Gangneung, South Korea • Everyone except the tour guide was in their seats on the bus here Thursday morning when their phones started shrieking all at once.
The group, a mix of journalists and Olympic staffers from around the globe, hurried to translate the message with their smartphones before letting out a collective sigh. There was a fire at a high-rise housing unit that was under construction nearby. Bad news, certainly. But with the world traveling to the Korean peninsula this month, one could imagine a far worse emergency.
As the moment of fleeting panic subsided on the Gangneung coast, the tour guide stepped aboard her bus, smiling and commenting on the weather before asking the group if it was ready to head to its destination: the DMZ.