South Korea has demolished a 43-year-old Christmas tree tower near the tense inter-Korean border area, which has been a source of inter-Korean conflict.
 
A Defense Ministry official in Seoul said Wednesday that the tower on the Aegibong hill in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province was demolished Thursday as it was found to be at risk of collapse in a safety check conducted last year. The official added that the demolition had been delayed due to difficulties in securing a budget. 

The official also rejected speculations that the demolition had anything to do with the recent exchange of fire between the two Koreas.

Lighting the tower during the Christmas season had been an annual ritual for Seoul until the two Koreas agreed to stop propaganda activities at the border areas in 2004.
 
Seoul, however, resumed the lighting ceremony in 2010 after the North's sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. 
 
Pyongyang had strongly condemned the lighting as psychological warfare and warned of attacks.