Most days along the borderline between the North and South Korea are very quiet ones. It’s very unusual to hear any type of music, let alone the funky and cheerful music of Korean Pop (K-pop) at such an intense place. However, on Jan. 8, two days after the North blasted hydrogen bombs into the air, the South decided to reply with none other than the catchy tunes of K-pop.
South Korea set up large speakers near the border, and began to blast out recordings of propaganda, as the songs of popular K-pop artists like A-pink and G-friend played in the background. The two sides of Korea have always been known to have a rocky history. After the Korean War, which took place between 1950 and 1953, a treaty was never signed; thus, the two Koreas are technically still at war with each other.
Many conflicts have followed since then, but the two sides have shown a desire to reconcile as well. For example, back in 2007, the presidents of North and South Korea met to hold peace talks. Unfortunately, the peace talks did not work out. Fast forwarding to 2016, every Korean can sense the obvious lasting tensions between the two sides.
Clifford Ki, a Korean-American freshman at Loyola High School, can patently feel the growing tensions as well. “Ever since I can remember, I have felt a silent feeling of anxiety amongst the people of North and South Korea.”
Clifford says that as a young child, he could feel a constant tension between the families of his grandmother and grandfather. His grandmother, a North Korean, married his grandfather, a South Korean, even though it was frowned upon by the members of her family. Although the couple loved each other, Clifford says that the families have always had a bad relationship.
South Korea and North Korea still remain in a silent war filled with tension and unease; although both sides have not engaged in physical altercations in a while, the two Koreas continue to ruffle one another’s feathers.