Mass. State Rep., Army Reservist Headed To South Korea For Training

BOSTON (CBS) – Rep. John Velis (D-Westfield) spends most of his days representing his Hampden County district, but he will soon be on his way to South Korea, as an Army Reservist.

"I'm just going over to do my job," Velis said. "Obviously there's a little bit of a sense of being nervous, but I'm in the Army."

Velis has already done a tour of duty in Afghanistan, but with tensions rising between President Trump and North Korea, a tour of duty in South Korea would seem to unnerve some, but not Velis.

"We have a significant presence over there, the exact location of where I'm going when I get there I'm not 100 percent sure," Velis said.

North Korea now claims to have missiles that can strike the U.S. territory of Guam and Mr. Trump has warned the North Korean regime against launching a strike.

"Clearly they have not been to a war," said Velis, who is confident cooler heads will prevail in the war of words. "People that glorify war and talk about it in kind of different tones, clearly they haven't been to a war."

The governor of Guam has told residents of the island to be prepared, but to go to the beach and enjoy the weekend.