Some rue neglect at S. Korea’s ‘enemy cemetery’

Topics: From the Wires,

Some rue neglect at S. Korea's 'enemy cemetery'In this Thursday, June 28, 2012 photo, local resident Kim Dong-hun inspects the wooden grave markers at the "enemy cemetery," where Chinese and North Korean soldiers who died in the Korean War are buried, just south of the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea. Hundreds of identical wooden grave markers stand on the hill surrounded by rice paddies and trees, North Korea's dark mountains visible in the distance. They call this the “enemy cemetery,” though of the two nations whose soldiers are buried here, only North Korea is still considered an enemy by the South. The other, China, has inspired proposals for improving this site, but bitter feelings for the North have formed a seemingly impassable barrier. (AP Photo/Hye Soo Nah)(Credit: AP)

PAJU, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has an “enemy cemetery” on a hill near the Demilitarized Zone. But of the two nations whose soldiers are buried there, it still considers only North Korea to be an enemy.

The other, China, has inspired proposals for improving the site, which doesn’t even have a parking lot. But bitter feelings for the North form a daunting barrier.

China is now a major trading and diplomatic partner, and a source of tourists to South Korea. Many might come here to honor war dead if a more fitting memorial were built. That’s especially true on a day like Friday, the anniversary of the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War.

Some South Koreans want renovations. Others are stridently opposed to anything that could be seen as honoring North Koreans.

Next Article

Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Comments

0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>