their late 20s or early 30smen must first save for an apartmentno one marries early says seo kangsooassistant minister in the culture and information servicehe agrees birth rates are a concern and says there are incentives for the second and third childrena week in south korea when the country is busy marking 60 years of the start of the 1950 korean war offers revealing glimpses of a nation that fashioned a futurebut is very aware of its pastthe impressive memorial to soldiers who fell in the conflictand repeated expressions of gratitude on random lips speak of an institutionalisedindebted sense of historyinterestinglysome 700 indian army medical corp personnel served in the warin pursuance of jawaharlal nehrus desire to work with the unthe unit was part of the unmandated forcesthat small gesture has reaped rich dividends at memorial programmes where us military commanders are a prominent presencethe two koreas seem to be still at warnorth of the 38th parallel is one of the worlds most isolated regimesthe demilitarised zone between the two koreas is touted as one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world as well as a tourist attractionon june 24on the eve of the 60th anniversary of northern aggressionno bullets were firedbut the animosity seems barely dimmedoutside the bare concrete visitors house on the north korean sidea soldier surveys the south through a pair of binocularshe is watching an elaborate exercise where war veterans from new zealandaustraliagreeceturkey and the us arrive in buses to be feted with quick tours of the borderclose to 40000 us soldiers died in the cold war eras first hot war andtodayamericans make up most of the un military commission at panmunjomthe sinking of the south korean corvette cheonan has reminded the south of its vulnerabilitiesnorth koreas leader kim jongil is apparently manoeuvering to install son jongun as successorthe torpedoing of the cheonan was a welltimed bit of machismothere is little love for cousins across the border in the southwith young people being the most unsentimentalthe official desire for unification has little public resonancenortheast asias geopolitics revolves around china and japan with tokyos economic clout perpetuating a historical influencethe rise of china is the big event and the korean development institutes joongkyung choi agrees it is both an opportunity and a threatsouth koreas trade is booming and he sees chinese markets and exporters using korean expertise and capitalthough he refused to comment on political issueschina is the central influence on north korea and the cheonan incident didnt help business confidencewhile the uss shadow over the region is all too visiblenorth koreas unpredictable behaviour troubles seoulofficials admit it is difficult to anticipate pyongyangs moves and assess kims ability to whip up patriotic sentimentdespite food shortages and an anaemic economythe hermit nations military is a formidable fighting machinewe are constantly involved in a guessing gameour options in the face of aggression are limited said an officialstrangelydespite chinas recalcitrance to reign in its wayward protgkorean sentiment seems to tilt more towards beijing rather than democratic japanwith whom