With the two nations still technically in a state of war, many ordinary people in Seoul expressed scepticism about the sincerity of the young dictator’s announcement
North Korea’s announcement of a halt in its nuclear and missile tests was met with scepticism by many South Koreans on Saturday, highlighting political risk for the South’s president as he embarks on the latest push for peace on the peninsula.
North Korea will immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests and scrap its nuclear test site, instead pursuing economic growth and peace, the North’s state media said.
But in South Korea, which is still technically in a state of war with its unpredictable, isolated neighbour, many ordinary people expressed scepticism about the sincerity of the announcement and stressed the need for caution.
“A declaration is just a declaration,” student Kim Han-nuri, 23, told Reuters in downtown Seoul on a sunny spring morning.
“Unless there’s a change in its dictatorial system, I don’t think we can completely trust anything North Korea says as it isn’t a normal country… I don’t believe we can build normal diplomatic relations and our safety can’t be guaranteed.”
South Koreans have lived for decades under the threat of war with their hostile and now nuclear-armed neighbour.
They’ve also seen several earlier pushes for reconciliation that raised hopes of peace only to end in a return to acrimony.
