On LI, Koreans concerned as tensions back home rise

With the deadly artillery attack by North Korea against a South Korean island heightening tension between the nations in recent days, Myungja Nancy Hahn isn't getting much sleep.

Hahn, who handles social and medical outreach for the World Mission Church of New York in Manorville and has many relatives in South Korea, said she's following the news around the clock. "I have an iPhone and I get news alerts popping up in the middle of the night," she explained.

"Sure, it's a concern," she said of the clash.

But like many Korean-Americans on Long Island, Hahn views the attack that killed four and injured 19 people on Yeonpyeong Island Tuesday as another episode in a long history of sabre-rattling by Communist North Korea - an incident unlikely to escalate into a full-scale war

"This has happened many times in the past," she said. "I think South Korea has to stand tall and be more strong. I think it's time that they decide what they have to do so it won't happen again and again."

South Korea's government and Korean-Americans here can't ignore the attacks, she said, because "Seoul is so close to the DMZ" - 30 miles from the demilitarized zone that has separated the two Koreas since the 1950-53 war. The international airport in Inchon is just 20 miles from the border.

Hahn noted she has brothers living in Seoul - South Korea's capital and largest city, with a population of more than 10 million - and other relatives in Inchon. But she said she is comforted that "the U.S.A. supports us very much."

Father Tujin Paul Kim of St. Aloysius Korean Catholic Apostolate Church in Great Neck said, "We believe it is kind of a political power game right now." Still his congregation is concerned.

"Some of them, especially those who have family in Korea, worry about it," he said. "My brother called today from Korea and said there is a little anxiety about a war."

Timothy Sutfin, director of New Beginnings, an adoption agency in Mineola that brings many South Korean orphans to the United States, has heard some Long Island Korean-Americans expressing anxiety.

"I think everyone's a little apprehensive," he said.