Lately, I have been rather absent from my blog. In fact, I have been rather removed from the Internet entirely. By the time I get home after training, I am so exhausted mentally that I just simply pass out on the couch. Listening to some really difficult classes in Korean can be really exhausting, and then to attempt to take a test on said classes can be more so. That being said, I realize that, considering the current political situation, I should probably say a word or so about how things are going here.
I am not sure how often people hear about it in America now, but recently, every morning when I wake up, the first story in the news is always about "Bukhan" (North Korea). Even now, as I type this, late at night, on the news they are talking about North Korea. They have made a serious of belligerent, boisterous, brash comments threatening war. The most current comment was a warning to all the foreigners in South Korea to make arrangements to leave as soon as we can. It's that serious. Or is it?
To be sure, even the Koreans around me are now taking this situation a bit more seriously than previous ones. I was here in Korea when an unknown torpedo, suspected to be North Korea's, sunk a South Korean military vessel. It was very tense here, and there were a lot of people angry with North Korea, but everyone knew that South Korea wasn't going to attack, it was just a lot of anger and frustration. I was here when Yeon-pyeong-do was shelled by North Korea. The island is off the coast of Incheon, where I was living at the time, and even then, while people were worried, the overall concern was more towards those who lived on the island and nearby islands and towards the two civilians and two military personnel who lost their lives during the shelling. There was not that much talk of escalation then either, only a lot of anger. There were many smaller events as well. I remember one where some refugees from North Korea wanted to send brochures across the border via balloons and North Korea threatened to shell them if the balloons were sent. I believe the South Korean military prevented them from launching the balloons on the scheduled day, but eventually, the group was successful, and nothing really serious happened.
This time, everyone is just a little bit more edgy. But.... But, as I listen to the radio, to interviews from locals, the general consensus is this. Time and again North Korea has made belligerent provocative threats. The locals are used to these threats and recognize them as the hot air that they are. Tensions are high, but if you go to the grocery store, nobody is buying massive amounts of ramyun or water to survive some kind of serious catastrophic event. Nobody is panicking. I believe that there is more of a chance to get injured walking across the street than to get injured due to war with North Korea right now. That being said, please look both ways when crossing the street. To be on the safe side, check one more time too.
My thoughts on the matter:
-incredibly frustrated with the situation: they aren't going to attack, so stop blowing hot air and rocking the boat
-annoyed: all this news about war must be wreaking havoc on my mother and grandmother's sleep pattern
-mildly amused: seriously, in this climate, with even China not fully backing them, they threaten war? Suppose it happened, the Chinese could not openly support them for fear of global condemnation.
-confused: what if it really happened? What if there was a spark that set everything off? Of course, we can go to America, but what about the family here? What about my job?
I hope that those in power, especially those in the US, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and North Korea, can work quickly and effectively to diffuse this situation. In addition, I hope that we can put an end to the constant charades that North Korea has developed and in fact mastered. I ask that you all include the diffusion of this rather tense situation in your prayers as well.
That being said, have no worries! I have prepared (or rather am in the process of preparing) in case things go bad, and am confident that things won't.
