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington. Thousands of U.S.
troops are deployed in South Korea and units based around the DMZ have the
motto "Be Ready to Fight Tonight."
"People come here and they think it's like a resort. But if you
know it better, you know how dangerous it is," Lt. Col. Nam Dong Ho of the
North Korean People's Army said in Panmunjom, the truce village where the
armistice was signed.
Nam said tensions have increased significantly since the nuclear test in
January and rocket launch earlier this month. "Something could happen at
any time," he said.
To stand on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone is almost
otherworldly.