Canadian vets catch a glimpse of old North Korean enemy during border visit

PANMUNJOM, South Korea – Canadian veterans caught a glimpse of their old enemy today in a visit to the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula.

Roughly three dozen ex-soldiers stared at North Korean troops in the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom and across the four-kilometre line during stops to two major observation posts, both of which overlooked old battlefields.

The tour comes amid heightened tensions and threats from the reclusive regime in Pyongyang to launch attacks against South Korean and U.S. forces.

China’s top general warned on Monday that a fourth North Korean nuclear weapons test is a possibility in the near future, emphasizing the need for a new round of diplomacy.

Doug Finney, an artillery signaller during the 1950-53 war, says it amazes him that North Korea can’t see past the line and recognize how good people in the south have it by comparison.

Harry Marshall, who also served in the artillery, says he would never have thought when the ceasefire took effect in 1953 that the conflict would still be carrying on 60 years later.