At least it is not a white flag flying over South Korean guard posts (sorry I couldn’t resist 😉 ):
These photos provided by the defense ministry show yellow flags at guard posts on the South and North Korean sides of the border. (Yonhap)
South and North Korea raised yellow flags at 11 guard posts each along their heavily fortified border on Sunday in a first step toward dismantling the posts under a military agreement reached as part of September’s summit.
The two sides hoisted the 4-meter by 3-meter flag at each of the 22 guard posts as a mark to indicate that the posts are to be dismantled, according to defense ministry officials.
“This is aimed at enabling each side to observe the progress in dismantlement work so that it can be carried out in a transparent manner,” a ministry official said.
The two sides reached the agreement to pull back the guard posts in the Demilitarized Zone “on a trial basis” as part of the third inter-Korean summit held in September. It’s a key part of the efforts to turn the buffer zone into a “peace zone.” [Yonhap]
For anyone that was wondering, it is illegal to burn a South Korean flag and can get you sentenced up to 5 years in jail:
Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted a South Korean man on charges of burning the national flag during a rally commemorating the first anniversary of the deadly ferry disaster.
The 23-year-old, only identified by his surname Kim, is accused of burning the flag during the April 18 rally in downtown Seoul and damaging a police vehicle, the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said.
“I was in a rage after witnessing the government authorities illegally taking the bereaved families to police stations instead of focusing on the investigation into the cause of the accident,” he told the prosecutors.
In South Korea, flag burning is an offense that is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 7 million won (US$6,100).
Kim is also accused of causing 6.9 million won (US$6,000) in damage to a police vehicle along with other protesters and obstructing traffic in central Seoul.
Thousands of demonstrators staged rallies at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall in April and May to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the Sewol ferry that claimed 304 lives. [Yonhap]
For those that did not know desecrating the Korean flag can lead to criminal charges:
Seoul Metropolitan Police filed on May 31 for an arrest warrant against a 24-year old Korean man, identified only by his surname Kim, for flag desecration. According to the Hankyoreh, Kim “burned a piece of paper showing an image of the South Korean flag while facing off with police who had erected a vehicle barricade at a memorial demonstration for the first anniversary of the Sewol ferry sinking.” [Marmot’s Hole]
You can read a lot more about the criminal charges at the link, but ultimately the Seoul District Court decided to reject the arrest warrant for the protester because the man was emotionally not himself at the time. It is still interesting though that the Korean authorities do have the option to pursue such charges and this may be why I have never seen any Koreans before burning the Taeguki.
