On Tuesday, North Korean officials issued a warning to foreign dignitaries and tourists, telling them to leave South Korea to avoid being dragged into war, according to Reuters.com. This newest statement marks the most recent in the increasing threats issued to the United States and South Korea.
Hyundai Kim, junior pre-nursing major, is one of many South Korean students at Emporia State. Kim said that although the situation is serious, he doesn’t feel that North Korea actually intends to carry out attacks.
“For a long time, this has been the environment, so even though this situation is different, we feel that it won’t be about war,” Kim said. “I’m a little worried but not too much. North Korea started making nuclear weapons after the Korean War when the U.S. said that they could bomb North Korea, so they are scared.”
Kim, who was also a first lieutenant in the South Korean army working with chemical and biological weapons, said that he is, nevertheless, keeping up with the situation.
“One of the things I’m worried about is (North Korea) shutting down their industrial plants because America has said that they will view it as war,” Kim said. “So far, Pyongyang (the North Korean capitol) has been calm from what I’ve seen in newspapers. North Korea wants to talk with countries like China and America because they just want help. North Korea has several big problems.”
North Korea recently shut down industrial plants just inside its borders as an act of cutting itself off from its neighbors and accused South Korea of attempting to turn the area into a “hotbed of war.”
Jin Hwa, sophomore marketing major, agrees with Kim that North Korea is unlikely to attack.
“I am worried about my family in Seoul because it is the capitol (of South Korea), but…two or three years ago, (North Korea) did the same thing,” Hwa said.
Juwon Son, an ESU alum who is currently living in Seoul, said that the feelings there haven’t changed much in response to the threats.
“Actually, people here aren’t too worried,” Son said. “North Korea doesn’t want to get into a nuclear war, so it isn’t much different than usual. I think that the U.S. news – Fox and CNN – are making it a bigger situation than it is here.”
Despite the warnings, South Korea has not issued any directives to foreign officials or schools where foreign teachers work. The South Korean preside
