Conditioning Our Minds to the Threat of War

It seems like everyone is wondering about the situation between North and South Korea (and let's not forget the U.S., Russia, and China...)



Today, I talked with a friend of mine who travels to Korea two to three times a year. She said something like, "Normally, my concern level is at a 2. But now, it's definitely more." To me, that's saying something.

Then, just a few minutes after that, someone at worked asked me, "Have you talked to your family in Korea?"

Clearly, it's on a lot of people's minds... well, at least if they're American.

When I got off work tonight, I called my sister, Hyun Jeong. And like usual, she said she is not concerned. Not concerned? How can this be?

Then, I talked to her husband, Glenn. He said he was a little worried, but his voice didn't have the same urgency as the voice in my head. Really?

It has occurred to me over the years that South Koreans really don't consider the North to be a threat. They don't believe that the North wants to really go to war. They are used to crazy threats from Kim Jung Il and his regime. They even shrug their shoulders at a torpedo now and then.



It's unimaginable to me. My parents were so concerned when Jim and I went to Korea back in November... I can't imagine what they'd be thinking now.

I'm getting off subject a bit, but generally Korean people are so hard to understand. In one regard, they're super healthy with the way they nourish themselves. The food seems so healthy. Yet, when we were in Korea, people kept sneezing on each other and us during the height of swine flu. Jim was outraged! No one taught them to cover their mouths?

The same thinking goes for the tense situation over there. How can people ever get scared? They live next to an unstable country with a leader who's eccentric and aging. What does he care if he starts a war? The countries never signed a treaty to end the war in the 1950s. They just signed a cease fire. UH, HELLO?

I know South Koreans are just used to this kind of behavior from their naughty neighbors to the north, but it sure scares the daylights out of me. South Koreans are (again, generally) such happy, pinky-ponky people. I worry about their internal threat meters sometimes.

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At least 200 dead, missing in North Korean floods

A lamp stands on the flooded bank of the Taedong-gang River in Pyongyang Tuesday.

By most accounts, at least 200 people are dead or missing since downpours started August 7th.

Here's what the flooding has done, according to the country's official news agency:

• damaged or destroyed more than 30,000 homes for more than 63,000 families.
• ruined tens of thousands of acres of farmland
• destroyed at least 800 public buildings
• destroyed more than 540 bridges and sections of railways

Experts say the North Koreans may have made this flooding worse for themselves because of decades of deforestation. Apparently, the energy-starved residents have used every scrap of wood from the countryside to cook food or heat homes through the bitter winters, leaving large areas of the country vulnerable to flooding and landslides.

And if you remember, serious flooding helped trigger a famine in the mid 1990s. It's guessed that nearly two million North Koreans died from starvation. A decade later the country is still unable to feed all of its 23 million people and depends heavily on outside food aid.

At this time, the inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is still a-go for August 28 to 30th in Pyongyang.

American Defector in North Korea Pt. 1

This is an interesting story of a US man who defected to North Korea in the 1960s. Instead of being killed by the NKs, he wound up being a superstar of sorts. He is the subject of a new documentary. Check it out.

American Defector to North Korea Pt. 2

Part two. Shows more about Joe Dresnok's son and the isolated country.

Here's your propaganda video of the day

A little piece of heaven to start your day...from the North Korean government.

NORTH KOREA AND NUCLEAR DEVICES

As of 11:40 pm, October 8th:

South Korea's official news agencies are reporting that North Korea has performed a successful nuclear test.

A South Korean seismic monitoring center also confirms tremors felt at the time of North Koreas alleged nuclear test. They say they were not natural occurrences. This would be North Koreas first ever nuclear weapons test.

North Korea said last week it would conduct a nuclear test as part of its deterrent against a possible United States invasion.

Last Friday the United Nations Security Council issued a statement warning North Korea not to do the test. Also, a UN statement says if nuclear tests were conducted it would jeapordize peace, stability, and security in the asia region and beyond.

***The closest experience I had with North Korea was going to the DMZ, or the demilitarized zone. It is basically the place where North and South Korea meet. I remember walking through the area feeling scared. (We had to sign waivers basically relinquishing the US of any liability in the event of being maimed, shot or killed. Afterwards, we went to a massacre site where North Korean soldiers had once ambushed American troops.) Soldiers from both the North and South were standing silent and tall with their guns. I stood at the top of a hill where I heard eery propoganda-opera-type music and saw these white, Hollywood-type signs in the distance--both used to apparently entice South Koreans to cross the border. I saw the propoganda village North Korea built to give the appearance of being a rich country, when actually no one lived there at all. But something I will never forget was walking to the bottom of an infiltration tunnel and seeing a young (18 or so) South Korean soldier standing on guard with his gun at a metal door with a small glass window...then seeing an equally young North Korean solider on the other side. At that moment, I remember feeling sorry for the boys because they had to stare at each other all day as enemies, even though they were cut from the same cloth.***