OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - As tension between North Korea and the United States continues to grow, people in the metro with ties to the region wonder what could lie ahead.
American leaders have said North Korea could be “begging for war” after another round of missile tests over the weekend.
The tests followed an incident involving a missile being fired into Japanese waters last week.
For Korean people living in the metro with loved ones still residing back in South Korea, the tensions with North Korea are nothing new.
"This issue has been going on since the Korean War,” Chase Kim, manager of the Gangnam restaurant in Overland Park, said. "I just don't worry about it until it happens.”
Kim has lived in America for about ten years, but still has cousins and grandparents living overseas in South Korea. Kim said the current situation with North Korea did not seem any different from what’s been happening in the region since the 50s.
"A lot of Korean people do their daily things,” he said. "They don't go and freak out.”
As President Donald Trump and other American leaders continue to exchange threatening words with the totalitarian regime, Kim hoped peace could come soon.
"This is a global matter,” he said. "I think everybody needs to come together to create a peaceful resolution.”
Missouri and Kansas leaders have also commented on the tension over nuclear weapons and North Korea.
While making an appearance at a “Fight for $15” rally on Monday, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said the situation in Asia brought up many concerns.
“Kim [Jong Un] is a dangerous man with a bad haircut and we have to take him seriously,” he said. “We don't have a lot of good options. Sanctions have not worked. The Chinese and the Russians haven't been able to corral him. The worst part of this is we might have to learn to live and coexist with a madman with nuclear arms.”
Cleaver said he hoped North Korea would reconsider doing further missile tests.
“Kim [Jong Un] knows it is suicidal,” the congressman said. "If they get the U.S. or any of its territories like Guam, North Korea will be annihilated. It will not exist anymore. Nobody wants to kill 60 million people but if he attacks, unfortunately the US is going to respond in kind.”
