Doualy Xaykaothao

Koreans In U.S. Have Mixed Reaction To North's Threats

Doualy Xaykaothao — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:09:00 +0000

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Here in the U.S., the largest Korean population is in California. It's actually the largest concentration outside of northeast Asia. People in that community have been especially alarmed by North Korea's recent threats. But as Doualy Xaykaothao reports from Los Angeles, many Koreans living there think the North's provocations are mostly bluster.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHATTER)

DOUALY XAYKAOTHAO, BYLINE: Backstage at Royce Hall Auditorium, members of the UCLA Korean-American Student Association are busy constructing stage props for their annual cultural night.

Along Korea's DMZ, No Sign That Tensions Are Easing

Doualy Xaykaothao — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Cold winds blow through pine trees and across nearby mountains. On the horizon are guard posts and cameras. There's little movement, except for wildlife.

U.S. Lt. Col. Ed Taylor, lives and works on the Korean armistice line that has divided North and South for almost six decades. He even sleeps in a bed right next to North Korea.

"I cannot compare it to anything I've ever done. And I say that with 23 years in the Army and two deployments to Iraq," Taylor says.

He commands the only combined U.S. and South Korean battalion on the Korean Peninsula.

For Kids In Japan, Adjusting To A Changed World

Doualy Xaykaothao — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:41:00 +0000

Teacher Dave Rowlands is talking to his students in a kindergarten class at Imagine Japan, an English-language school in the Miyagi Prefecture of Sendai City. The school is just a short walk from pre-fabricated homes built for families who lost more than just property in the earthquake and tsunami last year.

"What came after the earthquake, was what?" Rowlands asks. "A tidal wave. In Japanese, what do we say? Or in English, actually, tsunami is now used around the world in many languages. Tsunami.

With Radiation, Doubt Grows In Fukushima Farms

Doualy Xaykaothao — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:01:00 +0000

The mountain village of Kawauchi lies partly inside the area deemed unsafe because of high levels of radiation in Japan's Fukushima prefecture. Chiharu Kubota uses a high-pressure water gun to hose down buildings there.

Radiation is still leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which suffered multiple meltdowns immediately after last year's earthquake and tsunami.

'Nothing Is Better'

Kubota has washed about 138 homes and is starting to see people return to Kawauchi.