Pyongyang axe shows history still nonsense

Members of the party travelling with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, the first Australian minister to visit the North Korean capital, were told the order to break off diplomatic relations in November 1975 came after an axe made in Australia hefted by a U.S. soldier was blamed for the felling a tree on the border with South Korea.

The axe was then found to be "Made in Austria" not "Made in Australia" but the schizm had taken effect and it was too embarrassing to repair relations.

At least, that's the story: the tree was actually cut down in August 1976, The Australian newspaper reported, nine months after the Hermit State closed its Canberra mission.

(la/dpa)