Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

A grimace and a shrug, but no fear of US strike

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PYONGYANG: Residents thronged the wide boulevards of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang on Wednesday, some practising for a parade to be held at the weekend, with no visible signs of the tensions engulfing the region over the isolated state’s weapons programmes.


A US aircraft carrier group is headed to Korean waters amid concerns that Pyongyang may conduct a nuclear or long-rage missile test and threats from US President Donald Trump of unilateral action “to solve the problem”.


It was a sunny, spring morning in Pyongyang and many people were on the streets around the city’s biggest sights, the Arch of Triumph and Kim Il Sung Square. Some of them spoke to journalists, who were escorted by North Korean officials.


“I am a normal citizen, so I don’t concentrate on politics too much,” said a woman who gave her name as Ri Hyon-Sim. “But one thing is very very clear, so long as we are with our supreme leader Marshall Kim Jong-Un we are not afraid of anything.”


North Korea has invited foreign media to cover celebrations this week of the 105th birth anniversary of founding president Kim Il-Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-Un. However, journalists’ movements are closely managed and conversations with the people are monitored.


As Ri spoke, women in flowing pink, red and yellow dresses walked by after dance rehearsals for a performance likely on Saturday when a parade is expected to celebrate Kim Il-Sung’s birthday. North Korea also often marks important anniversaries with tests of its nuclear or missile capabilities.


Hyon Un-Mi, a tour guide at the Arch of Triumph, built to commemorate Korean resistance to Japanese occupation in the early 20th century, said she was following events on television and in newspapers.


She called the United States an imperialist power that wanted to occupy her country.


“Our people don’t like these imperialists... In recent days they want to occupy our country again and again,” she said. “The president of the US...,” Hyon said, tailing off with a shrug and a grimace. — Reuters


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