Mom & Dad Visit Korea (Part 7)

Here it is, the final installment of posts about my parents' visit to Korea way back in September 2007. :-)

This post covers our trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) area that is heavily guarded by both the North Koreans and South Koreans. I think the DMZ trip and the Chongdong Theater performance I saw with my parents were the coolest things I did in Korea during my first year. I can summarize the DMZ trip in two words, 'intense' and 'surreal'.

There was never any official declaration of peace after the Korean War, so technically the two countries are still at war. The specific area we visited was called the Joint Security Area (JSA). It is where the North and South have meetings.

This is a picture of a map of the JSA that was in the briefing room where we were told how to behave while on the site. The red buildings are North Korean, the blue buildings are South Korean except for the blue buildings in the middle. I think these are the meeting places for both countries, so are shared. Interestingly, the North allows people to tour the JSA. In fact, a Russian man defected during a tour during the Cold War. There was a gunfight and a few soldiers died, but the Russian was able to survive.

This is a picture of the briefing room. We had around 90 people in the tour group. From what I heard the two military tour guides say, it was a large group.

This is a picture of the inside of the middle blue building. The table there is on the border between the North and South. The military man on the left is our tour guide. He is telling us to not touch the other guards, that they are there for our protection.

I love this picture. This is surreal. The guide told us we could take pictures of whatever we wanted as long as we didn't touch or step too close in front of the guards. I don't know this lady who is posing for a picture.

On one end of the small building was this guard. The door to his side goes into a small room which I think was for the translators. The door behind him goes out to the North Korean side of the border. We were told that the paint on the wall which has been rubbed off is a result of a new safety procedure.

Apparently, one guard was preparing the building for a tour by locking the door on the North Korean side when the North Korean soldiers suddenly opened the door and tried to pull the South Korean soldier to their side. If this had happened, the North could easily have said the South Korean defected and never be heard from again. So, these days one person locks the door while a second person holds the belt of the person locking the door with one had and holds the white area of the wall with the other hand to prevent being abducted by the North Koreans. This is intense.

From inside, I took some pictures looking outside. This is a South Korean guard standing halfway behind the corner of one of the blue buildings. The guards stand that way in case a gun fight breaks out. If that happens, they can easily take cover behind the wall. The guards must be at least 5'11" (180 cm) tall, have a clean criminal record, and have the highest scores on exams. They are all highly trained in small arms combat.

Do you want to know what a North Korean soldier looks like? You're looking at one here. Outside the building we were in were three North Korean soldiers. Two were facing each other between the buildings along the border line (a raised cememt block you can see in other photos). The other was wandering around a bit.

It was explained to us that the guards wear Ray-Ban sunglasses and use a Taekwondo semi-ready fighting stance to intimidate the North Koreans. Intense?

Here you can see a North Korean soldier and a South Korean soldier standing virtually back-to-back. Surreal?

When we were done inside, the other half of the group went inside and we came outside to stand on some steps to take photos and learn more about the JSA. We were instructed to not point or make gestures, and to not come off the steps. Sure enough, one tourist managed to do both. Another tourist also made a gesture. The tour guide firmly reminded the two of the rules after each little incident. It made me consider that if there was some sort of gunfight while we were there, we would all die because these tourists couldn't follow simple instructions designed for the group's safety.

The big building on the other side of the blue buildings is the North Korean headquarters. We are standing on the steps of the South Korean headquarters.



Later in the tour we went to an observatory. Here is mom and dad being playful and taking a photo of themselves behind the 'No Photo Line' which is there to prevent people from spying on the South Korean troops that were literally in bunkers below us.

This is the North Korean flag. Apparently the North made the largest flag on the largest flag pole ever made in an attempt to show their superiority.

This is the 'bridge of no return' where, after the Korean War, prisoners from both sides were allowed to go back to their homes but they were not allowed to return afterwards.

This is a memorial of an incident I think is called 'the axe murders'. There was a big tree that was blocking the South Koreans from observing the activities in one the North Korea guard houses, so some American soldiers went down there to cut the tree down. North Korean soldiers intervened, a fight broke out, and in the end at least two Americans were axed to death by North Koreans who outnumbered the Americans.

This caused Washington DC leaders to consider going to war with the North. Ultimately Washington decided to run operation 'Paul Bunyan', the largest military backed tree trimming operation in the history of the world. Several battle ready ships and aircraft carriers were positioned off the coast of North Korea, attack helicopters and speacial forces battalions were deployed to the JSA while 'that damned tree', as it was referred to in Washington, was cut down. Military personel who were listening to the radio communications of the North Koreans reported that the North Koreans were shitting their pants.

Dad can sleep anywhere.


After the long day at the DMZ dad and I enjoyed Chuncheon Talkgalbi and soju.

I highly recommend this tour which is offered through the USO for about $50.

Mom & Dad Visit Korea (Part 6)

Wednesday of my parents' visit was a really full day. We started out by going to the Korean Rodeo Drive. Except for stopping to take a couple of pictures, we didn't do anything there but walk around. I was expecting to see really expensive looking buildings filled with expensive looking goods. The streets and shops looked very much like any other streets and shops in Korea.



After Rodeo Drive, we went to Insadong. Insadong is famous for being the art district in Seoul. There are a lot of art supply shops, antique shops, and traditional Korean craft shops. The walking sreet is usually packed with people all year round.


My mom found some beautiful jewelry at this store. She bought a necklace with wild Korean flowers embedded in it. She bought matching earings, of course.


There are strict rules for signage in Insadong. This sign is the word 'Starbucks' written in Korean to help keep Insadong's Korean traditional appeal.


After Insadong, we went to the Dongdaemun night market. The shops open after 6pm and don't close until 3am. The area consists of a bunch of buildings packed with merchandise. Outdoors, the sidewalks are filled with people shopping along the streets and enjoying the performances that take place on stages built along the buildings.



After Dongdaemun market, we went to Namsan Tower in Itaewon. This tower sits atop a big hill that allows one to see all of Seoul. We went at night, but I think it would have been better to go a little while before sunset. It would have been nice to see Seoul in daylight as well as at night.


There was a 'junk art' exhibit going on at the tower. I took a photo of mom and dad next to a pig sculpture and another of mom next to a bench sculpture.



This was an eventful day for sure. I was tired and a little worried that I would not have the energy to enjoy the next days visit to the DMZ. However, the DMZ turned out to be quite an intense experience and I did not have a problem keeping my energy up. My next post about this visit will be about the DMZ.

Mom & Dad Visit Korea! (Part 5)

The Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) celebration is three days long, however the middle day is the official day of celebration. It's typical for most of the population to travel to their grandparents' homes to eat traditional food, play games, talk, and get money! The get money part is a little different than the American Thanksgiving. Here in Korea, children participate in a bowing ceremony where they honor their elders in the family. In return for this, the elders give money to the children. Not every family does this during Chuseok. This is mainly done during the Seolnal (Lunar New Year) celebration. My students told me they get money because they don't see their grandparents or extended family very often.

On to the details of my parents' visit! On this day, we did a lot. We started out at the COEX Aquarium, then went to City Hall to watch the public celebration, and finally went to Jeongdong Theater to watch performances of traditional Korean music and dance.

A two-headed turtle.

A pig-nosed turtle.

Deadly and dead-ugly stonefish.

Jellyfish.

At the end of our time at the acquarium, we watched a special Chuseok performance in the shark tank. In this photo, two men are playing a traditional Korean game.

This photo was during the celebration at City Hall. These musicians are really loud. This style of music is closely tied to the farming culture here. I made a video of this performance which you can watch below. It's about 15 minutes.

Mom and me.

Kite flying was a popular activity today.

City Hall.

Father and daughter playing with a hoop. Notice she is wearing the traditional dress.

Dad made another friend. It was really fun to see people approach dad. It's just so common in Korea for Korean men to talk to foreigners because they want to practice their English. I'm glad dad got to experience that too!

We left City Hall early so we could head to Jeongdong Theater. When we arrived, the staff were playing another traditional game with the guests. I didn't figure this one out, but it involves throwing the four red things and then determining winners by how they land.

Outside the theater were some instruments set up for guests to look at. This drum was more than 6 feet high.

These are photos from inside the theater. The ambiance was very cozy and warm. This was the highlight of an entire year of living in this country. I was totally blown away by the music, and I plan to go back.

Mom & Dad Visit Korea! (Part 4)

This is the entrance to the Korean War Museum. The area outside of the building has airplanes, tanks, and artillery guns on display as well as sculpture commemorating the people who fought and died. My favorite sculpture is the one below. There are soldiers boldly advancing in front of weak and defenseless civilians.





The two soldiers above are embracing each other over the crack in the dome which represents the division of the country.


After the Korean War Museum, we visited one more palace. This happens to be the only photo worthy of posting. It's of the royal throne.

The highlight of the tour for me was seeing the Korean woman wearing the traditional dress. It's always nice to see people preserving and honoring their heritage.

By the time we had finished the tour we were all exhausted from the walking and warm weather. On just the 3rd day of their visit, we had done quite a lot of sightseeing.

The day after this was the day of Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and we did even more fun things including going to an aquarium, watching the celebration at City Hall, and watching a fantastic traditional Korean music performance.