William Chong

By the time you read this I’ll be over the Pacific ocean winging my way back to Auckland. But just thought I’d share a bit about my visit into the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and out to the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (that’s the place you see in photos where South Korean soldiers guard one side and North Korean ones guard the other).

The Korean situation seem to me like a contemporary parallel to the Biblical civil warring between Israel and Judah. Families on either side continue to struggle as they wait in hope that one day the country would be reunified.

Freedom Bridge

Located at Imjingak, this railroad bridge crosses the Paju River and is heavily guarded by Republic of Korea (ROK) troops. It was used to exchange prisoners following the Korean War (1950-1953). As the northernmost point that South Korean civilians are able to reach, there’s a monument and shrine that those with displaced families come to each year to pray for reunification, and that the rail line will connect both parts of Korea again. There’s a plaque there that says, “the iron horse wants to run” – summing up the fervent hopes of those separated from their loved ones in the North.

The 3rd Tunnel

Although a cease-fire armistice agreement was signed by North and South Korea to end hostilities, since then there have been numerous flashpoints and small battles. In particular North Korea made a concerted effort to dig numerous subterranean passages towards Seoul, designed for a sneak attack. So far four tunnels (out of an estimated 20) have been found – the 3rd Tunnel was discovered in October 1978.

It was sobering to hear that The 3rd Tunnel goes 435 m south of the Military Demarcation Line (i.e. in South Korean territory), and ended up just 55km from Seoul. My guidebook tells me that the Emperor at the time chose Seoul as the capital of Korea based on geomancy (feng shui) – though one wonders if his feng shui would have predicted Seoul to now be less than an hour’s drive from the most heavily fortified border in the world.

Anyways we got to walk along the South Korean side of the tunnel. You can only walk along 150m of the tunnel: when discovered it was quickly sealed off in three places, including a 5m thick portion of concrete, chemical gas and landmines. Needless to say we listened to the tourguide and didn’t go past the given boundary.

Dorasan Observatory

A hilltop observatory, guarded by troops – it gives a very expansive view of the DMZ. We got to see villages on either side of the Military Demarcation Line – Daeseong on the South side (called “Freedom Village”), and Kijong on the North side (called “Propaganda Village”).

This is a poor picture but you can see the North Korean flag flown from the top of a 160m tower that dwarfs everything else in Kijong village – the flag itself weighs 300kg! There’s a flag tower and flag on the South Korean side too in Daeseong, but it’s not as big. Keeping up with the Joneses never seemed more dramatic…

Panmunjeom

This is the neutral Joint Security Area – all important UN meetings regarding North-South Korea are held here. When we were there, elite ROK soldiers were on guard. They stand in a taekwondo pose, with half their bodies behind the Conference Room walls, the other half shown towards the North Koreans on the other side of the JSA. Our military escort, US Specialist Andrew Pollack (he previously served in Iraq) told us that the ROK soldiers do this to present a smaller shooting target, and also so that their hidden hand can be used to signal anything out of the ordinary. The guards here all hold black belts in taekwondo and are hand-selected by the government to serve in the JSA.

Conference Room

This building sits on either side of the Military Demarcation Line. The MDL runs down the middle of the conference table inside, and on either side’s windows you can see the simple concrete strip that’s divided Korea for over 50 years.

It’s also an eerie feeling to step across to the other side of the room into North Korea. In fact overall, there’s a certain tension in the air when you’re in the DMZ. Everything is more serious, the military buildup and precautions are sobering, and it causes you to reflect on the futility of war.

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Here’s the full facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118187&id=579606378&l=2ee394fce8

Meet Dongdaemun, one of the city gates of 14th-century Seoul still standing today. I would imagine that to keep foreign nations and hostile invaders out, watchmen would be posted at these gates and other watchtowers along the city walls, on the lookout for any sign of enemy activity. The watchmen would need to be on the lookout particularly at night, when there’s more cover in the darkness. No doubt as the night goes on the job would be a tiring, sleep-depriving one. Dawn and the morning it brings can’t come soon enough, and so the watchmen would be waiting expectantly, with great longing for the morning, with great longing for the certainty of the sunrise.

The psalmist in Psalm 130:1-6 uses this same comparison to illustrate the depths of his faith in the Lord:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

Can you agree with the psalmist? None of us can stand with the weight of our iniquities. With Him there is forgiveness. In His Word is our hope. And a life with Him spurs a faithfulness and patience, and we can be as Christian watchmen on a night shift waiting for the Son to reappear.

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A full day of walking around, sightseeing and shopping. In the morning I checked out the Gyeongbukgung Palace, the National Palace from the Joseon era. I was there in time to catch some of the guards in full costume changing around.

In the afternoon I walked down to Namdaemun Market – it’s filled to the brim with shops ready to fleece tourists like me of our money! The old brick-based market buildings remind me of Kuching, with its narrow alleyways and a bustling atmosphere. They sell everything from genuine (and fake) designer clothing, traditional wear, shoes, toys, souvenirs and so on. I must admit that I’m terrible at haggling and probably paid too much for the things I bought!

It’s been a great day of relaxed wandering, and exploring. I’ve definitely had lots of Brooke Fraser/”Deciphering Me” moments just standing in the middle of a massive intersection, neon lights everywhere – just missing the see-through umbrella!

Next on the itinerary, I’ll be off on a guided tour to the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ), which should be a fascinating experience.

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So yesterday I left the Anglophilic bubble of the Grand Hyatt, where our conference was, and stepped out into the authentic streets of Seoul for three days of sightseeing.

I had my Googlemaps directions at the ready, and it told me to get to 9beonji Jongno2-ga, Jongno-gu by using two different subway lines. However when I got off at the directed stop (Euljiro4-ga), the hotel was nowhere to be found. The mental image to have here is of a lost-looking dude wheeling an oversize green suitcase up and down the pothole-filled lanes of a neighbourhood market, bemused stall owners looking on. After asking a few shop owners in fractured Korean (thanks, Collins phrase book and Farm Cove Intermediate Korean class), I realised that Googlemaps lied and the YMCA Hotel was actually 1.5 km further.

Lessons to learn here: Korean streets are divided into numbered sections. The same stretch of Jongno, which means Bell Road, gets divided into Jongno1-ga, Jongno2-ga, Jongno3-ga and so on. The main intersection signs tell you what division of the road lies ahead, rather than what road you’re actually on (that’s on a separate sign on top). And you have to be careful as well as an intersection sign before the intersection gives different road names to a sign that’s after the intersection.

Monday night: a quick walk around the area

This is the “Street of Youth”, off Jongno2-ga, across the road from the YMCA building. It links up with a warren of alleyways that run parallel to Jongno Road itself – my guidebook notes that these alleyways were once used by the peasant class so they wouldn’t have to keep bowing to the aristocrats that traversed on the main road.

In any case, it was a bevy of sights and smells.

Out here, it’s a fascinating mix of Korean pop music and the street vendors plying their wares. I popped into a small restaurant and ordered something familiar – deep fried pork on rice (kassudon in Korean). I think I’ll be content to have more of a shop round tomorrow, and inject some Korean won (the local currency) into the Seoul economy.

One thing I noticed was the faint smell of sewage on the streets. Seoul, like most Asian cities, must have a different method of moving water and sewage through the city that makes the smell more prevalent. Another thing here that’s different to NZ is that smoking is a lot more prevalent around here. Most restaurants have a large smoking section and so if you’re not used to it you may have to hold your breath when walking between shops. It’s definitely a good thing that the previous Government legislated against smoking inside restaurants and many public areas have smoking bans in NZ. We’re quite fortunate in that respect.

My internet connection here is quite patchy – but will promise more photos soon!

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Check out my Korean phone’s alarm clock. It literally woke me up with laughter!

Guaranteed to pick you up (imagine waking up to it) n.b.: it’s a m4a file, you’ll need Quicktime or equivalent to play.

Lots of work, will update soon. Missing you all!

Good-morning-korea

I’ve got a couple of minutes in my hotel room so thought I’d write to say I’m safe and well. 12 hour flight = read through half of Oliver Sach’s “Musicophilia” (it’s a fantastic book!)

Also thanks to body clock woke up at 5 am Korea time (9 am NZT) so got my training run in this morning, hurrah!

Here’s some preliminary observations about Seoul, Korea:

• There’s a surprising amount of signage in Chinese around here: Koreans refer to it as hanja. Perhaps its close proximity to China makes the use of Chinese beneficial for business and tourist travellers from there.
• Being in a foreign country tip #1: Don’t show off your 3-and-a-half-phrase Korean vocabulary until AFTER the person you’re talking to knows you’re a foreigner. I tried being clever by greeting the chauffeur driver with a well-pronounced “annyeong haseyo” (thanks Farm Cove Intermediate Korean classes)… but had to sheepishly shrug my shoulders and revert to English once he started asking me to fill out my hotel check-in form in rapidfire Korean! O why o why Towel of Babel….

OK off to a meeting. Will talk soon. Missing you all already!

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… for a work trip next week. The good thing is that I was able to take a couple of days of leave, so I’ve got a chance to explore the place and do some tourist stuff. So far I’ve booked myself for a demilitarized zone (DMZ) tour, and will definitely pack my running shoes to explore the city on foot. Any other sight-seeing recommendations?