North Korea wants Illuminated Church Crosses in South taken down

It has been reported that North Korea have requested that all tall illuminated church crosses that light up the sky in South Korea and visible across the border to be taken down.

In return North Korea is willing to discuss ways in which to cover up huge political carvings on the cliffs facing the South, which glorify its Socialist system, and show past and present leaders.

The negotiations and talks have come about as a result of attempts to reduce tensions at one of the world’s most heavily fortified boundaries. The actual agreements were reached in June of this year, but have since broken down, and have not fully re-opened as of yet.

The Defence Ministry official stated that "Religious signs, we agreed they would be gone too.” On top of this, both sides have agreed to remove political signposts and loudspeakers that project propaganda across the borders to each other.

North Korea is a state which controls all components of life including religion, and so may see the crosses as a threat to their control. "They can see them really well from over there, because some of them were put where they are to make sure they can be seen clearly, for example during Christmas," an official said.

In July, South Korean patrol boats fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that had crossed a disputed sea border. This led to North Korea boycotting any further military talks as they expressed their anger over the incident.

Due to the breakdown of talks the neon crosses across the skies of South Korea remain. A planning official in Paju, a town south of the demilitarised zone said it had yet to receive any orders from Seoul to take down the crosses.

A concerned signpost maker said that he had been receiving many phone calls from anxious church pastors in the country. He said, "The crosses have been left unplugged if they're where they can be seen from the North,"