NORTH KOREA’S RHETORIC

ANXIETY IN SOUTH AS N KOREA RHETORIC ESCALATES

Lucy Williamson

BBC News, March 11, 2013

Over the past week, newspapers here in the South have turned Pyongyang's threats into front-page spreads: its promises of "pre-emptive nuclear strikes", "all-out war" and withdrawal from the 60-year-old Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War.

South Koreans normally approach these kinds of declarations with a weary stoicism, barely pausing over their cappuccinos as they absorb the latest threats from their neighbour.

This time, though, the atmosphere here in Seoul is a little more anxious. While some dismiss it as just more of Pyongyang's bluster, others are worried by the volume and tone of the latest proclamations.

That goes for older South Koreans, in particular, say some.

Some see the North's Kim Jong-un (seated) as "not strong"

"Young Koreans are very desensitized," one friend told me. "If it enters their heads at all, it dissipates very quickly, replaced with the latest celebrity (gossip). But the older generation do feel differently on security issues."

"I didn't care about this issue until now," said another. "But I do worry this time around. The young North Korean leader is not strong, and I don't trust the new government here in the South."

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