Our dear northern neighbor

KAL's cartoon in the Economist May 30 - June 5th 2009 edition "Kim's bombshell"

In South Korea people take the North Korean issue much less seriously than in the rest of the world, although the nuclear threat would be greatest for this country. It needs to be said that not much is known in the world about North Korea, and the media tends to jump at every little piece of news they can get to make it a sensation.
The South Korean calmness probably comes from the fact that the South Koreans can identify more easily with the North Korean culture than other countries. Although the countries have been at war for decades, a diplomat who's dealt with both Koreas once told me that the people are exactly the same - Koreans - except they are thinner and on average 8 centimeters shorter in North Korea.