While General Motors makes contingency plans for its employees in and around Seoul, South Korean carmakers appear a lot more relaxed about the muscle-flexing by their neighbours in the north.
Reports from the peninsular say that one of the odd things about the current situation is that the further you get from Korea, the greater the level of fear. As the world waits for thermonuclear war US and South Korean intelligence both say Pyongyang couldn’t carry it through.
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Korea-watchers say the North has little to gain but lots to lose from starting a war – surrounded by super powers, North Korea has to raise its fur to “look big” every now and then.
While the DPRK fuels up another missile, most people in Seoul are playing down the likelihood of an attack, saying a test is more likely. Everything will blow over once April 15, the 101st anniversary of the birthday of the North’s founding father Kim Il Sung, passes.
They have seen it all before, said Paul Philpott, president of Kia Motors UK, adding: “from what we are hearing from our offices in Seoul there is not a great deal of concern at the moment.
“There are many things coming together which are stirring things up – a new, young leader in North Korea who wants to position himself on the world stage, a new leader in the South, joint military exercise in the region and the approaching April 15 anniversary.
“If I was sitting in Seoul now I would be no more worried than at any other time when tensions have risen over the past 50 years.”
See also: US: GM’s Akerson talks of Korea ‘contingency plans’
