Seoul is located in the northwest corner of the country. It border with North Korea is only about 40km from the city centre. Seoul was given its present name in 1945, and was chosen to be the capital of the Republic of Korea in 1948. Experiencing everything Korean, from the bawdy red light districts to the calm traditional teahouse any time of the day makes Seoul an adventure worth taking.

To experience the traditional culture of Korea while remaining in the heart of the city, try Insa dong. With art galleries, traditional craft stores, antique art dealers, traditional tea houses and traditional restaurants it is simply the place for tourists wanting to experience traditional Korea. The area is especially good for finding antiques in old paintings, ceramics, wooden vessels, and antique furniture can all be found in abundance at Insa dong. The 70 or so art galleries in the area also make Insa dong ideal as a cultural space.

Modern design and technology can be witnessed simultaneously in the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art which opened last October. Designed by a trio of daring western architects, it features a childrens museum by Rem Koolhaas, a contemporary art gallery by Jean Nouvel and Mario Bottos terracotta twin towers tamped to the brim with Buddhist relics. The museum will even lend you a palmtop computer to guide you round the childrens museum and entrance to the exhibitions is free.

North Korea says this is only a defensive mechanism to prevent a US invasion of their country. They also claimed that they did these tests very scientifically and underground so that no radiation would escape and there would be no fallout to their neighbors. Even though China and Japan’s leaders had met and to both warned North Korea not to do these tests; North Korea did it anyway.

It looks as if six party talks have not worked and the United Nations has failed again. North Korean leaders have also met with Iran and are interested in exporting such weapons. This causes a huge problem in the world, as we all know that Iran has already promised to; Blow Israel off the Map. The proliferation of nuclear weapons in that region cannot be a good thing for the world and having a rogue nation like North Korea willing to sell these nuclear weapons to other nation states or even international terrorist is a very frightening thought. Perhaps we might consider all this in 2006.

Approximately 78 million people speak Korean, including communities of immigrants now living in the former Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, United States, Brazil, Japan, United Kingdom, as well as the Philippines. The so called denomination of the language varies between both Koreas. In South Korea it is usually called Hangugeo or Hangungmal. Officially the name given to Korean is gugeo which means “language of the country.Colloquially speaking it is also referred to as urimal that literally means “our language.”

North Korean typically refer to the Korean language as Chos nmal although it is also called urimal. The standard of North Korea is based on the way it is spoken in the capital P’yngyang while in the south the standard is the way it is spoken in Seoul. The differences between these two forms of the Korean language does not make it impossible for speakers of either group to communicate with each other because the differences are more or less equivalent to the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish spoken in Latin America.

Since neither of these two views have been demonstrated decisively, those who do study the language prefer to refer to the Korean language as a language significantly distinct from the aforementioned groups. From a morphological point of view, the Korean language uses agglutination which is the process of adding affixes to the base of a word. Korean maintains a grammatical syntax whose base is Subject-Object-Verb. Japanese, Vietnamese, and the Korean languages are influenced heavily by the Chinese language.

In Iran there is, as stated earlier, a national anthem called “Death to America”. Many would view this as an empty threat and that it is just a time old tradition that the Iranian people sing to support their country. Others view this as a threat that they will attack America when they can. It is difficult to decide to what is the meaning of national anthem when parliament allowed for it to be sung time and time again.

In North Korea, there have been many threats of leader Kim Jong-Il to America and other countries saying statements like, “If any country including America interfere with the missile launch then they will pay.” This automatically will give anyone the impression that this is a world threat from North Korea. Others view this as a childhood spat and ignore the threat to be all in “good fun”. Sarcasm is the scapegoat that many reporters view it as.

With the many issues surrounding these two countries, time will tell who the biggest threat is. Many people in the world are preparing for anything to happen and there have been many reports to what the two countries are doing to fuel the fire of the assumptions. In the world there are many conflicts. Recognizing and acknowledging the strife will allow you to see what is coming in the future.

It’s a cruel world, full of deception and hypocrisy. It was obvious in the last G20 summit. America and the Russia agreed to reduce their nuclear war heads as if that is enough to balance the power in the world. Let every nation possess it or no nation has it at all. Why? This is because the decision on the world resources depend on how powerful a nation is.. The west takes the chunk while others scramble on the crumbs. According to Kenneth Clark, the former home office Minster in the United kingdom, the west are only familiar with spending and spending more than what they own, while the rest of the world live within their means and save for the future.

Apart from the poor sharing of the world resources there is too much abuse of power going on. Some problems are better resolved diplomatically rather than militarily. America will never attack Iraq if Iraq has a long range missile. Look at India and Pakistan for instance. They look like enemies but war seems not be in their agenda for now because they both posses what it takes to ground each others nation.. It boils down to the same notion, let all the world missiles be got rid off or let every nation posses it.

North Korea made warnings to Japan stating that an attempt to intercept the missile will be viewed as an act of war. They also stated that they will use all military force necessary to stop any interceptors from destroying the missile. Japan state that it does not intend to shoot the missile down but rather to defend it’s territory. This is confirmed in the fact that the missile has the range to carry a nuclear warhead to Japan and North Korea has several nuclear warheads.

The idea that a missile with the capability of carrying a nuclear warhead is being launched by a communist country is troubling for all democratic countries. North Korea has a past of troubling activity and is currently still giving any disruptments to their extreme behavior an extreme reaction. There is talk that the North has the ability to make a smaller version of nuclear warheads that could be attached to Rodong missiles giving the missiles a much broader range. This information is unconfirmed but troubling at that.

North Korea has claimed that the US has had over 100 flights over the missile area and their territory. Now the North is threatening to shoot down any spy planes that enter their airspace to monitor the rocket launch. This was in reaction to this increase in spy flights by the US. The North still is planning the missile test between April 4 through the 8th in which the United States says they can do nothing to stop it unless for some reason it looks like it is headed for Hawaii or somewhere threatening. North Korea has already moved the missile onto a launch pad and is preparing for it’s launch.

Deeply moved, Hardie began to share his testimony of the work of the Holy Spirit and publicly repent before other fellow missionaries. Subsequently, he shared his confessions and repented before Korean congregations, which ignited a flame of revival and a receiving of the Holy Spirit as never experienced before. As the revivals grew in number and intensity throughout Wonsan, the following year witnessed the outbreak of an enormous blessing and revival that swept the area through Pyongyang, Seoul and beyond.

The height of the revivals that took place between 1900-1910 came on January 14, 1907 when over 1,500 gathered for a meeting and were invited to pray. The entire congregation burst into prayer and public confession lasting throughout the night until the next day. The Spirit that came through this Pentecost spread to the children and youth sparking revivals of a similar scale among high school students. It is said that the repentance and forgiveness was to the degree that the jails in all of Pyongyang were empty!

Men and women became walking testimonies of the power of the Holy Spirit as their daily lives were completely transformed to the amazement of friends and family. Korean Christians gained a new strength and boldness as they took leadership in the independence movement and endured terrible persecution during a dark period of Korean history. The face of Korea was changed forever and the spirit of the 1907 Revival has endured throughout the history of the Korean church.

Now China is upset because North Korea has defied their requests and tested a so-called nuclear weapon underground. Japan has already applied trade sanctions on North Korea and has no other options in that arena. The United States has some options such as a Naval Blockage, but that would only hurt the people of North Korea who live under that dictator.

China is all about business and trade and is not so particular with who it sells too; example being Iran, which sponsors international terrorism. Will China actually do sanctions on North Korea or does it just like talk tough? Will China flex its military muscle and take over North Korea, it could use some extra growing room. North Korea has significant assets and that is some nice real estate? No one is going to help North Korea and it would be a slam-dunk for China.

Either way a conflict may not be likely and sanctions will not work and if North Korea insists on manufacturing nuclear weapons and exporting them as an Industry then the whole world has a problem. It is well-known that Iran has already met with North Korea and it is quite possible that they could be North Korea’s first customer if North Korea has made nuclear weapons.

So, what can be done to confront this nuclear threat? The current situation can not be addressed by the United States alone. It is my fear that the Republican majority in all branches of U.S. government will continue with the typical and ineffective go-it-alone strategy that has not won us the key support needed in protect our international interests. The international community is the only body capable of effectively handling the North Korean situation which has now developed into a global problem.

First, in a global economy, it is necessary for voters in the upcoming election to cast their votes to bring a more Democratic balance into the make-up of our current govenment. Democrats would be more effective in diplomacy and can speak the international tongue. Whether you agree with their policies and beliefs or not, they are more likely to restore trust and a sense of humanity to our foreign agenda.

Second, if the international community is the channel of tough sanctions, China is the key. The country of China is an emerging dominate player in the Asian region and is also responsible for trade that equates to roughly 50% of North Korea’s energy and food imports. If China does not accept its new international role in a responsible fashion, then the world will continue in its struggle to suppress renegade dictatorships.

Finally, North Korea has already been warned in their efforts to develop nuclear capabilities, but apparently decided not to listen. I believe we should impose the toughest of sanctions and work with our allies to allow for massive refugee transportation out of North Korea. At this point, deadlines should be drawn up for an international force to work together in removing this dictator from power if president Kim Jong-il does not comply and agree to dismantle his nuclear program.

In regards to a potential North Korean attack on South Korea, we already know that underground tunnels have been discovered to be dug deep into South Korean territory. The scary thing to note is that millions of people live in the capital of Seoul, South Korea, which is not very from the border with the north. If it is already assumed that some tunnels have not yet been discovered, what is to stop North Korea from detonating a nuclear weapon right under the heels of a major South Korean city such as Seoul? This would cause millions of people to suffer a horrific death. Another possibility to ponder is North Korea’s capability to transport weapons of mass destruction to our enemies whether it is Al Qaeda, Iran, Syria, etc.

North Korea is a population of more than 23 millions. North Korea is bigger in area than South Korea and slightly smaller than England. Most of the areas are occupied by military people where one is not supposed to enter. On the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is situated. Demilitarized zone in south, japan in the east, china in the North and yellow sea in the west flank North Korea. You will find this country a happening place the dark in contrast to South Korea.

This country is ruled by Kim Chong II after his father and the founder president died in 1994. Since most of the land consists of rugged mountains, the grain productivity is very less and the country has to depend upon the International food aid to feed its population. Decades of mismanagement are also responsible for this fact. Only a small is cultivable. The eastern part is rocky and western part has the coastal plains. North Korea’s climate is temperate. It is slightly colder and drier than South Korea in winter. Summer is hot, rainy and humid. May, June, September and October are the best months to visit this country.