nobody panic!

i'm not sure if you've been following the world news lately - but there's been a rather important story unfolding on this side of the globe ...

to catch you up, basically there are two countries - north korea and south korea.  in the last century, there was an armed conflict between the two, which came to an end in 1953.  however, no peace treaty was ever signed and as a result, the two sides are technically still at war.

since the fighting ceased, the south has flourished into an internationally respected nation.  the north, run by a nutcase (kim jong-il) has been sanctioned to the hilt, and has receded into complete isolation from the rest of the world.

kim jong-il ... fruitcake

same-same.

their brothers in the south used to send them aid, with the intention of repairing relations. however, two years ago they stopped the "sunshine policy" as the north became ever more resistant to co-operating with the world and it's anti-nuke efforts.

so the people in the north hate the world, and the world pretty much hates the people in the north.  china is kind of fencing-sitting and the americans (obviously) have set up camp and made themselves quite comfortable on the south's border, guns locked and loaded.

about a month ago, there was a south korean military ship that cruised into waters of a disputed territory between the two sides.  there was an explosion, and the ship sank - tragically claiming the lives of 46 south korean soldiers.  the nation went into mourning, whilst the south korean president vowed that a full investigation would be conducted, and if foul play was proven, he would respond "resolutely".

courtesy of bbc.com

i'm sure you can guess where this is going?  so, they put together an international task team (so that the findings would be objective), and the findings were (surprise, surprise) that the explosion was a torpedo from the north.

the north are denying it - but just for good measure, are also saying that if they are given any trouble as a result of it, they are ready and more than willing to go to war.

america has said that the north will not be excused from this act, and will be sent a very clear and strong message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated by the rest of the world.

china are just repeating the sequence of events in a factual, impartial voice - while japan have joined the american band-wagon.

and the south are holding their breath - waiting for their president, lee myeung-bak, to address the nation with his solution.

what this "solution" will be, in unclear - as the south have a slight dilemma on their hands:

• they don't want to go to war, if not for humanitarian reasons then financial ones. 
• further sanctions on the north would be futile - as there's pretty much nothing left for them to sanction, and it would only provoke the north's trigger-happy finger.  
• adult discussion is completely out of the question, as the north's leader is even more balmy than that syphillis-ridden mugabe twat. 

on the ground, the feeling is un-phased and maybe somewhat oblivious.  life goes on as normal, and we probably would not have even heard about all this had it not been for world news broadcasters.  i'm still trying to decide whether to find comfort in the calm, or be concerned by it.  i'll let you know when i've come to a conclusion.  but for now, we keep our eyes glued to the headlines and our fingers crossed.  i have no doubt that should things take a turn for the worst, we'll be on the first flight out - and we're only here for 5 more weeks, so we should be fine. i'm pretty sure we'll be fine ... here's hoping. 

basically all they need to do is save face, avenge the murder of their soldiers', fulfill international expectations, live up to their promise of "resolute response", maintain the strength of the currency, avoid world war III and send a message to a leader who refuses to hear it.

but like i said, "nobody panic" ...