The beauty of Thien Tri Lake. A place with charming scenery Thien Tri Lake in Chinese transliteration is Tian Chi (Lake of Heaven). This is a lake formed by a volcanic eruption around 969 BC, located in a caldera at the top of the Changbai Mountains. There are many legends surrounding the lake, many people believe that the lake is inhabited by the Thien Tri Water Monster. Located at an altitude of 1,907m above sea level and an area of ​​4.9 square kilometers, 105m deep, Tianchi Lake is located about 30km from the Chinese city of Fukang, 45km east of Ürümqi in North Korea. Located in a favorable location adjacent to many places, tourism here is very developed. It is known that with reserves of more than 2 billion tons of fresh water, Thien Tri Lake is enough to supply water for all people in Beijing for 22 months. Due to its high altitude, the lake water is cold all year round, from mid-October to mid-June every year the lake is frozen 1m thick. In the summer, the temperature is also at 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, the oxygen concentration in the water is assessed by experts as low, the soil is arid, the vegetation is sparse, so there are no aquatic animals. reside. Only traveling to China can you see Thien Tri Lake with your own eyes, a place likened to a fairyland. Thien Tri Lake is known as the emerald at the foot of Thien Son range because of its beautiful turquoise water. The space around the lake is harmoniously adorned by immense mountains and forests with green botanicals and conifers. Surrounding the lake are dark green spruce trees mixed with snow mountains silhouetted on the lake surface, creating a magical shimmering beauty. There are four distinct seasons here, the scenery changes constantly over time. The beauty of the lake has unique features in all 4 seasons. Spring is full of life, summer is fresh, autumn is surprisingly peaceful, winter is white, cold but charming. The water in the lake due to melting ice and snow should be cool and transparent. The most beautiful season here is summer because this time is not too cold, the ice melts, the trees are lush and green, the flowers are blooming, making the painting even more beautiful. “Monsters” in Thien Tri Lake Thien Tri Lake also has many mysterious legends. According to a North Korean statement, leader Kim Jong-il was born in the area of ​​Changbai Mountain. By the time he died, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that fierce snowstorms had arisen, the ice on the lake surface was broken. When the blizzard dissipated, bright inscriptions carved on the mountain rock that read “Mount Paektu, the sacred mountain of the revolution. Kim Jong-il”, are said to be visible throughout the day, until sunset. Besides, there is also a mysterious story about the “water monster” living in Thien Tri Lake. Accordingly, local people said that the Thien Tri lake monster appeared in 1903, very much like a giant buffalo that emerged from the water, roared to attack three people on the lake and then disappeared after being shot 6 times. stomach. Information about the Thien Tri lake monster appeared again in August 1962, when a witness observed through a telescope that two large creatures appeared to be playing and chasing each other. This story has created a wave of rumors with more than 100 people claiming to have seen the monster with various descriptions ranging from a giant fish to a long-necked fish, resembling a Plesiosaur – a sea monster. Long necks dominated the Jurassic ocean. It is also said that the monster has a head as big as a human head, two very large round eyes, a protruding mouth, and a neck length of 1.2 – 1.5m. The photo is said to capture the horror monster on Thien Tri Lake. On October 9, 1980, China’s “Quang Minh Daily” published a story of a person who had witnessed the “monster” of Thien Tri Lake. The author of an article entitled “Recalling a time when he saw a “monster” said that around 4 am on August 21, 1980, while standing on a high cliff by Thien Tri Lake to watch the sun rise, he discovered In the distance there is an object, body like a buffalo, head as big as a jar, moving very fast, creating a long shelf of water behind. What makes people confused is that Thien Chi Lake is located near the highest peak in the northeast of the Changbai Mountains, formed on the mouth of an extinct volcano, the water is very cold (winter covered with snow and ice, summer at noon). here is also only about 11 degrees Celsius), the nutrient content in the water is extremely low, basically, it is difficult for any kind of organism to live. The results of a survey also show that Thien Tri Lake has no vertebrates. Therefore, the story of Thien Tri Lake suddenly appearing a large animal caused a great shock. On August 23, 2003, a group of tourists including more than 40 people were playing at Thien Tri Lake. It was around 11am, when suddenly, someone shouted, “Look, the beast has appeared again.” All eyes turned to the direction the visitor pointed. In the clear blue water, a black creature, about 3 meters long, was swimming from the south bank to the north bank and then dived and disappeared. Nearly a month before, about 20 “monsters” of Thien Tri Lake made a parade lasting about 50 minutes. Two years later, on 7/7, a person named Trinh Truong Xuan (residing in Phu Tung district, Jilin province, China) while walking around Thien Tri Lake, he happened to notice a shadow floating on the lake surface. Strange black immediately took the camera. Although some people think that it is just a driftwood, Mr. Trinh claims to have captured a picture of a strange creature in Thien Tri Lake. While everyone was still arguing, on July 21, 2005, the “monster” reappeared on the north bank and broke the calm water of Thien Tri Lake more than 10 days later. According to Mr. Hoang Tuong Dong, one person had the opportunity to see the “monster” of Thien Tri lake with their own eyes, the head and neck of the “water monster” protruding above the water surface was over 2 meters high. In 2013, a number of rather poor quality photos were circulated on social networks that are believed to be of the monster at Thien Tri Lake, once again raising attention to the existence of this creature. As recently as October 2020, an employee of Thien Son Thien Tri National Park (China) said that he had captured an image of a round black object floating on the water and thought it was ” Monster Lake Thien Tri”. An employee of Thien Son Thien Tri National Park told the Daily Mail that he spotted “a large creature, about 2.1 meters in size” while on patrol. He saw an unusual object in the middle of the lake and recorded it and posted it on Chinese social media. The footage, shot from an observatory 500 meters above the lake’s surface, shows the black circular object in the water. The black spot looks small on the video but it’s actually quite large in real life, the employee said. This staff member insisted it was definitely not a boat. Up to now, there are still many controversies surrounding the story “Tian Tri Lake Monster”. Many people believe that the “Monster” of Thien Tri Lake is the product of a mutation like in fantasy movies: An ordinary animal, after being affected by chemical radiation, became a giant, carrying monstrous form, even becoming a demon that endangers humanity? But many others found that this is a product of the statue, made up to attract tourists here. So far, there is no explanation or explanation to prove this, the truth about the giant “monster” in Thien Tri Lake is still a place to stimulate the curiosity of tourists when traveling to. China. In North Korea, the lake belongs to Ryanggang province (Luong Giang). Thien Tri Lake has for a decade now become a destination for Chinese tourists curious about the mysterious pair of “monsters” in the lake bed.

Nikkei Asia newspaper quoted sources as saying that this employee was called “Mr. Y” in the Japanese intelligence community. He once told contacts in Tokyo that he was ill. Some government sources say Japan and North Korea have lost a “behind-the-scenes negotiation channel”.

Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic relations, and efforts to normalize relations have become strained because of the past abductions of Japanese citizens and Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting with key officials in Pyongyang. Photo: KCNA

According to sources, “Mr. Y” is known to be a subordinate of “Mr. X” – a senior North Korean security official who paved the way for a first-ever bilateral summit. was held in 2002 between the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Along with “Mr. X”, this liaison officer took part in negotiations regarding Mr. Koizumi’s 2002 visit to North Korea. He is also in charge of negotiating a 2014 bilateral agreement signed in Stockholm on negotiating principles aimed at addressing kidnapping in the past.

In 2014, he informed Japan that two men missing in the late 1970s were still living in North Korea. These two, Minoru Tanaka, went missing at the age of 28 after boarding a plane to Vienna at Narita Airport, and Tatsumitsu Kaneda working at the same ramen shop as Tanaka. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has repeatedly stated that Tanaka has never entered North Korea.

Japan officially lists 17 people kidnapped by North Korea, of which five were repatriated after the landmark 2002 summit in which leader Kim Jong-il admitted North Korea kidnapped. Japanese citizenship.

“Mr. Y” also acts as the mediator for a secret meeting in Mongolia in 2014 between Mr. Shigeru Yokota and Ms. Sakie Yokota, 85, the parents of the kidnapping victim Megumi Yokota and her niece. Megumi Kim Eun-gyong.

Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped in 1977 at the age of 13, was on her way home from school. She has become the symbol of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea.

Along with the families of the other kidnapped people, Sakie Yokota met with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last week to call for the early repatriation of their loved ones ahead of scheduled talks between the prime minister and US President Joe Biden. took place on April 16 in Washington.

The unidentified employee, the sources said, succeeded “Mr. X” about 10 years ago, and entered into negotiations with Japan in a third country such as China and Mongolia.

Fluent in Japanese, he communicated with Japanese officials on his anti-eavesdropping cell phone. He is believed to have had a disease related to the brain or circulatory system, but may have been fired amid negotiations between Japan and North Korea stalled.

Prime Minister Suga, who served as a kidnapping minister under his predecessor Shinzo Abe, said after taking office last September that he was ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong Il’s son without prerequisites.

But now, Mr. Suga is struggling to find a new negotiating channel when Pyongyang closes its border to the COVID-19 pandemic prevention.

What appears to be the only door of opportunity now closed after North Korea decided not to participate in the Tokyo Olympics this summer, also citing the need to prevent viral infections.

President Suga’s office declined to comment.

Mr. Song Il-ho is the Korean Ambassador in charge of negotiating the normalization of relations with Japan. However, the Japanese government source said he was not one of the secret negotiators with more decision-making power.