The torrent of outrage over North Korea's nuclear bomb test continued today, as the belligerent nation tested another two missiles. Politicians and security analysts the world over are in a panic over the North Korean saber-rattling.

The United Nations Security Council today issued a unanimous condemnation of the nuclear test, and said a stiff resolution was in the works.

Blasé
One might expect the fear to be greatest among South Koreans, who for almost 60 years have been technically at war with the North. Yet Seoul-based British journalist Andrew Salmon says that while security experts are concerned, the South Korean public is noticeably unimpressed.

North Korean rocket launch "Just after the latest launch of a pair of missiles, a friend of mine asked a girl in the office, ‘Are you concerned about this, are you concerned about North Korean nuclear fallout?' She burst out laughing.

"The simple fact is the South Koreans have lived with the North Korean threat for the last sixty years. Seoul lies within artillery range of North Korea. There are 300 artillery pieces dug in along the demilitarised zone north of Seoul, and they could rain fire and destruction on the city at any minute. So the South Koreans are already living under tremendous threat, and they're pretty blasé about these kind of strategic threats."

Salmon added that the South Korean markets - often a barometer of the public mood - have only fallen slightly in the wake of the nuclear test.

Big step
The South Korean government did not let the nuclear test go unanswered; after years of debate, Seoul joined the American-led Proliferation Security Initiative. Under the initiative, ships suspected of carrying illicit materials including weapons of mass destruction can be interdicted and searched.

"The government here has taken a stronger line than might be expected. This is a pretty big step for the South Koreans to take," Mr Salmon said.

North Korea has always said it would consider it a declaration of war should Seoul join the initiative, but Mr Salmon said such statements leave the South Korean public cold.

"Here on the ground, you've got to separate North Korea's rhetoric from its actual capability. There's a great deal of rhetoric and vitriol which comes from North Korea, and people here have learned to take what they say with a pinch of salt."

The nuclear bomb and missile tests are of greater concern to Japan and the United States than they are to South Korea, Mr Salmon said. For the citizens of those nations, the North Korean threat only recently became salient.