Danger?

This week North Korea has been center stage again; some of you are wondering if it's really as bad as they make it out to be on the news. Here's the e-mail I received from the US Embassy in Seoul (I'm not just an alien, I'm a registered alien )

"On Monday, October 9, U.S. and South Korean intelligence services detected a
seismic event at a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea. North Korea has
claimed it conducted an underground nuclear test, but these reports are
unconfirmed. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is monitoring the situation closely and
has been in continuous contact with South Korean government officials. As of the
evening of October 9, the Embassy has received no information from South Korean
officials or any other source indicating that there are health
dangers that
pose a risk to any areas in South Korea.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul
continues to operate normally and to provide services to the public during
regular business hours. In the event of any type of emergency, the Embassy will
notify the American community immediately."

The government officials here (President Roh, etc.) are not ignoring this possible threat, but they are not rushing into drastic action either. It looks like S. Korea is wanting to stay on good terms with the other world powers (an important move if their guy is going to get head of the UN Security Council =), so although they have a love/hate kind of view of their ancestral countrymen to the North, S. Korea is not going to act without the world's backing and we are not N. Korea's target since much of the aid they need just to survive comes from private and public S. Korean sources.
All in all, I don't know what the news is reporting there, but it seems to be blown (punny!) way out of proportion-- for shock value and ratings perhaps? Besides, I have so much to catch up on this blog from last week that bombs and grumpy governments simply can't interfere =)
If all goes well (N. Korea doesn't have another tantrum or accident), Lon will be coming to Seoul for work one week from today and I'll get to catch up on the news from home and get my care package he's been good enough to haul here from the other side of the globe! Yippee!!

I'll keep you updated on bombs and weather-- news at ll