S Korea to allow new Christmas tree tower near border with North
South Korea said it would allow a Christian group to construct a new Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea - a move certain to infuriate Pyongyang.
An existing tower was dismantled by the military earlier this year, triggering protests from church groups and anti-Pyongyang activists who accused the authorities of caving in to pressure from the North.
The old tower was 20 metres high and, in past years, church groups had decorated it with lights - topped with a giant cross - during the Christmas season.
The atheist North viewed the light show as a provocative display of psychological warfare, and threatened to shell the tower unless it was removed.
When the South Korean military took it down in August, they said it was because the 43-year-old structure was unstable and dangerous.
But following vocal protests, the defence ministry said yesterday that the military had approved a request by the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) to set up a new tree tower. "We accepted the request ... to guarantee free religious activities," ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said.