SOUTH Korea says a giant Christmas tree near the North Korean border will stay lit up till January 8 - a move likely to anger Pyongyang since the date marks the birthday of its heir apparent.

The communist North sees the tree topped with a glowing cross as a provocative propaganda symbol.

Cross-border tensions are high after the North's deadly artillery attack last month on a South Korean border island and military drills by the South in response.

The tree - a 29-metre metal tower strung with light bulbs - was lit up on Tuesday for the first time in seven years as marines stood guard against any cross-border attack on it.

The tree, atop a military-controlled hill near the tense land border, was due to be switched off on December 26.

''However, we have decided to keep it until early January 8, in consideration of requests from religious groups,'' defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told a briefing.



''At first, we planned to keep the lighting on only briefly because of (military) burdens but we had second thoughts as it may send a message of peace to the North.''

Another spokesman said the birthday of Kim Jong-Un - youngest son and eventual successor to leader Kim Jong-Il - did not influence the timing. He said it was just a coincidence.

The South switched off the tree under a 2004 deal to halt official-level cross-border propaganda.

It also suspended loudspeaker broadcasts and a propaganda leaflet campaign using large helium balloons.

The South partially resumed its government propaganda campaign following the March sinking of a South Korean warship and the bombardment of a border island.

Soon after last month's artillery attack, the military reportedly floated 400,000 leaflets across the border denouncing the North's regime.

The South has also installed loudspeakers along the land border but has not yet switched them on. The North has threatened to open fire on the speakers if they are activated.

Private activist groups frequently float huge balloons across the heavily fortified frontier. These carry tens of thousands of leaflets denouncing the regime of Kim Jong-Il.

Originally published as Christmas tree causes Korea tension