It turns out that Americans fear North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s highly publicized desire to develop and test nuclear weapons much more than Kim's neighbors in South Korea. A 2017 survey of 3,839 adults found that worsening air quality is actually South Korea’s biggest concern, followed by water pollution, the country's aging population, and the threat of economic stagnation. South Korea has the worst air quality of the 36 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Concerns about breathing, not bombs:
- Levels of fine particulate matter in the air -- almost three times higher than World Health Organization guidelines -- are causing South Koreans to worry about cancer and respiratory ailments.
- “I’m directly breathing this toxic, polluted air on my way to work and home every day,” explained an office worker in Seoul.
- South Koreans have lived with their unpredictable neighbor to the north for decades, and a majority of young people do not view the North Korean regime as an imminent threat.
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Discussion Comments
I think that North Korea must be abandoned. This aggressive attitude of the USA government must end. They must know North Korea having nuclear capabilities is very dangerous for humans, plants and animals.
This will mislead some people. If the point is that South Koreans care more about the pollution they experience than they do about a nuclear threat from the North, then fine. That doesn't mean that US citizens should be concerned with South Korean's pollution more than with North Korea's nuclear program. Both the South Korean and the US positions are perfectly reasonable.
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