South Koreans call North Korea poor curiosity rather than nucle

IMJINGAK, South Korea -- Birds flew over the muddy river that divides the two Koreas. School children jostled at an observation post. Tourists paid to gaze at their northern neighbor.

A village along one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world betrayed few signs of uneasiness amid reports that North Korea had developed nuclear weapons.

The village of Imjingak and a nearby "Unification Observatory" were crowded with people who peeked at their communist neighbor, a mile across the fog-shrouded Imjin River.

Despite the possibility of a nuclear-armed North Korea, tourists and many others in this country of 47 million say they still consider their northern neighbor a poor curiosity instead of a threat.

Children practiced a traditional mask dance and frolicked around a black granite memorial dedicated to U.S. soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. Vendors hawked "DMZ" baseball hats. Tourists bought liquor and pine pollen imported from North Korea.

"I don't feel any sense of crisis," said Park Chang-ik, a 50-year-old tourist. "The times have changed."

Living through decades of Cold War confrontations, South Koreans have grown used to the rise and fall of relations with the North. Yet the calm way they received the latest revelation about the North testifies to softening attitudes on both sides.

At Imjingak and the observatory towers, where tourists pay about $1.50 for a view of their neighbor, memories of war mix with hopes for reunification.

"Nothing can hurt you more than just waiting," an elderly South Korean man wrote on a patch of cloth stuck on the fence, wishing for an early reunification so that he can go home to the North before he dies.