- 14 Mar 2002
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South Koreans are fearful of their traditional conquerors, China and Japan.
S. Koreans Shrug Off Nuclear Threat
Increasingly, South Koreans say they are not as fearful of North Korea as they are of Korea's traditional conquerors, China and Japan. Asked about the bomb, many South Koreans cite a novel called "The Rose of Sharon Blooms Again." The book is still a huge seller nearly a decade after its publication during a crisis resolved by the 1994 greement, under which North Korea froze its nuclear program in exchange for international assistance for its energy industry.
The plot revolves around a South Korean scientist who secretly helps the North Koreans develop a nuclear bomb that is used to fend off Japanese aggression.
Conventional weapons currently pose far more of an immediate treat to South Korea than nuclear weapons. The fear here is that if the United States were to use a surgical strike to try to disable North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility, the North might retaliate by shelling Seoul with conventional weapons. During the height of the previous crisis, North Korea threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire." Michael Breen, the Seoul-based author of "The Koreans," says South Koreans shrugged off the threat as more of the bluster for which the North Koreans are famous.
"But the Americans took it literally," Breen recalled. "People were getting telephone calls from their relatives abroad and only then did they start to worry.... It finally got to the point where Koreans were a bit nervous, but even at that their fear was mostly that the Americans would miscalculate."
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S. Koreans Shrug Off Nuclear Threat
Increasingly, South Koreans say they are not as fearful of North Korea as they are of Korea's traditional conquerors, China and Japan. Asked about the bomb, many South Koreans cite a novel called "The Rose of Sharon Blooms Again." The book is still a huge seller nearly a decade after its publication during a crisis resolved by the 1994 greement, under which North Korea froze its nuclear program in exchange for international assistance for its energy industry.
The plot revolves around a South Korean scientist who secretly helps the North Koreans develop a nuclear bomb that is used to fend off Japanese aggression.
Conventional weapons currently pose far more of an immediate treat to South Korea than nuclear weapons. The fear here is that if the United States were to use a surgical strike to try to disable North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility, the North might retaliate by shelling Seoul with conventional weapons. During the height of the previous crisis, North Korea threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire." Michael Breen, the Seoul-based author of "The Koreans," says South Koreans shrugged off the threat as more of the bluster for which the North Koreans are famous.
"But the Americans took it literally," Breen recalled. "People were getting telephone calls from their relatives abroad and only then did they start to worry.... It finally got to the point where Koreans were a bit nervous, but even at that their fear was mostly that the Americans would miscalculate."
=> S. Koreans Shrug Off Nuclear Threat (free registration required)