- Kijong-dong
Infobox Korean name|context=north
|caption=The Kijŏng-dong flagpole, flying the DPRK flag.
hangul=기정동
hanja=unknown
rr=Gijeongdong
mr=Kijŏng tongKijŏng-dong (sometimes romanized as Gijeong-dong) is a village in
Panmun -gun,North Korea . It is also called Propaganda village (선전마을) on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). ["Korean Demilitarized Zone - Globalsecurity.org" http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/dmz.htm] [ko icon cite web|url=http://www.tourdmz.com/02dmz/p3-2.php|title=북한의 기정동 선전마을|work=TourDMZ.com|accessdate=2006-10-09] By contrast, in the north it is known as Peace Village (평화촌). ["Kijungdong, North Korea's Propaganda Village"November 12 ,2006 http://www.panmunjomtour.com/english/jsa/jsa_16.htm] It is situated 1.8 kilometers from the South Korean village ofTaeseong-dong , the only inhabited village in the southern side of the Korean DMZ.A guidebook published in the north states: "In this village located in the Demilitarized Zone is the Panmun Cooperative Farm embracing over 200 households. The village has a kindergarten, creche [day care] , senior middle school and a people's hospital." ["A Sightseeng Guide to Korea" by Pang hwon Ju & Hwang Bong Hyok, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, DPRK. 1991] At various times field workers and building workers are seen in Kijŏng-dong. However, many in the south believe that Kijŏng-dong was built within the DMZ purely for the purpose of propaganda. The village reportedly has no residents except soldiers. At night lights come on in some of the buildings, but they turn on in the same buildings every night at the same time.
The world's highest flag tower ["Korea's DMZ: Scariest place on Earth"
February 20 ,2002 http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/02/19/koreas.dmz/] stands at the entrance of Kijŏng-dong (160 meters tall) flying a North Korean flag. This tower was not originally as tall as it is now, but when the flag pole inTaeseong-dong was extended, thus making it taller than the Kijŏng-dong pole, the North again quickly extended their pole in what some have called the “flagpole war” ( _ko. 깃대 전쟁). [ko icon cite web|url=http://economy.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_blogview.asp?at_code=370439|title=개성에 '구멍탄' 5만장 배달했습니다|work=economy.ohmynews.com|accessdate=2006-12-06]Gallery
ee also
*
Potemkin Village References
External links
* [http://www.gluckman.com/NKBorder.html "On the Border" by Ron Gluckman]
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