북한 핵실험과 로켓(미사일) 발사 이후 비무장지대(DMZ)에서 긴장감이 점점 커지고 있다고 AP통신이 북한 군사 관계자 말을 인용해 22일(현지시간) 보도했다.
미국 AP통신의 에릭 탈매지 평양지국장은 북쪽 DMZ와 판문점을 찾아 북 핵실험 이후 달라진 풍경과 군인과의 인터뷰 내용을 소개했다.
북한 인민군의 남동호 중좌는 핵실험과 로켓 발사 이후 북한과 한국·미국의 긴장이 높아졌다며 "언제든 일이 날 수 있다"고 강조했다.
그는 "여기(DMZ)를 둘러본 사람들은 휴양지 같다고 생각할 수 있지만 상황을 아는 사람이라면 얼마나 위험한 곳인지 알 것"이라고 말했다.
남 중좌는 "현실은 일촉즉발의 상황"이라고 목소리를 높였다.
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(연합) |
탈매지 국장은 북한 쪽 판문점에 서 있는 것 자체가 비현실적인 일인데 휴전선으로 가면 갈수록 초현실감은 더욱 짙어진다고 설명했다.
북한 쪽에서 바라본 남쪽에 군인이나 민간 관광객 등이 한 명도 보이지 않는 점이 초현실적인 감정을 더 강하게 한다는 것이다.
한국은 지난달 6일 북한 핵실험 이후 DMZ 안보 관광을 전면 중단했다. 군이 대북 방송을 재개하면서 북한의 도발이 우려됐기 때문이었다.
이후 남북 관계가 더는 나빠지지 않자 군부대는 지난달 19일 오두산통일전망대를 시작으로 민통선 북쪽 캠프 그리브스 안보관광, 제3땅굴 등 안보관광을 단계적으로 허용했다.
이달 23일부터 도라산전망대 관광이 재개되면 경기 파주·연천지역 안보관광이 48일 만에 전면 재허용된다.
남한이 재개한 대북 방송은 낮에는 들리지 않는다고 남 중좌는 설명했다.
그는 남한 관광객이 방송을 듣는 것을 한국 정부가 원하지 않기 때문이라고 추정하면서 "조용해지는 늦은 밤이 되면 판문점에서 방송이 들린다"고 말했다.
남 중좌는 이어 개성공단 가동 중단을 전적으로 남한 정부가 한 것에 대해 북한 인민과 군대가 격분하고 있다고 강조했다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
Tensions rising on DMZ, North Korean officer tells AP
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.
After crossing through military checkpoints and passing roadside concrete structures rigged to detonate and keep any vehicles from passing -- defenses that are also common in the South -- the air is peaceful and fresh, and birds can be heard chirping as they fly over a carefully manicured landscape dotted with rock monuments and meticulously maintained historical buildings.
But closer to the Demarcation Line that marks the actual border, soldiers stand rigidly on guard, armed and intimidating, often just a few steps away from their South Korean counterparts.
On Monday, the surreal feeling at the Demarcation Line was heightened by the absence of anyone -- soldiers or civilians -- visible on the South's side.
South Korea halted tours to its side of the DMZ the day after the Jan. 6 nuclear test, when it also announced it would resume cross-border propaganda broadcasts, which have in the past brought strong recriminations from North Korea. The tours have gradually resumed. A popular observatory where people can catch a glimpse into the North via binoculars was set to reopen Tuesday.
Along with restarting the broadcasts, South Korean President Park Geun-hye responded to the North's nuclear test and launch by shutting down a joint industrial park in Kaesong, a city just north of the DMZ, and telling the South Korean National Assembly that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un doesn't change his ways his regime will surely collapse -- predictably outraging the North.
North Korea reacted by putting the industrial park under military control, cutting off emergency hotlines with Seoul and -- through its state-run media -- accusing Park of being a traitor and a “senile granny.”
“I don't even want to utter her name,” Nam said. “I'm just a soldier so I don't know how the situation has changed. But as the Kaesong industrial zone has been totally closed by South Korea, our people and army are getting more enraged.”
Nam said the broadcasts cannot be heard in Panmunjom during the day, which he suggested was because the South doesn't want them to be heard by South Korean tourists.
“But when it's quiet, late at night, you can hear them here,” he said.
North Korea says it is developing nuclear weapons for self-defense and has the sovereign right to launch satellites as part of a peaceful space program. But both are generally seen as violating longstanding United Nations resolutions. The U.N. Security Council is still discussing its response, but the United States, Japan and South Korea have already announced new sanctions on the already-heavily sanctioned North.
The standoff is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Keeping its own military profile high, the United States flew four stealth F-22 fighter jets over South Korea and reaffirmed it maintains an “ironclad commitment” to the defense of its ally after the rocket launch. Last month, it sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber over South Korea following the North's nuclear test.
South Korea and the United States are expected to hold large-scale war games next month.
South Korea's defense minister has said about 15,000 U.S. troops will take part in the annual exercises, double the number Washington normally sends. The two countries have also begun preparatory talks to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in South Korea.
That is strongly opposed by neighboring powers China and Russia, since the radar would allow Washington to reach well into their territory as well.
Nam, the North Korean officer, said he remains focused on his duties. But he added that, now that North Korea says it has an H-bomb -- a claim disputed by some outside experts -- the U.S. might be better advised to focus on negotiating a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War.
“On the international stage, the U.S. talks about peace,” he said. “But it should not interfere in the affairs of other countries.” (AP)
