Surely it isn’t just me… maybe it is. I’m starting to kinda almost feel sorry for the little fella. Most of us here on the front line (on the side that has electricity at least) continue inexplicably to go to work, complain about the weather and worry about the important issues of the day, like whether Seoul really will actually implement it’s proposed, potentially catastrophic ban on mini-skirts.
Every day it’s something new and more ridiculous, and every day the people on the Southern side of the 38th Parallel just don’t care. I did actually hear recently about a Korean guy in the neighbourhood who is a touch nervous about the impending nuclear holocaust, and said he was stockpiling supplies. His hoardings for when the war breaks out? Ten litres of water. Yep, that sounds like a half-assed measure if ever there was one, and he’s the only bloke I’ve heard of that’s done anything at all.
CNN and others of course are loving the ratings and the fear they are generating around the planet (far more than the North Koreans actually have). Yesterday’s headline warned that all foreigners living in South Korea should evacuate, as Kim Jong Un wouldn’t want us to become victims of a war not of our making. That’s pretty nice of him, when you think about it. He’s just a nice guy… bit misunderstood, what with all the megalomaniacal threats of nuclear annihilation, but hey, nobody’s perfect.
Though I am now ABC (regional Victoria) Radio Australia’s Korean correspondent (I really am), if you’d like the expert opinion of an actual expert, rather than an idiot like me, Professor Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul explained the situation very well on Australian television the other day.
In the meantime, let’s just wait see what the little big man (Kim Jong un, that is) comes up with today…
News agencies will like your reports more if you add language like, “languishing in nuclear fire” and, “the relentless march of progress and democracy”.
I’m wondering if this is just a ploy to get rid of more English teachers?