Kim Jong-un lays a wreath at Mao Anying’s tomb before commemorating the 70th anniversary of the armistice
26.07.2023
The Korean Peninsula ushered in the 70th anniversary of the Armistice, and China sent a high-level delegation to attend the commemorative activities. Prior to this, Kim Jong Un personally went to the Volunteer Army Martyrs Cemetery to lay flowers.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website)On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War ArmisticeComrade Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the DPRK, went to Hoicang to visit the Cemetery of the Chinese People’s Volunteers and laid a wreath at the Cemetery of the Martyrs of Mao Anying, the eldest son of Mao Zedong.
When Kim Jong-un arrived at the martyrs’ cemetery on Wednesday, people played the North Korean Chinese song, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The report praised the Chinese Volunteers for “sacrificing their precious lives for the just war of the Korean people.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on Wednesday, “Expressing high respect to the martyrs of the Volunteer Army not only shows that the North Korean party, government and people cherish the great achievements of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, but also reflects the tradition of China and North Korea in the new historical period.” Friendly inheritance and development.”
This Thursday (July 27), North Korea will hold a commemorative ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the signing of the armistice agreement. China will send a delegation led by Politburo member Li Hongzhong to participate, and the Russian Defense Minister will also attend.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, the U.S.-led United Nations forces repelled the Korean People’s Army led by Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and the Pyongyang army retreated all the way, approaching the border with China. In October 1950, Mao Zedong ordered volunteers to join the war, just a year after China’s civil war ended.
Kim Jong-un was wearing a black suit and a wreath with a red ribbon reading: “The martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers are immortal!” he said, according to a photo released by the KCNA news agency. The “Holy Struggle” will “be carried forward from generation to generation”.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu arrives in Pyongyang
North Korea hopes to keep warm with China, Russia
Analysts believe the visit is part of Kim’s political agenda as he seeks to strengthen military cooperation with Moscow and Beijing.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at North Korea University in South Korea, said, “The commemoration of Mao Anying is a symbolic act, reflecting the fighting alliance formed by blood between China and North Korea.” He said that grave-sweeping is also a tradition, which has been done for three generations since Kim Il-sung.
However, the Chinese delegation’s participation in the armistice commemoration is the first time since the end of the epidemic, which indicates that border controls will be loosened.
After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the North Korean government issued a set of extremely strict closure measures in early 2020, and even overseas North Koreans were not allowed to enter the country.
Last year, Pyongyang had just resumed part of its trade with China, and this year allowed Chinese ambassador Wang Yajun to take up his new post. Wang is believed to be the first senior diplomat to take up a post in Pyongyang after North Korea was locked down by the coronavirus.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
Crossing the 38th Parallel under the Cold War
On June 25, 1950, the Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel and marched southward, controlling most of the Korean peninsula in just a few days, and this surprise attack also declared the official start of the war. The Korean War lasted 37 months and is estimated to have killed nearly 4.5 million people.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
before the war
Korea has been a Japanese colony since 1910. After the end of World War II in 1945, the Korean peninsula fell into a state of division: the north of the 38th parallel was controlled by the Soviet Union, and the south of the 38th parallel was controlled by the United States. In August 1948, the Republic of Korea declared its independence. On September 9 of the same year, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the leadership of Kim Il Sung was established.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
United Nations intervention
After North Korea crossed the 38th parallel, the United Nations sent troops to support South Korea at the urgent request of the United States. The force is composed of 20 countries, with a total of 40,000 people, including 36,000 US troops. UN forces quickly reversed the previous unfavorable situation and soon took almost the entire peninsula.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
“Incheon Landing”
On September 15, 1950, coalition forces under the command of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur successfully landed near the southwestern port city of Incheon, thereby cutting off the supply hub to the north. Coalition forces recaptured Seoul shortly after and took control of Pyongyang by mid-October. At this time, the war seemed to be coming to an end, but China’s subsequent dispatch of troops changed the situation again.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
Mao Zedong sent troops to North Korea
China sent troops in mid-October 1950, and began to enter North Korea with only a small amount of support. At the end of October, Mao Zedong began to send a large-scale “Volunteer Army to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea” to join the war. On December 5 of the same year, the Chinese and North Korean troops recaptured Pyongyang, the only capital of a communist country ever occupied by Western troops during the Cold War.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
MacArthur fell out of favor
In January 1951, a combined force of China (400,000) and North Korea (100,000) launched a massive offensive that further crushed the coalition forces. After that, MacArthur called on US President Truman to use nuclear weapons against China, and he himself was transferred in April 1951. His successor was Matthew B. Ridgway.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
protracted battle
In the middle of 1951, the north and south of the Korean peninsula basically returned to the pre-war situation. After that, the north and the south fell into two years of fierce positional warfare. Although peace negotiations had begun in July 1951, the war continued until the summer of 1953.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
war between two systems
The Korean War is considered the first war to represent a confrontation between the East and West systems. Most of the troops supporting South Korea come from the capitalist camp of the United States, while those supporting North Korea come from the socialist camp of China and the Soviet Union.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
devastated north korea
Since the start of the war, indiscriminate bombing has continued in the Korean War. In the past three years, the United Nations has conducted more than 1 million aerial attacks on the north, using about 450,000 tons of bombs, including napalm. This devastated North Korea, with almost all major cities razed to the ground.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
Casualties
By the time coalition forces withdrew from South Korea in 1953, the war death toll was in the millions. There are different accounts of the number of soldiers killed in action. Analysis estimates that about 500,000 North Korean soldiers, 400,000 Chinese soldiers, and 40,000 United Nations soldiers died in the war—more than 90% of them were American soldiers.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
small but critical turning point
As early as mid-April to early May 1953, when the war was still going on, there were prisoner exchanges between the warring parties. The South handed over 75,000 Koreans and 6,700 Chinese; the North released 13,500 people, including 8,300 South Korean soldiers and more than 3,700 American soldiers.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
ceasefire but no peace
Nearly two years after armistice negotiations began in July 1951, the warring parties finally signed the Panmunjom Agreement: The 38th parallel north latitude between the two Koreas was established, which also consolidated the division of the Korean peninsula. Despite the ceasefire, the North and the South have not signed a peace agreement, which means that the two countries are still at war from the perspective of international law.
The Korean War Seventy Years Ago
No man’s land between North and South Korea
Even today, the 250-kilometer-long and 4-kilometer-wide demilitarized zone along the 38th Parallel is still strictly guarded by soldiers. North and South Korean soldiers stationed on both sides of the 38th Parallel are at a standoff.
(AFP, etc.)
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2023-07-27 11:57:22
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