North Korea attacks Yeonpyeong Island

On November 23, 2010, my Mom and I entered the Hyatt Club room on Jeju Island and saw that the news was showing a fire somewhere in Korea, but it was all in Korean. Asking the waiter, we were calmly told that North Korea had attacked Yeonpyeong, an South Korean Island, which lays only 10KM from North Korea.

For a geography lesson. Bottom picture shows how the Korean Peninsula is attached to China. You can see where Seoul is on this map as well. The top map is zoomed in and shows you where Yeonpyeong Island is. I think it is actually closer to North Korea than South Korea, and I guess ownership of this lsland has been under dispute for some time between the Koreas.

We were a little scared. My Mom and I were safely all the way to the South of South Korea on Jeju, but planned to return to Seoul within a day or so. There seemed to be a lot of tension here for a few days, but all has seemed to level out. I am told that US news still talks about the tension in Korea, but very little Korean news mentions it.

It is a strange feeling to not have any answers and no one to turn to. The US Embassy was saying "stay wher e you are" while the news was not so calm. You have no idea what the right decision is, so we waited it out. I will say that I understand why some people in New Orleans stayed when Katrina was approaching...it is a very hard decision to make.

Nevertheless, it is something we don't want to face, but need to be prepared for. For all of our family and friends, GM has promised to take care of us. We have an emergency evacuation plan, not to the US, but to a neutral, close area like Singapore or Hong Kong. Sadly, they don't take pets, so we still have a decision to make regarding Maddy. The overall sentiment here is that things are not over between the Koreas...it is just a matter of time. So, the question that we continue to ask ourselves...do we send Maddy home for the remainder of our time here in Korea, or do we wait it out, enjoy having her here with us and take the chance of getting her on a flight if anything should happen.

Just to throw this in...Mike offered the solution of leaving her in the house and all of her food on the floor with water, until we returned! Let me know what you guys think about that...I think bad idea!!!