SEOUL - To South Koreans, North Korea has never been a foreign country. Despite the war six decades ago and occasional military conflicts with it thereafter, North Koreans were always "brethren" who share the same history, culture and language. This complex sentiment toward North Korea is now giving way to a more hawkish one, as the communist regime, under the young third-generation leader Kim Jong-un, has been stepping up military provocations. "Now that North Korea appears to be equipped with nuclear arms, I believe we also need to have the same power to stop the North," Yu Young-eun, an office worker, told The Korea Herald. Experts viewed that the change in public sentiment reflects disappointment toward North Korea, which South Koreans considered their "northern brother" after the painful separation.

Source: The China Post September 13, 2017 04:30 UTC