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N.Korean Soldier Spoils Gingrich Border Tour

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Reuters

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Mar 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/25/97

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<A HREF='http://www.clari.net/'>ClariNet</A> <CLARI-ITEM TYPE>story</CLARI-ITEM> <CLARI-ITEM SLUGWORD>NEWS-GINGRICH</CLARI-ITEM> from <CLARI-ITEM FROM>Reuters</CLARI-ITEM> 
<H1><CLARI-ITEM HEADLINE>N.Korean Soldier Spoils Gingrich Border Tour</CLARI-ITEM></H1>
<CLARI-ITEM COPYRIGHT>Copyright 1997 by Reuters</CLARI-ITEM> / <CLARI-ITEM DATE>Tue, 25 Mar 1997 6:51:28 PST</CLARI-ITEM>
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<CLARI-ITEM STORY>
 SEOUL(Reuter) - A security scare forced House Speaker Newt
Gingrich to change plans during a tour of the heavily fortified
border dividing North and South Korea Tuesday.
 Gingrich, heading a 12-member congressional delegation to
South Korea, had been scheduled to stop for a briefing at the
Bridge of No Return within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
 But about 15 minutes before he was due to arrive at the
historic site, one of the last relics of the Cold War, a North
Korean soldier carrying an AK-47 rifle was spotted in the area.
 Under the terms of the armistice that ended the 1950-53
Korean War and established the DMZ, only side arms are allowed
inside the so-called Joint Security Area.
 ``Bringing long arms is prohibited. It is unauthorized to be
there and it presents an unusual risk,'' U.S. military spokesman
Jim Coles told reporters.
 Gingrich, dressed in a camouflage overcoat, drove by the
bridge in a van but did not stop for the scheduled briefing.
 The Bridge of No Return spans the border with two
observations posts on either end. Some 20 South Korean and U.S.
soldiers guarded the southern post Tuesday.
 Earlier, Gingrich peered through binoculars at an
observation point overlooking a North Korean village built as a
model settlement in a propaganda war with the South.
 ``This is a great opportunity for us to reinforce, for
anyone who has any doubts at all, that we are committed to
defend Korea,'' he told reporters.
 The United States helps guard the border with 37,000 troops.
 Gingrich described the DMZ as a great success story, adding:
``For 44 years it's worked and I hope it works until
unification.''
 Last April, North Korea sparked a security alert by
repeatedly sending dozens of troops carrying heavy weapons into
the Joint Security Area.
 This followed an announcement by Pyongyang that it would no
longer abide by the terms of the armistice.
 Gingrich and his team arrived Monday for a three-day visit,
the first stop of an Asian tour that will also take them to
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.
 In South Korea, they discussed issues ranging from proposed
peace talks with North Korea to trade in meetings with senior
officials, including President Kim Young-sam.
 Representative Jay Kim of California, the first ethnic
Korean elected to Congress, told reporters a bill he proposed to
allow visa-free travel for South Koreans to the United States
would pass sometime this year.
 Seoul has been pressing hard for easier travel to smooth
trade and tourism.
 Jay Kim also said congress would put pressure on Taiwan to
reverse its controversial plans to ship low-grade nuclear waste
to North Korea.
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