the quietly unnerving headline of the day

“S. Korea on High Alert After Deadly Shipwreck”

Any headline from Korea that is even remotely tense always makes my day a bit less pleasant.

On my one trip to the Far East I did have a chance to visit the Korean DMZ, and even though they bring buses of tourists in (like me), it’s surely the scariest place I’ve ever been. You’re literally in a war zone there, and people are watching your every move with binoculars. When inside the DMZ conference room and across the painted white line, you are literally in PDRK territory and could be imprisoned for any length of time they please (which is why the door to the North is locked and ROK soldiers go in there to protect you before you’re allowed to enter). You are also in extremely deep trouble if an incident begins while you happen to be there, because the whole zone would be closed off and most likely everyone on both sides of the border would be killed in that area within a few minutes, given the amount of firepower aimed at it from both directions. The tension is palpable, despite the ice cream and postcards for sale not far away.