Residents of a South Korean Island Cope with Living Next Door to North Korea

"Tensions continue to rise on the South and North Korea. North Korea has already listed South"

Almost all of Baengnyeong Island’s north coast is lined with concertina wire fences and cement walls. There are just a few ports, where fishing boats can head out to sea. 

The island is located in the Yellow Sea, just off North Korea’s coast.

And North Korea has already listed the island as a military target.

I met Lee Hwan-sun at one of these wharfs. He was fixing holes in a giant orange fishing net.
 
“Normally, I’d be able to drive my boat out for five minutes into the sea and then start fishing. But now, because of North Korea’s threats, I wouldn’t think about going out that far.”
 
At its closest point, Baengnyeong is only about 15 kilometers away from North Korean territory.

Last month, the North’s ruler Kim Jong-un ordered his army to take aim at the island if war erupts.

These waters of the Yellow Sea have long been a flashpoint between the two Koreas. But some locals say they are more worried than ever.
 
Sitting on wooden planks spread over a bed of broken clamshells, five women who all work at another coastal port, were having a late afternoon lunch when I showed up.  They were all in their seventies and didn’t want to tell me their names, but said they have had enough of Pyongyang’s hostility.

They all agreed that the North’s young leader is unpredictable.
 
“Kim Jong-eun is worse than his father Kim Jong-il.  We do not know when he is going to launch a missile. We are all scared,” says one of the women.
 
The island has many defenses against a North Korean invasion. Thousands of South Korean soldiers and marines are stationed on Baengnyeong. And to protect residents, around 90 bomb shelters are spread across the island.
 
Kim Jin-guk points to a map hanging on the bunker’s wall to show me how close Baengnyeong is to North Korea,

He heads the island’s Civil Defense Force.  Kim says locals don’t just brush off Pyongyang’s threats like many other South Koreans tend to do.   
 
“Because the possibility of being attacked here is so much higher, people here are more aware about the danger from North Korea than people in Seoul or elsewhere. Residents here are worried about an attack.”
 
Kim adds that includes himself. 

But he says he’s not afraid of all out war - just a surprise attack like the one North Korea launched in 2010 on neighboring Yeongpyeong, which killed four South Koreans.  Kim says if North Korean bombs do fall on Baengnyeong Island, an alarm system will alert residents to head for safety in the shelters. 

But of course, Kim hopes he does not have to ever use it. 
 
Proximity aside, islanders might pay more attention because whenever Pyongyang threatens the South, their livelihoods are the first to take a hit.
 
Tourism is a major industry here, but officials say Pyongyang’s rhetoric is keeping visitors away. Even some companies that ferry passengers to and from the mainland say they don’t know how much longer they can operate if this situation continues.
 
Park Dong-sik owns the Mun-hwa Hotel and says business is really hurting.
 
“The North South tension and the media coverage of Baengnyeong is causing my guests to cancel reservations all the way until June,” says Park. “The impact on local businesses now is worse than any other time I can recall.”  
 
Park was lucky on this day. 

Around 40 tourists from a town outside of Seoul are staying at his hotel. They all belong to a senior citizen travel club and don’t seem to bothered by North Korea’s bluster. 

Nam Jeong-woo is one of them.
 
“What does it matter if we are here on the island or back home?  If they attack the island then the whole country will be at war. Everyone part of South Korea will be a battle field.” 
 
But after their tour is over, these travelers will get to go back home. And Baengnyeong’s residents will still be looking down the barrel of North Korea’s weapons.

Park Dong-sik says he’s used to it.
 
“I am not scared of North Korea, I trust that the soldiers stationed here will protect us if fighting breaks out.  No matter how bad the situation gets, I will never leave the island.”
 
But some want their loved ones off the island, just in case.
 
Fisherman Lee Hwan-sun, he says he’s given a lot of thought to leaving Baengnyeong all together.
 
“My children have been telling my wife and I that we should leave the island and move with them on the mainland.   I’ve been thinking about it, because of all the noise coming from North Korea, but if we all leave, then what will happen to the island?”
 
Lee says for now, he’ll just keep fixing his gear and be ready for when he can take his fishing boat back out to sea.
 

• South Korea
• North Korea
• Baengyeong Island
• nuclear war
• Jason Strother
• eng