Despite tension, NKorea lets in tourists, athletes
Source: AP-Excite
By ERIC TALMADGE
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Despite North Korea's warnings that the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula is so high it cannot guarantee the safety of foreign residents, it literally trotted out athletes from around the world on Sunday for a marathon through the streets of its capital - suggesting its concerns of an imminent military crisis might not be as dire as its official pronouncements proclaim.
As it prepares to celebrate its most important holiday of the year, the birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung on Monday, the mixed message - threats of a "thermonuclear war" while showcasing foreign athletes and even encouraging tourism - was particularly striking on Sunday.
Pyongyang crowds lined the streets to watch athletes from 16 nations compete in the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon in the morning and then filled a performance hall for a gala concert featuring ethnic Korean performers brought in from China, Russia and Japan as part of a slew of a events culminating in Kim's birthday - called the "Day of the Sun."
After racing through the capital, the foreign athletes and hundreds of North Korean runners were cheered into Kim Il Sung Stadium by tens of thousands of North Korean spectators. North Korea's official media said the marathon was larger than previous years and that enthusiasm was "high among local marathoners and their coaches as never before."
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South Korean members of the Abductees Family Association with their national flags hold an anti-North Korea rally in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, April 14, 2013. As the world watches to see what North Korea's next move will be in a high-stakes game of brinksmanship with the United States, residents of its capital aren't hunkering down in bunkers and preparing for the worst. Instead, they are out on the streets en masse getting ready for the birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung - the biggest holiday of the year. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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