Korean Crisis ‘Is Not Starcraft’

Last week, North Korea shelled a South Korean island, sending the peninsula in to “crisis status”. The South fired several test shots in response but, according to the New York Times, the country denied that any hit the North.

South Korean defence minister Kim Tae-young was questioned by one politician why the South’s retaliation was delayed 13 minutes and not forceful enough, to which Kim replied, “This isn’t StarCraft.”

Kim certainly wasn’t making light of the situation. If anything, he was using StarCraft, a national obsession in South Korea, to illustrate a point: the confrontation with the North is very serious and cannot be taken lightly.

In the wake of the shelling, which left two South Korean civilians and two marines dead, the BBC reports that Kim was urged to step down due to his handling of the situation. Ultimately, Kim resigned, and in his letter of resignation he took full responsibility for how the events played out.

In South Korea, StarCraft games appear on television and even as a metaphor in at least one soap opera.

김태영 국방부장관의 스타크래프트 드립.JPG (동영상) and egalite_twitted [Dr.Bee and Twitter]

Republished from Kotaku