Korean Unfazed by Nuclear Threat
I tend to agree with this assessment that Koreans are unconcerned about the North Korean nuclear threat.
A majority of South Koreans are unconcerned by North Korea’s Feb. 10 announcement that it has nuclear weapons.
In a public opinion poll conducted Tuesday by TNS Korea at the request of the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on 700 adult men and women nationwide, 58.9 percent of respondents said they felt no insecurity following North Korea’s recent declaration.
KSOI said that among those under 40, the highly educated and white collar workers, levels of insecurity were very low, while for over-50s, the less educated and low income earners, feelings of insecurity were acute.
Asked about a solution to the nuclear issue, 74.7 percent responded that Seoul needed to send a special envoy to Pyongyang or hold an intra-Korean summit and persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons. Another 22.8 percent said pressure like the freezing intra-Korean economic cooperation or sanctions was needed.
Just about every Korean I have talked to didn’t really have any strong feelings about the issue. I can’t really blame them because this thing seems to happen all the time. South Koreans have grown used to threats of nuclear obliteration just like the changing of seasons here. Winter time really sucks here but not enough to stress out about.
