The title of this blog tells nothing, yet, you came in knowing exactly what it was about: the hydrogen bomb. But surprise! This will tell you little about the bomb itself, but more about the human psyche.
Of Aesop’s fables, there is a tale of a shepherd who, out of boredom, screams for help that a wolf has come to eat his sheep. He does this again, and each time, his neighbors come to help, only to find that it is a prank. This story ends tragically when a wolf actually shows up; the shepherd calls for aid, but the villagers, thinking it’s another joke, do not come.
There are two sides to this tragedy of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. The first is that of the shepherd, who should not have lied. The second is that of villagers who did not take the call for emergency seriously. Neither is at a fault more than another; both should be held responsible.
The Republic of Korea (South Korea)’s response to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)’s recent hydrogen bomb testing was just that. For days, the topic of the H-Bomb was the number one trending news on many news portals as well as social media sites worldwide. Ironically, the ROK only reported about this a few days after and the news did not reach the same level of panic as in the rest of the world.
Since the division of the peninsula in 1945, North Korea has been increasingly focused on nuclear weapons and energy development. The hydrogen bomb testing resulted in a reported 5.1 Richter scale sized earthquake.Â
Over the years, the people of ROK are no longer fazed by developments in the north and no longer does this talk about a successful testing of hydrogen fusion, alarm them. While it is admirable that the news of the hydrogen bomb has not created a nation-wide hysteria in the ROK, as it has in other places, there is instead a lack of alertness. With awareness, rather than complete frenzy or complete ignorance, future crises can more easily be dealt with. It will be too late when the people of the ROK realizes this – when the wolf actually comes.
Evans, Stephens. “North Korea’s Dramatic Rhetoric and Claims over its Bomb Test.” BBC News. n.p. Web. 15 January 2016.
