Explosive past hides underlying sadness of a people railroaded apart

When North Korea carried out its latest nuclear test, people in South Korea had little option but to try and get on with their daily lives, writes Paul Quinn

JUST over a week ago, I stood on the demilitarised border between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) with my fellow tourists, while a lone North Korean soldier gazed down on us impassively from his guard-post.

I had finally taken the DMZ or Demilitarised Zone tour, a jaunt for visitors along the strongly reinforced border between the two states. At times the whole scenario almost seemed like an elaborate charade; here South Korean soldiers adopt their famous aggressive stance and face towards their North Korean counterparts, but only when the tourists arrive.