Jon Chol Jin/Associated Press University students were among thousands of North Koreans who rallied against the United States in Pyongyang on March 29.As our colleague Martin Fackler reports, “Despite the steady drum beat of war talk, life seems to go on as usual in most of South Korea,†even near the heavily fortified border that separates the capitalist American ally from the increasingly belligerent North.
To supplement the reporting of our colleagues on the ground, The Lede would like to hear from readers who live on the Korean peninsula or have family members there. Have the increasing tensions affected you What should the South Korean government and the international community do to address the issue Join the discussion by submitting a comment in the thread below, in English or Korean, or post your thoughts on Twitter, with the hashtag #NYTWorld. We will update this post with a selection of views.
For a sample of what is being said in South Korea this week, here is some of what three Seoul residents told Su Hyun Lee of The Times this week. (Their comments were translated and edited for clarity.)
Seong-ki Kim, 71, who is retired:
Nothing has changed in my life because I feel that even though the rhetoric is heightened, I don’t think North Korea will actually do anything because it would mean demise for them as well. I think North Korea is doing this to put its people and South Koreans in constant fear so they can control them.
We have our own defense system, don’t we I think the government is doing well. But I don’t think we should stimulate North Korea too much. I think the press is causing problems because North Korea seems to be triggered by the rowdy press.
Kyu-hyun, 60, who owns a convenience store:
The economy seems to be wobbling. People aren’t buying as much and everything seems a little confused. This is not like the past where we could survive on our own. If I die, we all die. If we live, we will all live.
Nothing has shown to be dangerous so far, but the biggest variable is the Kaesong industrial complex. We can’t cut North Korea off because this would not be good for both Koreas and for North Korea in particular.Kim Jong-un concerns me, however. His father used to provoke bit by bit but this young leader is making all these outrageous threats just to show something to the world. I am worried that he might actually try to attack on the spur of the moment.
The best course is to calm North Korea down. I think there will be conflict of some sort coming up. But as the proverb goes, ‘Soil hardens after rain.’ I hope upcoming limited conflicts can help us avoid all out war.
Dae-gi Ahn, 32, who works in advertising:
I think Park Geun-hye is handling things very well at the moment and I am very happy with the current defense minister.
I think South Korea should be tougher at this moment and we should not return to engagement policies toward North Korea like the sunshine policy of the past liberal governments. We should be more aggressively firm now that they are trying to close down Kaesong industrial complex and show them that we have strength. We need to show them that with the alliance with the United States, North Korea is nothing.
I have a feeling that something like the Cheonan corvette sinking will happen again soon. I don’t think North Korea will try anything bigger than that kind of provocation though because they know how strong the Korea-U.S. alliance is, particularly with the backing of the U.N. and other members of the international community.
