South Africans living in South Korea say escalated international panic after North Korea's nuclear test in February is not reflected in their everyday lives.
South Africans living in South Korea say escalated international panic after North Korea's nuclear test in February is not reflected in their everyday lives.
North Korea and South Korea have been staring each other down since for the past 60 years, and many in the South have become desensitised to North Korea's increasingly aggressive rhetoric.
After its third underground nuclear test in seven years on 12 February this year, however, US media have launched a campaign of rigorous reportage on the threat of nuclear attack from that country and speculation about an imminent missile launch.
North Korean provocation has caused a surge in diplomatic tension. US Secretary of State John Kerry recently visited Asia, stopping over in South Korea, China and Japan to continue talks and reaffirm diplomatic bonds.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has stressed the need for an independent nuclear deterrent.
Keeping an eye on the media coverage about North Korea over the past two months is Rhodes graduate Katherine Kirk, who teaches English in Daegu, South Korea, who speaks with suspicion about the sudden media hype.
"People seem to think that the threats from North Korea have grown in intensity and volume recently, but that's an illusion," Kirk explains.
"North Korea makes these threats all the time, but the Western media has turned up the volume on it ever since the missile launch test a few months ago."
Roxanne Henderson, another Rhodes University graduate teaching English in a small town in South Korea, agrees.
"Local coverage seems less sensationalised and reflects the Korean attitude towards North Korean threats – life goes on."
She lives in Sachang-ri, a town close to the demilitarised zone between the two countries, and reports an increase in South Korean military presence in her county over the past couple of months as the only noticeable difference.
"Children are still in school and at taekwondo class everyday, people walk their dogs and the supermarkets are well stocked," said Henderson.
"While the rest of the world waits anxiously to see what North Korea's next move is, South Koreans flocked to various cherry blossom festivals around the country this past weekend."
"The US media are trying to scare people into buying more newspapers, watching their broadcasts and supporting any kind of increased military spending, and North Korea are just planning to let off some fireworks to celebrate Kim Jong-Un's birthday," Kirk jokes.
"I am registered with the South African embassy and should there be a crisis and a need to evacuate, I expect that they will inform me and other South Africans of an evacuation plan of some kind," Henderson said.
