North vs. South

As many of you know tensions have been high between North and South Korea. There have been days when it seemed we were close to war or at least severe attacks on both sides. South Korea is very angry about the sinking of their naval ship.

Needless to say South Korea is crying for justice in this situation. In recent days the tensions seems to have been slightly lessened. In talking to Koreans themselves and reading some Korean newspapers the sense that we get is that war is possible but not likely. Inevitably, if Korea went to war the North would lose and in the end South Korea would inherit millions of people who have suffered poverty and deprivation for over 50 years. The end result of a second Korean war would prove incredibly costly to the South, and although they want justice, there is some debate as to how far they are willing to take the issue.

There is no doubt that North Korea is a particularly nasty neighbor to have, but in the end North Korea is still the brethren of the South. There seems to be a contradictory attitude in the hearts of the South Korean people in that they view the North as their brothers, but also as their enemies. They are outraged at North Korea and yet they are indifferent. They say they are 'worried' about war and yet they seem never to think or talk about it. One can only imagine that after living in this situation for so long with a divided country, it's easy for the people to brush off the constant threats from North Korea. There seems to only be cause for worry if something actually happens, if an action is actually taken, like the Cheonan sinking. So far however, it appears that diplomacy is working in this situation as well.

Some of our students are convinced that if North Korea attacks again, it will be on June 25th since this is the date of the first attack of the first Korean War. Only time will tell but we think based on what we've heard so far, that attacks are not likely, much less war.