Okay, now more about what's going on in Korea. There's been some questioning on the North Korean situation. Such as "Is South Korea scared?", "Is North Korea in the news much?", "What is the feeling of South Koreans towards North Koreans?" All great questions, and ones I've been asking myself. My co-teacher's answers have been quite ambiguous, but culminated with what I've been reading in BBC news and Korean news, the fear felt by South Koreans is rather acute in comparison with what Americans might feel if say Cuba were to obtain nuclear weapons. The feeling in Korea is far from what America felt during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I admit is an extreme example given the Cold War feeling and all. Those were tense times, fearful and untrusting. However, I think that even today, if Cuba were to obtain nuclear weapons, the response from America would be much the same. "Duck and Cover" drills would probably return to schools, underground bomb shelters would be dug into every nook and cranny (that or cleaned out/refurbished), airport lines would be days long with the minimum substance allowed being a one ounce vile, the entire Gulf of Mexico would be "fenced-off" in water and on land, and Paul Revere would come back from the dead to warn us all of the new evil approaching. Honestly, I think America would flip a nut.
Conversely, these Koreans, man, they either have nerves of steel or pea-sized brains because there has been absolutely no such reaction as would be expected of a nation whose neighbors are shooting off missile tests left and right, and who are also, by the way, fucking crazy. It also may be that South Korea has grown used to the North's "craziness" and are therefore no longer shocked by their six-year-old like outlashes. As it has been roughly fifty odd some years since their face-to-face conflict, that is- warring, not just at stalemate; it seems almost logical that the South would be a little sick of their "brother's poor-me syndrome". That's what I'm going to call it, as that is very close to the way South Koreans see the North. My co-teacher explained to me that "Korea is still one, we are not two countries as other countries see us. I think they (the North's people) do not know any better because of Kim Jong-Il. He has brain-washed them into believing he is a God." (She refers to the story Jong-il has spread throughout the North about his birth. He has said he was born at his father's army base on Mt. Paektu (the highest mountain in North Korea) and that "the event was supposedly marked by a double rainbow, and a bright star in the sky ").
In a way, my co-teacher is a good representation of the South's thoughts towards the North. They feel pity for the North's people because in their view, the North is still "Korea". The North is a brother, is family, and the most important thing to Koreans (even above appearance and social status) is family. Turning ones back on family is like turning ones back on God. They are all you have, they created you, leaving them or forgetting them is imaginable. Thus, the North is unforgettable, the North is family. They share a history, heritage and language.
To compensate for their pity for the North, the South adopted a "sunshine policy" seven-odd years ago, and has given millions of won in food and fertilizer aide in hopes of helping the people. Palpably, the North has used the money for "much more important things", such as defense and missile tests. The thousands of people starving to death are just a by-product, a payment for the greatness of "one nation". Or at least I'm sure that's what Mr. Kim has explained to them. That they need defense because the world is "out to get them", that their children will be cared for when their society is secure, that those thousands of lives were not in vain because in the end, "Korea will be saved, they will be great again." As there is little to no education there, the people either believe all this propaganda, or pretend to. Retaliation or any act outside the 'norm of a hard day's work' can be seen as an act against the government, against the "people." Thousands are are in prisons for such charges, being mutilated, tortured and starved. The South Koreans know about this, and rather than feeling scared about nuclear testing, they are still empathetic to their 'brothers' and hopeful for the future. They want (for the most part, the younger generation has many more diverse opinions) for Korea to still be reunited, to someday be whole again, like I said, for the most part.
The younger generation has taken a different view towards the North, largely because they have no memory of a unified peninsula and therefore no allegiance to a brotherhood of Korea. Their opinion is reflected in the majority vote for the now President Lee, who denounced the "sunshine policy" because of the North's usage of aide as well as their nuclear activity. His tough stance has been controversial, with the younger generation in near full support, calling the North "a whining baby", and conversely with the more sentimental and older crowd hoping for the past. I really think that both groups are frustrated and at an end as to how to handle the situation. "The North Korean blues" was how Professor Yeol stated it in the Times, it's a matter of political give and take but the giving is always one-sided.
So, in sum, fear is the last thing the South Koreans are feeling. Empathy, frustration, confusion, indifference, anything but fear. It is not that their nerves are made of steel, or that their brains are small (quite the contrary, they are geniuses), it is that they are fed-up with their whining brother. He is making too much of a fuss, and however much they love him, he may be cut-off, for the time being at least.
1> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/783967.stm
2> http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:uHMc-7X72WEJ:ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/CHR/resolutions/E-CN_4-RES-2005-11.doc+United+Nations+Human+Rights+Resolution+2005/11&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=nz&client=firefox-a
3> http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1903333,00.ht
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