The Voice of the People

After decades of peace inside a war, the two brother countries of Korea continue their battles once more. Unfortunate incidents such as the bombing on the South Korean island, Yeong Pyeong and a North Korean torpedo attacking the peaceful southern warship Cheonam, everyone’s on the edge of their seat.   

During the time of the first attacks at Cheonam, my great-uncle, Cho Kang Min who is a citizen of Korea, powerfully spoke out about his opinions when we met back in March. He stated, “This is unforgivable! Those crazy people up there have done stupid things and they should be punished. All the men of South Korea are ready for war since we all required to go the army. So I believe that if we go to war, it will solve everything. Don’t you agree? The United States has our back in all that we do so there is no need to be afraid of the commies.” His strong opinions echoed the voice of many other Koreans. After the bombing of Yeong Pyeong, South Korean war and marine veterans held an anti-North Korea Rally in the busy streets of South Korea’s capital, Seoul on Nov. 20, 2010. As they torched a North Korean flag, one the men shouted on SBS 10’ NEWS, “We have tolerated this long enough. Action should be made. We are ready to be called back into the military if necessary.” The boiling bloods of the South still rage on, however many other opinions exists as well.

As the Cheonam investigation took place, the only clips airing on TV consisted of the memorial service for the 46 innocently murdered sailors on the attacked ship. Due the fact our family receives Korean TV; we couldn’t help but shed a tear as we watched. My mother wept, “I don’t know what to say to this. If those mindless, brain-washed northern communist are the ones behind this, they need to be punished now but we can have more of our boys dying. If we continue the war, there will be more useless bloodshed. This time 46 lives, but next it could be hundreds of thousands. We can’t afford to lose lives!” What many people forget during a war always turns out to be the lives of victims who fall as they fight. Sure they get the heroic service, but it seems like they are forgotten as time continues.

Due to the dirty games the North plays, many lives die for no reason. “When will this end?” I asked myself while watching the bombing on the television back then. The event hit me like it did for the 9.11 attacks, but on a much smaller scale. I couldn’t help but feel upset. Different opinions echo throughout Korea, but over 80% of South Korea believe the situation with the North needs to settle. They don’t know how or when but they believe ‘peace’ can’t last forever between the Koreas.