South Korea: No Words for the Bitterness

A nation in mourning points a finger at its northern neighbor

Barely a month after the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, flags were again at half-staff throughout South Korea. Nightclubs, bars and movie theaters were shut down for three days; store clerks, officeworkers and government officials wore black ties or black ribbons of mourning. As the flag-draped coffins were brought home, the anguished wails of newly widowed women and bereft families once again echoed through the corridors of Seoul's Kimpo Airport.

On Thursday, more than a million South Koreans gathered in a chill rain for an emotional memorial...