Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
The
Battle of Nakdong River
Historical re-enactments, role-play that
re-creates past events, are a global phenomenon, evoking everything from the
battles of Roman and Napoleonic times to those of World War I, World War II and
Vietnam.
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Battlefield
Most re-enactments are firmly
rooted in the past. Yet the September 2010 re-enactment by the South of the
Nakdong River battle, which took place in the first year of the 1950-53 Korean
War, comes at a time when tensions are still high between the two
Koreas.
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Combat
Tensions between the North and South
have escalated since the March 26, 2010, sinking of the Cheonan, a South
Korean warship. Forty-six sailors died in the attack
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Charge
A subsequent investigation by South
Korea, the U.S. and other countries concluded that the Cheonan was hit by
a North Korean torpedo
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Attack
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak
vowed to take "stern action" against the North, while the White House described
the incident as "an act of aggression" that challenged "international peace and
security."
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Dispute
Pyongyang denied involvement in the
attack, dismissed the findings as a fabrication and retorted that it would react
with tough measures, including "all-out war," if punished — an aggressive
response common in its disputes.
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Explosion
A four-day U.S.–South Korea naval
exercise in the Yellow Sea that was scheduled to start on Sept. 4, 2010, but was
delayed, led to North Korean accusations that the U.S. and South Korea were
driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of explosion.
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
End
Game
Sixty years after the Korean War, an uneasy peace
remains
Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP
/ Getty Images
Flags
At Waegwan, in Chilgok County, South
Korea, the long and bitter conflict between the North and South is played out on
the re-enactment battlefields
