Railway blast triggered North Korean paranoia (Thought US nuked)

[54anickel]

This is just so sad.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1202716,00.html

North Koreans thought they were under nuclear attack from the United States when they first heard the blast from Thursday's huge train explosion, it was revealed yesterday.

The paranoia of a country that has been at war for more than 50 years was made apparent to international aid workers, who visited the devastated site for the first time yesterday as the government in Pyongyang revealed that 76 children were among those killed in the disaster.

snip>
'I thought the Americans had finally dropped the bomb,' one woman told Kaika Rajahuhta of the International Red Cross. The Finnish aid worker said other locals had told her the same apocalyptic thought crossed their minds.

snip>
'Twenty years ago, this side of the river looked just like that side,' said one old man, pointing over to the bleak North Korean city of Shinuju. 'But we have changed so much and they haven't moved at all. I am very glad I was born on this side of the river.'

more...

[skooooo]

1. Omg how terrible....

Can you imagine living in so much constant fear like this? Bush isn't making things any easier either.

[walmartsucks]

7. Sounds like

The red scare of the 1950's & 1960's. Remember those duck & cover drills? Quick schoolchildren, everyone under your desks! You'll be safe from the nuclear blast there!

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. Yeah,,,,they honestly thought they were being nuked?

Please.

They obviously have no concept of what a nuclear explosion will do.

[IMayBeWrongBut]

4. Well...

They were saying that it had a blast radius of 1.5 miles. I was googling around and That's pretty close to Hiroshima. I realize modern nukes are much bigger but hey if those reports were true this was pretty close to nuclear bomb sized.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Most Americans don't know the effects of a nuclear weapon either

How many times have you heard some idiot say about Iraq "why don't we just nuke them"? If I heard it once I have heard it a hundred times.

Don

[VolcanoJen]

3. They've got their "Dear Leader." We've got ours.

Both are talented and nimble at keeping the wool pulled over our eyes.

[bedtimeforbonzo]

6. just because they are paranoid

doesn't mean we aren't out to get them.

[ngGale]

8. The sad part is that they do think...

we are out to get them. They have a real fear grounded in the Bush policy. Just goes to show just how popular our leader really is.

[54anickel]

9. I don't blame them, heck I have a real fear grounded in the Bush policy!

[Aidoneus]

10. a policy of aggression dating back *LONG* before Bush

this is absurd..