Relationship Between South Korea and North Korea

Most South Koreans do not care about the provocation by the North. Some remain indifferent to the attack by North Korea and others do not consider the attack significant. As many people know, Korea was divided into two countries (South and North) after the Korean War. Although there has been a truce in place since July 27, 1953, the war is not over and North Korea has frequently threatened South Korea by shooting missiles.

South Koreans became used to North Korea’s threats, and most no longer care about them. However, in August 2015, North Korea’s sudden attack frightened many South Koreans because the North seemed to almost be in a state of war against South Korea.

Since August 4, the actions by North Korea caused a fear of real war in the future in South Korea. Soldiers in North Korea buried a landmine near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and soldiers in South Korea near the zone were seriously injured. South Korea called for North Korea to apologize for the incident. However, North Korea never tried to apologize to the world.

The way for South Korea to warn the North was to broadcast propaganda across the border, resuming the psychological warfare. The propaganda broadcast beamed at North Korea was effective for warning North Korea of the importance of keeping the peace between the two countries and was strong enough to make North Koreans understand why the two countries should keep peace.

North Korea, wanting South Korea to stop broadcasting propaganda across the border, fired shells as a warning. As the result of this provocation, South Koreans living near the border had to evacuate to more secure areas.

North Korea repeated the same pattern, threatening South Korea several times. North Korea delivered the message to South Korea that if the propaganda broadcasts did not cease, North Korea would be armed and initiate military actions against them. South Korea immediately took action and fired shells toward the North Military Demarcation Line while also issuing the highest state of emergency to South Korea’s citizens. The two countries had time to discuss the accident and how to proceed in the future, and came to an agreement. The negotiations include the contents of stopping propaganda across the border and relieving in a quasi-state of war.

North Korea expressed sorrow for the initial accident leading up to the dispute and South Korea stopped broadcasting its propaganda. Although North Korea did not apologize for the accident, South Koreans moved on from the incident.

The accident brought attention to the precarious state of security between the two nations.