SKoreans fear no evil in shadow of jet fighters

OSAN, South Korea, Oct 15 (Reuters) Tens of thousands of South Koreans picnicked in the shadow of US and Korean warplanes today, less than a week after learning they lived next to a nuclear-armed North Korea.

The US forces Osan Air Base opened its doors over the weekend to show off its hardware for an annual air show, where South Koreans got a glimpse of the aircraft that would be used in the event of a battle between the two Koreas.

For most of the crowd, North Korea seemed to be the farthest thing from their minds as couples on dates watched US and South Korean fighter jets stream overhead and parents placed their children in the cockpit of planes for pictures.

''I really enjoyed it when the plane drew a picture of Korea in the sky,'' said seven-year-old Lee Eun-chae after seeing a South Korean fighter use coloured smoke to paint a outline of the Korean peninsula.

On a hot autumn day with little cover on the tarmac, many families headed to the shade given off by transport aircraft to enjoy picnic lunches -- the more adventurous sampling shaved ice, barbecue pork sandwiches and other snacks sold on the base.

Some were a bit intimidated being around so many foreigners at the US air base about 60km south of Seoul, with 17-year-old Hae-jee saying the air show felt a ''little scary and dangerous.'' ''It was good to see with our own eyes what the South Korean Air Force can do,'' said her little sister Hae-bin, 16. Hae-jee thought North Korea's announcement last Monday that it set off a nuclear was a bit of bluster.

''It doesn't seem like it was that big of a blast,'' she said.

South Koreans have been in the firing line of North Korea for decades. The two Koreas are technically still at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

Nuclear weapons are just one of the many worries South Koreans have about North Korea, which has thousands of pieces or artillery trained on the capital Seoul and a 1.2-million-man army just over the border.

Several in the crowd said they were glad there were about 30,000 US troops on the peninsula to support South Korea's some 670,000 soldiers.

''It is reassuring to see them here,'' said Kang Yong-shin, 37, a company worker, as his two young children stared at a Patriot air defense missile launcher nearby. ''It feels good to see the power of these fighter planes.'' REUTERS SY VV1542