Citizens show anxiety over firing drill

By Kim Rahn

After South Korea conducted live-fire drills near Yeonpyeong Island, against which the North threatened to strike back, citizens expressed anxiety and even fear about the current situation.

Dealing with the threat of war from North Korea has been a routine matter for South Koreans, and they are hardly aware that they are living in a country under an armistice. But the escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula is changing their mindset about security and raising alarms.

“In 1995 when I was a high school senior, tension rose between the two Koreas, and we female students were told to practice bandaging, an indication that we could be mobilized to help injured soldiers if a war broke out. We were agitated and afraid. Now I have the same feeling as that I had at the time,” said Yun Ji-yeon, a 33-year-old worker at a financial company in Seoul.

“I don’t think the North will stage an all-out war and destroy itself, but I keep wondering whether it is safe to live in this country,” she said.

Regarding the drill, she used to wonder why the government insisted on conducting it. “But now I find it necessary,” Yun said.

Lee Dong-hyeong, a 40-year-old employee at a credit card firm, said he agrees with the resumption of the drill. “I want to see how North Korea will react. With this situation, we should bring the sea border issue to a conclusion,” he said.

“I don’t think a war will really begin. But I worry if my daughter may be frightened. If a war really breaks out, I will buy a motorcycle, take my family on it to Gimpo or Busan, and fly to Japan. I hope our children will live without such fear,” Lee said.

Shin Young-kyun, a 53-year-old housewife, said she had already bought some bottled water and ramen after last month’s attack on the island. “I hope there won’t be a war and they won’t be necessary. But who knows?” she said.

Cyberspace was also full of comments about the exercise and the rising tension.

“Why does the government insist on the drill, which puts the nation in a warlike situation? People are so worried about it,” blogger Hyeonibear said on a portal site.

Another Internet user, Ace Doogi, said, “The Yeonpyeong incident has not been solved — no conclusion by the U.N. Security Council, no financial sanctions on North Korea, no apology from the North. South Korea’s resumption of the firing drill under such circumstances will only give China a pretext to side with the North.”

시민들 사격연습에 불안감 보여

북한의 추가 도발 협박에도 한국이 연평도 부근에서 사격훈련을 재개하자 시민들은 현 상황에 대해 걱정과 우려를 나타냈다.

한국인들에게 북한의 전쟁 위협은 일상적인 일이 되었고, 시민들은 자신들이 휴전중인 나라에서 살고 있다는 사실도 거의 깨닫지 못하고 있었다. 그러나 한반도에서의 긴장상태가 안전에 대한 시민들의 사고방식을 바꾸었고 경각심을 높이고 있다.

33살의 금융회사 직원 윤지연씨는 “북한이 진짜 전쟁을 일으켜 자멸할 거라고 생각하지는 않는다. 그러나 과연 이 나라에서 계속 살아도 안전할까 하는 생각을 하곤 한다”라고 말했다.

사격훈련에 대해 윤씨는, 예전에는 정부가 왜 훈련을 하는걸까 생각했었는데 “지금은 필요한 것 같다고 생각한다”라고 말했다.