N. Korean nuclear test wake up call for South Koreans
Seoul frightened and afraid. For once it is understood in South Korea that nuclear threat from north is real. South Koreans' worst fear: Forced unification and subsequent economic collapse. Ynet correspondent talks with Seoul residents about South Korean sentiments
"People in Seoul today are frightened and shocked by the possible use of nuclear weapons against them," said Dr. Syong Beck, expert on North Korean politics in a Seoul research institute. "They feel as though they want peaceful talks to solve the problem, and that is why the government is frustrated.
South Korean protestor burns picture of Kim Jong Il (Photo: AP)
"The relationship between the South Koreans and their northern brothers is complex. People here distinguish between the regime and the common people. They identify with the suffering of the North Koreans, who are suffering from poverty and disgraceful hunger, but yet, are against the regime."
Fear in their eyes
"This is the first time that I have seen the South Koreans so nervous," Rafi Kaminer, an Israeli businessman living in Seoul for the past four years, told Ynet. "In the past, they related to the whole nuclear story only as the north's means of pressuring the south into giving more and more food and aid. Now, for the first time, there is a sense of stress. There is fear in their eyes. For the first time they are seeing the North Korean threat become actual and substantial, especially when you consider the relatively small geographic distance between Seoul and the north."
According to him, the South Korean are worried that the world will be forced to respond forcefully to the North Korean threat in order to signal to the Iranians to be careful lest they chose the same path. "There are entire Korean families that were split by war between the north and the south. They always said that the north won't attack the south because they are brothers. But now they fear an American counterattack and the Pyongyang's response against South Korea. Only now the other shoe has dropped."
South Korean soldiers on northern border. Feel that North Koreans are their brothers (Photo: AP)
Henry Park, a sales manager in a Seoul hi-tech firm said that all the media outlets in South Korea stopped regular broadcasts this morning and that the stock market fell about 10 percent and trading was stopped. "After this morning, everything changed. Until now, we didn't know for sure if they have nuclear capability and we didn't really take the North Korean nuclear threat seriously. Now it is a fact. It's real," he said.
"I am 37. I was born after the war. In elementary school I was taught that North Korea is enemy number one. Later, in high school, they changed the approach because of the unification of Germany and the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Our economy in South Korea improved and we thought we could unify like the two Germanys," explained Park.
Fear of forced unification and economic collapse
A senior diplomatic official in South Korea told Ynet that the North Koreans performed the nuclear test because they wanted to ensure their own security.
Kim Jong Il wants a guarantee for the continuation of his regime. He wants promises from the Americans, who don't believe his threats based on past experience and the lack of credibility he showed.
Kim Jong Il wants direct talks with the Americans, but they don't want to talk to him unless it is in the context of joint talks with all the countries in the region. This is what the disagreement revolves around.
"The fear of the Koreans is that he will drag them into a catastrophe, especially an economic one, and into unintentional, forced, graduated unification of the Koreas," said the source.
"This isn't like the Germanys. The South Koreans are still in a process of rehabilitation and consolidation and can't absorb the huge number of North Koreans. That could cause economic collapse. The difference in the standard of living between the two Koreas is huge. The real fear is a North Korean attack. Forced or unintentional unification is the worst nightmare of the South Koreans," he added.
