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Santa Claus, where are you?Live from Christmas Eve.

2024.12.21 AM 11:45
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This year, Santa Claus, who wants to share love and blessings for a day on Christmas to the global community, will go on a night flight by sledding around the world's night sky.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, co-operated by the U.S. and Canada, said it will track Santa's flight in real time from 6 p.m. Korean time on Christmas Eve and broadcast it on mobile applications and websites.

Santa is expected to take off from the Arctic in a sleigh pulled by several Rudolphs before, as in previous years, moving south over the Pacific Ocean and then westward, spraying billions of gifts.

In the case of the Korean Peninsula, last year, they moved to Jeju, Busan, and Seoul, taking pictures of attractions in Korea such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, and moving to China via Pyongyang.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham told The Associated Press that the first spot to spot Santa taking off from the Arctic is Alaska and Canada's NORAD radar, but satellites should be used from the Pacific Ocean.

"It's probably a little-known fact, but Rudolph's red-lighted nose gives off a lot of heat," Lt. Gen. Cunningham said. "That heat source causes satellites to track Santa."

Last year, a sleigh with Santa also visited space and hovered around the International Space Station, where astronauts stay, NORAD said.

NORAD, which protects the skies over North America from the threat of potential enemies, has been conducting an event since 1956 to track Santa's flight path in real time and inform children.

It is said that the beginning was a false call made in 1955 when the U.S.-Soviet Cold War began in earnest and the fear of nuclear war threatened the world.

A local department store posted a newspaper in Colorado Springs with the wrong phone number for the "Call Santa" event, prompting a flood of calls from children to NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD).

Air Force Colonel Harry W. Schoop, who received a call on a "red phone" dedicated to emergencies at the time, recalled that a child began reciting a list of gifts he wanted for Christmas in a small voice, according to the Associated Press.

Colonel Schoop said, "The kid continued talking a little more and then took a breath and said, 'You're not Santa,'" adding, "Ho, ho, ho! That's right." I'm Santa Claus. "Are you a good boy?" he confessed in an interview with the Associated Press in 1999.

From that day on, CONAD received more than 50 calls a day from children from all over the United States, and a staff member at CONAD drew a sleigh pulled by Santa and reindeer in the Arctic for fun.

And on Dec. 23 of the same year, the Associated Press reported in an article from Colorado Springs that Santa Claus was guaranteed safe passage to the United States this Friday by CONAD and that he would be protected from potential attacks from "non-Christmas believers."

Since the following year, CONAD and its successor NORAD have continued to hold events every Christmas that track and deliver Santa's journey in real time.

While some doubt the authenticity of this origin, they have not been able to provide evidence to support the allegations.

Colonel Schoop died in 2009 and said he had received many letters from parents around the world thanking them for protecting their children's childhood.




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