<BODY><P> Your friend's, and others', suspicions probably stem from TV and print media reports that a probably unrelated fire had been creeping south across the DMZ a few days before the wind-whipped blaze that so ravaged Naksan-sa. The reports I read speculated that the North had tried to burn some forestland to improve their view south across the DMZ, and that fire spread out of control and headed south.<BR> While the origins of that fire obviously cannot be proven, the existence of the line-crossing flames (and of dozens of other forest fires across both North and South Korea, according to satellite photos aired on KBS's 9 p.m. news last night) does not seem to be in doubt. <BR>
The same KBS report (part of extended, 30-minute coverage on each of the last two nights) included a segment on the likelihood that a cigarette tossed from a passing car may well have sparked the Yangyang fire which spread to Naksan-sa. It also noted that the Naksan-sa fire even melted some of the temple's bronze bells.</P>
<P>Ken Kaliher<BR>Seoul/Pyongt'aek<BR><BR>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <BR>Back-up E-mail: kenkaliher@hotmail.com <BR>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <BR>"We're graduating them from basic [training] even if they fail. It wasn't like that two years ago." <BR>-- Fort Benning U.S. Army drill instructor, quoted in March 15, 2005, New York Daily News </P>
<P></P><B>----- Original Message -----</B>
<P></P><B>From</B>: "Lauren W. Deutsch" <lwdeutsch@earthlink.net>
<P></P><B>Date</B>: Thursday, April 7, 2005 4:13 am
<P></P><B>Subject</B>: Re: [KS] Naksan Temple
<P></P>
<P></P>> In an interesting exchange about this, a Korean friend said "they" <BR>> think it was North Koreans ... is this type of maliciousness ... <BR>> or the rumour of such ... regular hearsay, or is the incident more <BR>> a factor of the lack of awareness that smoking and careless <BR>> campfire building can cause forest fires? <BR>> -----Original Message----- <BR>> From: Brother Anthony <ansonjae@ccs.sogang.ac.kr> <BR>> Sent: Apr 5, 2005 6:19 PM <BR>> To: Korean Studies Discussion List <Koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws> <BR>> Subject: [KS] Naksan Temple <BR>> <BR>> Members of this list might like to spare a moment to grieve for the almost total destruction of Naksan <BR>> Temple yesterday in one of the many forest fires that are always a major feature of each year's <BR>> Tree-Planting Day. Months of drought and a gale-force wind, plus the absence of any kind of fire-breaks <BR>
> between forest and temple or between sections of forest helped of course. Two of the 20 or so halls are <BR>> reported to have survived. <BR>> <BR>> Brother Anthony <BR>> Sogang University, Seoul <BR>> http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony <BR>> <BR>> Lauren W. Deutsch <BR>> 835 S. Lucerne Blvd., #103 <BR>> Los Angeles CA 90005 <BR>> Phone: 323 930-2587 <BR>> e mail: lwdeutsch@earthlink.net <BR></BODY>