‘I held my husband and cried’: Wartime alerts fuel panic and confusion in Seoul



News ‘I held my husband and cried’: Wartime alerts fuel panic and confusion in Seoul Air raid sirens and evacuation orders left many fearing North Korean attack, though others greeted alerts with shrug Ifang Bremer \| Jeongmin Kim \| Yeji Chung May 31, 2023 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON An illustration of a megaphone blasting sound over a city at sunrise Air raid sirens and wartime evacuation alerts jolted Seoul residents from their slumbers early Wednesday morning, leading even those desensitized to North Korean threats to worry about an imminent attack. 29-year-old Park Somi said the warnings to seek shelter left her terrified. Air raid sirens and wartime evacuation alerts jolted Seoul residents from their slumbers early Wednesday morning, leading even those desensitized to North Korean threats to worry about an imminent attack. 29-year-old Park Somi said the warnings to seek shelter left her terrified. Try unlimited access Only $1 for four weeks Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts. Subscribe now All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by And how should we address you in correspondence? One more step! Please check your inbox, for an email we just sent you, and click on the confirmation message in it to get subscribed to our Daily News Update. Trending

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‘I held my husband and cried’: Wartime alerts fuel panic and confusion in Seoul

Air raid sirens and evacuation orders left many fearing North Korean attack, though others greeted alerts with shrug

Ifang Bremer | Jeongmin Kim | Yeji Chung May 31, 2023

‘I held my husband and cried’: Wartime alerts fuel panic and confusion in Seoul

An illustration of a megaphone blasting sound over a city at sunrise

Air raid sirens and wartime evacuation alerts jolted Seoul residents from their slumbers early Wednesday morning, leading even those desensitized to North Korean threats to worry about an imminent attack.

29-year-old Park Somi said the warnings to seek shelter left her terrified.

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Only $1 for four weeks

Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis
Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period
The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop
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Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting

Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts.

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About the Authors

Ifang Bremer

Ifang Bremer is a Seoul Correspondent at NK News. He has worked on investigations for The Guardian and The Observer and previously wrote features on Korea for Dutch newspaper NRC.

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Jeongmin Kim

Jeongmin Kim is the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean relations and North and South Korean foreign and military affairs. Kim has covered the 2022 ROK presidential election on the ground, and prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency’s Seoul bureau.

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Yeji Chung

Yeji Chung is a research intern at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former news trainee at NK News. She graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor's degree in political science and government.

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