Alaskans are surprisingly unbothered about being in range of North Korean missiles

A recent North Korean missile launch proved that Kim Jong Un likely has the ability to hit Alaska if he so chooses. But while being in range of a nuclear weapon — and a dictator who threatens to use it — would scare most reasonably-minded Americans, Alaskans remain characteristically unfazed, The New York Times reports.

"I've lived a good life, so if something happens, it happens," Gary Melven, 68, told the Times. A Vietnam War veteran, Melven recalled similar Cold War nuclear attack anxieties when he was a boy in Anchorage and added that he wasn't afraid then, either: "I was more interested in riding my bike."

“You start worrying about everything, you'll go crazy and you won't enjoy life," advised another Alaskan, Jim Gorski, a former Navy pilot. John Humphries, a former military helicopter pilot, added: "What are we going to do up here that we're not already doing? They're not going to evacuate Anchorage. We have more to worry about from an earthquake and tsunami."

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Read more about Alaska's preppers — and those who don't even bother — at The New York Times.