The 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War was commemorated on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone Thursday, but the deep divisions on the peninsula were evident in the very different ways North and South Korea marked the milestone.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose grandfather Kim Il Sung initiated the epic Cold War conflict in 1950, met Thursday with visiting Chinese officials and with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as the regime staged another of its signature military parades through the center of Pyongyang.
Mr. Shoigu’s visit, the first by a Russian defense minister to Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War, comes as the Kim regime has emerged as a possible arms supplier as the Kremlin’s munitions arsenal is being drained by the war in Ukraine. Russia’s tactical artillery, formerly far outstripping that of Ukraine, is now reportedly only at near parity with Kyiv.
China’s relatively low-level delegation was headed by Li Hongzhong, a member of China’s ruling Communist Party politburo. Mr. Li, who came bearing a letter from President Xi Jinping, said in an address to North Korean officials that Beijing sought to promote the “sound and stable” development of relations with Pyongyang.
Though U.S. GIs bore the brunt of the fighting — over 36,000 dead — relatively few are buried in Busan as most were repatriated. The July 27, 1953 armistice is imperfect – it was never replaced by a permanent peace agreement – but has held for seven decades. A new war between North and South Korea is, as one foreign general described it Thursday, is “low probability, high impact.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Is Israel So Divided on Netanyahu’s Judicial Reforms?Israel passed a fiercely-protested judicial reform bill on Monday, prompting a wave of political commentary. See potential bias and similarities in coverage from latimes, dcexaminer and JPostOpinion: IsraelProtests Netanyahu
Read more »
Kim Jong-un meets with Russian defense minister on military cooperationNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss military issues and the regional security environment, state media said Thursday as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of an armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Read more »
South Korean court overturns impeachment of government minister ousted over deadly crowd crushSouth Korea’s Constitutional Court has overturned the impeachment of the public safety minister ousted over a Halloween crowd surge that killed nearly 160 people last October at a nightlife district in the capital, Seoul.
Read more »