Kijŏng-dong

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The flagpole of Kijŏng-dong
Korean spelling
Korean alphabet : 기정 동
Revised Romanization : Gijeong-dong
McCune-Reischauer : Kijŏng-dong
Kijŏng-dong with upstream land mine fields

Kijŏng-dong is a village near the Joint Security Area in the North Korean province of Hwanghae-pukto . It is one of two villages in the Demilitarized Zone of the Korean Peninsula (DMZ).

On the part of North Korea, Kijŏng-dong is called a "Peace Village", while in South Korea it is called a " Propaganda Village ". Less than two kilometers away is Daeseong-dong , the only inhabited South Korean village in the DMZ, which for its part received the propaganda nickname "Freedom Village".

Residents

The Kijŏng-dong is said to be home to an agricultural cooperative called “Panmun” with over 200 households as well as a kindergarten, a school and a hospital. However, it is reported that Kijŏng-dong is a Potemkin village , from where loudspeakers are used for agitation and that the only inhabitants are members of the Korean People's Army . At night lights are switched on in some buildings, but this always happens at the same time and in the same buildings. At different times, however, field workers and building maintenance workers were seen in Kijŏng-dong.

Attractions

Kijŏng-dong is characterized by a half-timbered tower, which with a height of 160 meters is the fourth highest flagpole in the world. Its tip carries a flag of North Korea weighing almost 270 kilograms . The mast was originally much shorter, but was raised after a similar, almost 100 meter high flagpole had been erected in Daeseong-dong, which towered over its North Korean counterpart.

Web links

Commons : Kijŏng-dong  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) . On: globalsecurity.org
  2. ^ Justin McCurry: What is the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea? On: theguardian.com on July 21, 2010.
  3. ^ Pang Hwon Ju, Hwang Bong Hyok: A Sightseeing Guide to Korea. Foreign Languages ​​Publishing House, Pyongyang 1991.
  4. ↑ Kevin Sullivan: Borderline Absurdity: A Fun-Filled Tour of the Korean DMZ. In: The Washington Post , January 11, 1998.
  5. ↑ a b Rolf Potts: Korea's no-man's-land. On: salon.com on February 3, 1999.
  6. ↑ Susan Silpasornprasit: Day trip to the DMZ: A look inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone. ( Memento from September 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) At: imcom.korea.army.mil


Coordinates: 37 ° 57 '  N , 126 ° 39'  E