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south korea christmas tower
The original Christmas tower near Gimpo in 2010.
Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP
The original Christmas tower near Gimpo in 2010.
Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP

South Korea cancels illuminated Christmas tree near border with North

This article is more than 9 years old

Plans to reconstruct the Christmas tower two miles from North Korea have been abandoned due to ‘high military tensions’

A South Korean Christian group has scrapped a plan to construct a new Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea, citing high military tensions.

The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) had intended to install the structure in a military-controlled border area and light it up on 23 December, in a move certain to infuriate Pyongyang.

The plan had been approved by South Korean military authorities, who took down a 20 metre tower in Gimpo – less than two miles from the border – in August.

“The establishment of our Christmas tree (tower) was to be a religious event aimed at promoting peace,” Hong Jae-Chul, a senior CCK official, told reporters on Thursday.

“However our pure intention caused undesirable misunderstanding that it would aggravate inter-Korean friction,” he added.

The decision not to proceed with the tower comes as cross-border tensions run high following a series of minor border skirmishes in recent months.

The old tower was topped with a giant cross during the Christmas season. The atheist North viewed the light show as a provocative display of psychological warfare, and threatened to shell the tower unless it was removed.

The South’s defence ministry dismantled it, but said it was because the 43-year-old structure was unsafe.

Last month, North Korea warned of the “catastrophic impact” of any effort to rebuild the dismantled structure, while local residents in Gimpo expressed fears of a North Korean artillery attack.

Although religious freedom is enshrined in the North Korean constitution, it does not exist in practice and religious activities are restricted to officially recognised groups linked to the government.

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