South Koreans are starkly divided over North Korea's nuclear threat

Pohang, South Korea, Sept. 13: There are two Koreas, North and South. But there's also more than one South Korea, with the nation split into camps with polar opposite views on the danger posed by the nuclear-armed neighbour to the north.

This division in South Korean sentiment has lasted through a tumultuous history of war, dictatorship, poverty and, in recent decades, head-spinning though unevenly distributed economic growth. Differing views on North Korea are now sharper than ever, influenced — or not — by Pyongyang's repeated vows to attack South Korea and its build-up of nuclear-capable weapons.

Spend some time in South Korea and you will see reminders everywhere of North Korea’s potential nuclear menace — and the contrasting ways residents read Pyongyang's actions.

Older people and conservatives often have more unease about North Korea than liberals and younger people. But a sweeping generalization isn't possible. Many young people are also afraid. And some older people who have spent their lives hearing angry warnings from North Korea feel no fear at all.

Relations with North Korea often improve with liberal South Korean governments eager for dialogue, and plummet with conservative leaders like the current hard-line president. A tough stance in Seoul usually means Pyongyang stages more weapons tests, as happened on Thursday, and issues more bellicose statements, which leads to frenzied South Korean media coverage. During the previous liberal government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had summits with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which set up meetings between Kim and former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Many in South Korea discount the nuclear peril as hollow because of a simple truth: Aside from occasional deadly skirmishes, the North hasn’t backed up its vows to use its weapons in a full-scale attack on the South. Still, for South Koreans paying attention to the whiplash speed of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, there is plenty of distress.

The Associated Press interviewed and photographed dozens of South Koreans to explain this unique, fragmented perception of the nation's biggest rival, North Korea.

 “Kim Jong Un might really use a nuke,” said Kim Jaehyun, a 22-year-old undergraduate law student. “North Korea could really attack us out of the blue.”

He stockpiles a bulletproof vest and other military gear in the event of a war. While many South Koreans his age know little about national defense policies, Kim attends North Korea security seminars and reads articles on war scenarios.

Kim links his worries, in part, to the day in 2022 when, while serving as an infantryman along the border, he heard that Pyongyang had flown a drone into South Korean territory, breaking an inter-Korean military agreement.

“There needs to be at least one person like me who can raise how dangerous” North Korea is, Kim said. “People just take the looming threats too lightly. It’s like they see the knife coming closer to them but never think the knife could stab them.” (AP)