Still, the situation at my campus has not changed a lot. My oppas and eonnis (senior students we call as brothers and sisters) seems to be quite calm despite what the foreign students perceive as a rather tense situation, and even the military students who are here through an agreement set up by the Korean government seem to be taking things lightly. As with my experience in Japan during the period after the tsunami and the Fukushima incident in March 2011 it does seem like foreign media are making a lot more fuzz about things than the local media does here.
I am very fortunate to have Dr. Cha Young Koo as one of my teachers here at the GIP. He is a former Deputy Minister for Policy of the Ministry of National Defense, and has a lot of knowledge and insight when it comes to both the South and North Korean military. As long as he keeps calm, I will too.. And so far he has assured us that it at least is highly unlikely that North Korea will be using their nuclear weapons against the South - that would be suicide, something that even the young Kim must be realizing.
However, as a student of Kyung Hee's Graduate Institute of Peace Studies I do fear that mr. Kim, who seems to prefere weapons and warfare over peace like his predecessors, might send a symbolic missile in the direction of my school to show his opposition to those who might hope for a future peaceful unition of the two countries. The decisions taken by the involved parties this coming week will indeed be very crucial for our future here at the school.
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| A statue at my campus symbolizing peace |
About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.
