---
title: 'FBIS Daily Report: Nodong Sinmun commentary ''Tears of the Instigator'' on the 1976 Panmunjom axe incident'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pyongyang-panmunjom-axe-anniversary-fbis-1986/
description: 'Page D 1 of the U.S. FBIS Daily Report (Asia & Pacific, 21 August 1986): Pyongyang Domestic Service reads a Nodong Sinmun commentary of 21 August 1986…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

**Content note:** Contains North Korean state commentary describing U.S. personnel as 'bestial aggressors' and 'cannibals' and recasting the 1976 killing of two U.S. officers as a U.S. provocation. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![FBIS Daily Report: Nodong Sinmun commentary 'Tears of the Instigator' on the 1976 Panmunjom axe incident](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pyongyang-panmunjom-axe-anniversary-fbis-1986.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pyongyang-panmunjom-axe-anniversary-fbis-1986.jpg)

# FBIS Daily Report: Nodong Sinmun commentary 'Tears of the Instigator' on the 1976 Panmunjom axe incident

Page D 1 of the U.S. FBIS Daily Report (Asia & Pacific, 21 August 1986): Pyongyang Domestic Service reads a Nodong Sinmun commentary of 21 August 1986 responding to the U.S. command's 18 August memorial ceremony for the two American officers killed at Panmunjom on 18 August 1976. It reverses the account, calling the incident 'a provocation perpetrated by the U.S. imperialists themselves', refers to 'someone's atrocity with axes', and describes the U.S. side as 'bestial aggressors' and 'cannibals'. The page does not mention that two U.S. officers died.

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
IV. 21 Aug 86 NORTH KOREA D 1
HONORING OF 1976 PANMUNJOM AXE VICTIMS CRITICIZED
SK210256 Pyongyang Domestic Service in Korean 2150 GMT 20 Aug 86
[NODONG SINMUN 21 August commentary: "Tears of the Instigator"]
[Text] On 18 August the headquarters of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in South Korea held a so-called memorial ceremony honoring victims -- in connection with the 10th anniversary of the Panmunjom incident -- at a base located in the Joint Security Area [JSA] at Panmunjom.
Remarks about recalling the nightmare were made at the ceremony, in which Livsey, commander of the aggressor forces, participated. The U.S. imperialists loudly talked about someone's atrocity with axes at Panmunjom and about the so-called victims. Do they really have any sense of honor in making such remarks?
As is known, the Panmunjom incident was a provocation perpetrated by the U.S. imperialists themselves. At the time, the U.S. imperialists abruptly mobilized hooligans to launch a tree-cutting operation, saying the tree in the JSA at Panmunjom was in the way. As for the tree, it had stood at the same place for more than 20 years and had not hindered any guards. Furthermore, the tree in question was planted and cared for by us under our management.
When we opposed their unjust act, the U.S. imperialists conducted a mass assault on our side's guards and even perpetrated the atrocious act of injuring them by throwing axes. Not satisfied with this, the rascals brought in more than 30 hooligans as reinforcements, thus further aggravating the situation.
Indeed, this was an unthinkable crime that could have been committed only by arrogant and bestial aggressors. The U.S. president even commanded the tree-cutting operation while threatening us with armed forces. How arrogant and mean his act was! Of course, we had no choice but to take self-defense measures. This is the truth of the Panmunjom incident. Those who received a blow while boasting of the power of cannibals made absurd remarks about victims, kicked off a commotion, and shed tears. We must say that this is a preposterous and shameless act.
Aren't the U.S. imperialists ashamed of raving about victims, nightmares, and so forth before the people of the world? Their act, similar to a thief shouting "Stop thief," is designed to misuse the Panmunjom incident that occurred 10 years ago for counterpropaganda in connection with the strained situation on the Korean peninsula by shifting responsibility for the incident to us.
However, no one can conceal the truth[illegible punctuation] The U.S. imperialists and their stooge, the Chon Tu-hwan clique, are the ones who are frantically running amok with new war provocation maneuvers including troop reinforcements, adventurous war exercises, and armed provocations at Panmunjom and along the Military Demarcation Line, while rejecting our peace proposals to ease tension. They are the ones who are going to inflict even a nuclear calamity.
If the U.S. imperialists think they can mislead world opinion with a so-called memorial ceremony, they are wrong. The memorial ceremony only shows where they the provokers are heading.
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
The page is itself an FBIS English translation of a Korean-language Pyongyang Domestic Service reading of a Nodong Sinmun commentary (20-21 August 1986); no further translation is needed. The Korean original is not on the page.
```

Read against the page image, with OCR as an aid. Scan damage obscured single letters in several words ('honor', 'stood', 'satisfied', 'the', 'shed', 'forth', 'incident', 'frantically', 'provocation', 'If'), which were restored; the punctuation after 'truth' is unreadable. The wire code line reads 'CMT' on the scan for GMT. 'they the provokers' is as printed.

[← "Ihr Tod ist uns Verpflichtung": Pioneers at the border-troops memorial, Berlin](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gdr-pioneers-border-guard-memorial-berlin-1986/) [Nancy Reagan holds up a 'Just Say No' sign for press photographers →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/just-say-no-sign-ranch-1986/)

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