South Koreans shrug off threat from Pyongyang

SEOUL: Seoul on Wednesday, a city considered the soul of South Korea, despite the early morning shocker from the North that fired its deadliest Inter-Continental ballistic missile (ICBM) till date. On the streets, people seemed unimpressed with North Korean dictator

Kim Jong-un

’s “theatrics”.

At the same time, many said that Pyogyang’s actions were targeted more towards the US. People had learnt about the missile test in the morning from TV, but they said they were used to living with such threats.

“He (Kim Jong-un) is too young to run a country and he is bound to make lot of mistakes as he cannot control his mind,” said a Seoul University student. He said North Korea cannot use nukes because that would spell the end of the

Korean peninsula

.

A school teacher, Park Sang-se, said, “There’s no possibility of war. Kim is issuing threats only to the US; though sometimes, people may be concerned by his reckless actions.” At the border of the two Koreas, known as demilitarised zone (DMZ), about 56km from Seoul, many came to see the

Dora Observatory Post

manned by the South Korean army.

Through binoculars, they glimpsed North Korea’s abandoned Kaesung Industrial Complex. The visitors betrayed no sign of tension at the observatory post.

The South Korean army was playing modern Korean music on loudspeakers towards the North, where social life is in the vice-like grip of the Jong-un regime. An army officer said, “Our army is fully prepared to face any challenge.”