North Korea

Hi again friends and family,

(I'm doing two posts today for making up for the hiatus.  Warning - this one is a little long)

Based on what has happened recently in the news, I thought it would be timely to do a post on North Korea and what my experience of it has been like in Seoul.  I don't claim to be any kind of expert on the matter, but I thought it might be interesting for people to hear about it from someone who is currently living in Seoul. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I encourage you to research it for yourself!

First, a brief overview of the situation -

At the end of WWII, the Japanese occupation of Korea ceased, and the country was divided into two with the Soviet Union in control of the North and the US taking control of the South (1945).  A UN supervised election resulted in the creation of two separate governments (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the North and the Republic of Korea in the South), who both claimed ownership of the entire peninsula, leading to the Korean War (1950).  An armistice in 1953 resulted in a cease-fire, though technically the two countries remain at war to this day, separated by the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone, a 4 km wide boundary which is ironically probably the most militarized border in the world).  For the most part, North and South Korea have developed their separate ways, with South Korea experiencing huge economic growth in the past half century while the North is known as a Hermit Kingdom that has difficulty feeding its own people.

The relationship between North Korea and South Korea has always been strained, but there are often times of increased tension between the countries - now is an example of one such time.  North Korea has done a number of nuclear tests (most recently feb 12th) which have gotten a lot of attention in the international media.  Recently, the international community (United Nations) has responded by restricting trade of certain items to North Korea, including certain luxury goods which the elite of North Korea enjoy.  North Korea has since said it is withdrawing from the armistice (which actually it has violated in the past many times anyways) and is now entering a 'state of war' with south korea.  America has also demonstrated it's willingness to be at South Korea's side by flying two B-2 Stealth bombers, a move that North Korea sees as rehearsals for invasion and has since put its rockets on standby.  The South today has made clear that it will strike back quickly if the north stages any kind of attack on the south.

The two bombers were deployed more to send a message than provide any useful training, as the US military publicly announced the drill.  I'm not sure if the intention of the US was to make it clear to the North that they were serious or if it was meant as a reassurance to the South that they had the backing of their ally.  If the intention was for the latter, however, I don't think that they were very successful - the reason is quite simple:

Nobody in South Korea seems to care.

And I don't just mean about the bombers or the backing of America - I mean North Korea in general.  Things in Seoul have been terribly the same as last week or the week before, and if it wasn't for my pastor at a church for internationals or the English news, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know about any of these current events at all.  I've asked a number of Koreans about this topic, and most of them think that there's nothing much to say - it's the same old stuff - North Korea threatens and then nothing happens.  Many of my housemates have already completed their military service - one of my roommates actually just finished this year and when I asked him why Koreans weren't worried about North Korea, he asked me what there was to be worried about (there are some people who are completely unaware of the issue, as well as I should mention others who are concerned, but I would say the general feeling is apathy).

This leaves me confused at the whole situation - the people who are worried most about North Korea are ironically the farthest away from it (Seoul is 50 km from North Korea).  Many people dismiss the threat of North Korea as one of three things.  Firstly, that this aggression is simply an act to establish the 30 year old supreme ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.  There is also the explanation that this is an attempt to send a message to the US in hopes of starting discussion.  Or finally that this is a 'temper tantrum' that Kim is throwing to get what he wants from the international community.   In an actual war, North Korea is out numbered and out developed in every way compared to the combined US and South Korean armies.  However, North Korea does have the threat of nuclear weapons (weather or not this will actually be implemented).

I think that while there is no real concern over an all-out war, the biggest danger would be from a rash decision made from a desperate North Korea as a leader who boxes himself in with threats needs to do something unreasonable in order to save face.

...

Anyways, school is alright.  One of the buddy programs at Korea University is planning a trip to the DMZ, which I signed up for before this whole business (I wonder if it will be cancelled... ).  I want to make this blog more interactive, so if you feel like weighing in, please leave a comment below.  If you guys are interested, leave a question you would like me to ask my Korean roommates and maybe I'll do a post later with their responses!  Sorry again for the long post haha.