Tag: trees

South Korea’s oldest jujube tree, shown in this photo provided by Boeun County of North Chungcheong Province, has found a new home in the county on June 15, 2016. The county purchased the tree from Namyangju, a city just north of Seoul, hoping to reclaim the county’s fame as the producer of top quality jujubes that in the past were served to kings. The county has lost most of its aged jujube trees to plant diseases. (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un tours a tree nursery in Pyongyang with some officals in this combined image released on May 15, 2016, by the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. It marks Kim’s second public outing since the closing of the party’s congress on Monday. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap).

Volunteers plant trees in the demilitarized zone in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province on Friday. /Newsis

The headline of this article is how 14 North Korean airman died during the unsuccessful 2009 rocket launch:

North Korea revealed Tuesday it lost 14 airmen while launching a long-range rocket in 2009, in a report on an inspection by the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, of a related military unit Monday.

Kim looked around a monument to honor the “stalwart fighters, who displayed the suicidal-attack spirit” at Unit 447 of the Air and Anti-Air Force, reported the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

The monument commemorates the “heroic feats performed by the 14 fighter pilots in the operation to ensure the successful launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong-2,” said the KCNA. It did not specify how they died.

In April 2009, Kim observed the launch of the rocket, which Pyongyang claims was aimed at sending a satellite into orbit, along with his father and then-leader Kim Jong-il. The launch was unsuccessful.

Kim praised Unit 447 as the “high pride” of the country.  [Korea Herald]

I can only guess how this many people died during a rocket launch.  Did the launch go off unexpectedly early and workers were still near the pad?  Who knows.  However what I found of the most interest is how Kim Jong-un is emphasizing tree planting:

He said the unit also needs to play a role in leading in his campaign for forest restoration, according to the KCNA.

He planted ginkgo and other types of trees himself during his so-called field guidance at the unit on Monday, which the KCNA called a significant tree-planting day.

This is actually something I would not mind the international community helping the North Koreans with.  Sending tree huggers international workers to help plant trees in North Korea would have huge environmental payoffs and over time would be one less thing the South Korean government would have to worry about when unification comes.  This seems like better engagement with North Korea than giving free food to their military or free money to the regime to buy luxury items.