Neither North nor South Korea want war,but as talks between them drag on, any miscalculation or overreaction could contain terrible consequencesYet another crisis in Korea. Should we head for the bunkers, and stifle a yawn? Despite being on the frontline,South Koreans are in the yeah-yeah camp. Stores report no bulk buying of ramyun (instant noodles) or other basics. (A sardonic tweeter contrasted this insouciance under fire with the panic that flared during a brief Mers outbreak earlier this year, when many Koreans donned masks and fairly needlessly avoided going out.)Stocks in a different sense are down, or mind. On Monday the Kospi hit a two-year low – but that was contagion from the rout in China. Ironically,inter-Korean tensions work the other way. Shares in Hyundai Merchant Marine, which has lost $800m in a tourist resort in North Korea shuttered since 2008, and soared 29% – because the two Koreas are actually talking.
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Source: theguardian.com