Bay Area Koreans Worry About Missles Overseas

Michael Hwang is keeping a close eye on news coming out of Korea these days. He has family in Seoul. While he's used to the threats and the saber-rattling from North Korea, it's still cause for concern.

"We're all a little bit worried," Hwang said. "Any time there's an imminent war, it would be silly not to be worried."

Hwang's wife, Rila Lee, also has family in South Korea. She says she's worrying more about what's going on than her father and brother.

"People in Korea are kind of used to it, but here, because of the distance, we don't know what's going on really in that country. I think because of that distance we are worried more," Lee said.

Local Korean media, such as the Korea Daily newspaper in Fremont, are monitoring the latest reports from the Korean peninsula, where North Korea has moved a missle to its east coast and the military in the north warned it had been authorizied to attack the United States with nuclear weapons.

Joo Young Hwang, a reporter, says some of her friends who were planning on vacationing in Korea this month have decided not to go.

"What if the war's going to happen when I'm in Korea, they just cancelled their flights," Hwang said.

Hwang is surprised North Korea has stopped South Korean workers and managers from going into the Kaesong Industrial Complex. It's an area where South Korean companies have opened up shop and where North Koreans work. In response to all of the threats, the United States is sending a missile defense system to Guam to protect its bases in the Pacific.

"It would be imprudent not to respond. If there's a barking dog, you don't kinda walk towards him and say it's okay. I've heard barking before and every dog is a little different," Michael Hwang said.

Related story:

N. Korea Moves Missile with "Considerable Range," Says South
 

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