Current location:sport >>
Chinese tourist tower overlooking North Korea could be demolished — Radio Free Asia
sport418People have gathered around
IntroductionA gigantic steel tower in China – part of a tourist attraction with views into the North Korean city ...
A gigantic steel tower in China – part of a tourist attraction with views into the North Korean city of Hyesan – that leans almost over the Yalu River between the two nations could be demolished after several tense interactions between Chinese tourists and North Koreans below, residents in both countries told Radio Free Asia.
The 50-meter-tall, 70-meter-long (164-foot-tall, 230-foot-long) tower is part of the Changbai Millennium Cliff City built in 2021 in the town of Malugou in the Changbai Korean Autonomous County in China’s northeastern province of Jilin.
The tower’s glass-floor bridge that looks over the river and into Hyesan is the tourist complex’ main attraction. Using binoculars, visitors can peer into North Korea to catch a glimpse of life in one of the world’s most isolated countries.
The complex also has a ferris wheel and a catapulting swing ride that launches visitors towards the border.
Chinese tourism to North Korea has been shut down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the tower was a popular attraction that offered glimpses of North Korea for just 7 yuan (US$1).
‘Illegal structure’
But the tower ceased operations on March 15, a resident of Chiangbai, who requested anonymity for personal safety, told RFA Korean. He said authorities shut it down for safety reasons and he does not know when it will operate again.
“North Korean authorities considered the steel tower an illegal structure that violates the border management agreement and have insisted on its demolition,” the resident said.
The tower is popular among the tourists who come to China to visit Mt. Paektu, he said.
The peak, which straddles the border between China and North Korea, is the tallest mountain on the Korean peninsula and is considered the setting of myths about the origin of the Korean people.
The tower was built by a wealthy businessman from Yanji city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture with his own money, he said.
“If you climb up the steel tower, which is designed to be climbed on foot, you can observe living conditions in Hyesan City, Ryanggang Province, North Korea, as vividly as if you were seeing it right before your eyes.”
Throwing rocks and bottles
A contributing factor behind its closure appears to be a series of hostile exchanges between people on the tower and those below, another Changbai resident said.
“In September last year, three North Korean border guards aimed their automatic rifles at tourists on the steel tower,” he said.
In another incident, a North Korean college student threw rocks in the direction of the tower when tourists were taking pictures of him – who then responded by throwing water bottles and banana peels at the student, an official from a judicial agency in North Korea’s Ryanggang province said.
The North Korean side “issued a warning to Chinese public security agencies that if this repeatedly occurs, a conflict between the two countries could develop later,” he said.
A sign was installed on the tower that told visitors not to shout or throw objects at any North Koreans they could see.
And at one point, officials from both sides met and blamed each other, so reached no conclusion, the second Changbai resident said.
Because of the tower, people on the ground feel almost like zoo animals, the North Korean official said.
“Since our living conditions are so poor in North Korea, they are taking pictures from the steel tower as if they are observing a group of uncivilized animals,” he said.
The North Korean side argues that the tower violates an agreement signed in 2009 that says neither North Korea nor China can install propaganda materials that slander each other or threaten the regime on the border, nor can they place facilities that insult or hate the other side on the border, he said.
They are asking the Chinese side to demolish the tower completely, he said.
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“International Image news portal”。http://capeverde.popular-vines.com/content-88d199824.html
Related articles
Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
sportA cruise worker on board an Italian ship 'murdered her newborn son' as horrified co-workers raised t ...
【sport】
Read moreLululemon partners with Team Canada after Nike was called out for Team USA kits ahead of Paris 2024
sportLululemon has partnered with Team Canada to come up with the country's Olympics kit, making sure sta ...
【sport】
Read moreBiden is seeking higher tariffs on Chinese steel as he courts union voters
sportSCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling for a tripling of tariffs on steel from China to ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Jon Wysocki dead at 53: Staind drummer passes away
- Paris 2024: Roster of more than 10,000 Olympians is still forming, but trials await for thousands
- Mookie Betts ties career high with 5 hits as Dodgers beat Nationals 6
- Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Sydney clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
- Messi in and Dybala out in Argentina squad for pre
- Virginia lawmakers set to take up Youngkin's proposed amendments, vetoes in reconvened session
Latest articles
Election 2024: Biden and Trump bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates
Death toll from 4 days of rains rises to 63 in Pakistan with more rain on the forecast
Amed Rosario's RBI infield single in the 13th inning lifts the Rays to a 7
The Taliban suspend two TV stations in Afghanistan for neglecting Islamic and national values
Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's new romance movie It Ends With Us now delayed until early August
LINKS
- Alabama lawmakers approve stiffer penalties for falsely reporting crime
- Rules fights and insults slow down South Carolina House on next
- Netflix drops major actor from Wednesday season 2 as the cast reunite in behind
- Rules fights and insults slow down South Carolina House on next
- Gerard Butler transforms back into the rugged hero as Hampshire is turned into apocalypse
- Haiti violence: Transitional council embraces new changes following turmoil
- Beyond Meat urges investors to look past bumpy Q1, says new US burger could reignite sales
- Vatican and Rome enter final dash to 2025 Jubilee with papal bull and around
- Brit tourist, 76, drowns while swimming in the sea during day trip to Greek island with his wife
- China's Xi receives ceremonial welcome in Hungary ahead of talks with Orbán