One of the advantages of learning Hangeul, the Korean writing system, is that it allows the native English speaker to understand many words which have been Hangeul-ised from English. So for example, at the cafe I can order a "ka peu chi no" or a "mo ka".
Sometimes though, ignorance might be bliss. A while ago, I saw a public information notice on the Seoul subway. My Korean is very poor so I could only understand the title, which was derived from an English word: "te reo".
Unfortunately there is the very real possibility that South Korea could be in line for a terrorist attack because of the government's support for Bush's war in Iraq. Following recent defections from the "coalition", Korea now has the third largest troop deployment in Iraq, behind the US and the UK. Logically then, we on the peninsula could be next.
Korea, while focussed on the conventional military threat from the north, has vurtually no experience of terrorism and hence virtually no experience of counter-terrorism.
Walking along the street this week, I noticed an abandoned ruc-sac by the side of the road. Being from Belfast, I was momentarily unsettled by this suspicious object. Koreans though, would think nothing of it.
If the worst does happen, it is difficult to see how the people here will react. No doubt many will wish to see the Korean troops withdrawn from Iraq.
For me, this would be the right action for the wrong reason. As someone who opposes this insane conflict, I don't wish Korean soldiers, or any other foreign troops to be in Iraq. No one would be happier than me to see the ROK's soldiers leaving Erbil.
But I have a problem with changing policy at the whim of al-Qaida. It is wrong for Korea to have troops in Iraq, in spite of the terrorist threat, not because of it. Morally, it should not take the slaughter of innocents in Seoul or Busan to make this point.
To change course through fear of another terrorist attack would set an awful precedent for the future. It is effectively, to give in to blackmail. What's more, there is no guarantee that leaving the "coalition" would protect Korea from further attack for some other reason.
One day that abandoned bag might be a bomb. I hope it never happens, but either way, Korean troops should come home.