“Kids graduate in shadow of tense inter-Korean border - YAHOO!” plus 1 more |
| Kids graduate in shadow of tense inter-Korean border - YAHOO! Posted: DEMILITARISED ZONE (AFP) – South Korean soldiers mounted tight security at an elementary school graduation Wednesday as cheerful children snapped pictures of each other near the world's last Cold War frontier. The ceremony at Daeseongdong village, inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) which divides North and South Korea, was the first since cross-border tensions began rising sharply last year. More than 20 South Korean soldiers, some of them armed with pistols and walkie-talkies, maintained tight security inside and outside the village. The ceremony was closely monitored by several soldiers standing atop a building in front of a giant South Korean national flag in the village centre. Daeseongdong ("Freedom Village") is one of only two villages inside the DMZ, which extends two kilometres (1.25 miles) each side of the actual borderline. Despite its name, its approaches are heavily fortified with barbed wire, minefields and tank traps. The Seoul government encourages villagers to stay with financial support and a tax-free income from their rice and ginseng farms. But life in the village is not easy as villagers face restrictions such as a midnight curfew following an evening roll call. North Korea has its own showcase village also inside the zone, but on the other side, which flies the communist state's emblem on what is claimed as the world's tallest supported flagpole. About 200 villagers live in Daeseongdong but tourist visits have been restricted since last spring, when Seoul accused Pyongyang of sinking one of its warships with the loss of 46 lives. The North denies the charge. Last November, bullet-proof windows were installed at an observatory pavilion in the village in a bid to restart tours. The tour plan was shelved, apparently due to the North's shelling of a South Korean island near the disputed Yellow Sea border which killed four people including civilians that month. Military officials said the village was allowed this year to accept tourists but gave no details. "I'm glad, but on the other hand, sad that I have to leave this village," Kim Da-Hey, 12, said after the ceremony. Kim, wearing traditional clothes, was one of the sixth-graders who must leave to continue their studies outside the village, which has no senior school. Some 30 elementary school students sang for and with the graduates, watched by 40 Korean and US soldiers who gave them a big round of applause and handed out souvenirs of cups, stationery and gift vouchers. "I will be back in about 15 years to meet my friends and teachers," Kim Yong-June, 12, another graduate, told AFP. "The memories here will always be with me even after I leave the village." After the ceremony, students and families were escorted to a school bus for a guided tour through the minefields. In contrast to the cheerful and noisy mood inside the village, the road outside was quiet -- reflecting high cross-border tensions. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| End of tax credit hurts kids, helps businesses - Detroit News Posted: [fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content] That's because a family getting the average $400 tax refund check generated by the EITC usually spends it right now, in Michigan, in small businesses like auto repair shops, appliance stores, clothing stores and for utility bills. Some Republican lawmakers ... |
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