World Exploration: South Korea

Day 3

After recovering from our night on the town, we traipsed over to a palace. I had a similar feeling at this palace as I had at the fortress in Suwon. This was where the Kings and Queens of old exercised their nearly limitless power over the lives of an entire nation, and it would only just accomodate my graduating class from CSU, Chico. The metropolis of Seoul utterly dwarfed the palace.

Lauren stands before the gateway of Changdeokgung palace. This is the secret garden, so-called because only the King was allowed in here, so no one else knew its secrets. These are the quarters for the palace occupants. I think this was the King's pad. Puny South Korean beverage containers were no match for my American might! They sell waffles! On the street!

After the palace, we wandered on over to the Korean War Memorial. Wow, that place was impressive. I was well served by my World History teacher, who I believe was Mr. Farmer back at Pleasant Valley High School. I knew the basics of the Korean war, but it was sobering to see how the Korean's memorialize it.

It's as if we were in America 50 years after the civil war, and neither side had won. Try to imagine 50 years after that war, and there's a barren no-man's land cutting the United States into two pieces, North and South. In the South, people with dark skin are viewed as subhuman and are a hunted people, and in the North, the economic powerhouse of industry and mass-producing factories outstrips anything the southern slave culture could produce. The contrast would be stark, as it is for North and South Korea.

South Korean sentiments are understandably complex. Much as we would had the civil war not concluded, the Koreans view Korea as one nation. It should be united. And so some feel resentment towards the US when our leaders call Kim Jong Il's North Korea a part of the "axis of evil." Almost no one in South Korea would disagree that the North Korean Communist regime is brutal and evil -- but it's Korean, and the people are Korean. There are families divided right down the middle on both sides.

Surprising, and humbling, was how many Koreans are so enthusiastically proud to be friends with the United States. The gratitude shown towards the US military, and General MacArthur in particular, was staggering. Lauren and I saw no other Americans in our entire trip, and few Koreans spoke English. But still, we would be approached by Koreans who would point at themselves and repeatedly say, "Asian. Asian? Asian." until I figured it out and pointed at myself and said "American." Then they would shake my hand and say things like, "America big friend of Korea. Korea great people, great friend of America." I met one older man who, if I understood him correctly, served in the Korean war. He wore a USA baseball cap.

Every person we interacted with, whether they could speak Korean or not, was friendly and welcoming. The welcoming nature of many of the Koreans we met was cast in a new, very humbling light when we visited the War Memorial.

Interestingly, the War Memorial was one of the least touristy places we visited. Many signs had no English on them at all, although all the displays pertaining to the US (and there were many) had translations for us.

The Korean scultpors have produced some truly impressive works of art. The people of Korea have a very good reason to be proud of their statue designers and bronzeworkers!

The Statue of Brothers monument. One is a South Korean officer, and the other is a North Korean soldier, meeting on the battlefield. The shattered shell has murals and plaques inside, and the two brothers themselves stand around 12 feet tall. The plate describing the Statue of Brothers. This hit home for me, and immediately illustrated how emotionally similar our civil war is to the Korean war. Inside the cracked dome of the Statue of Brothers monument the floorplates had the outline of each nation which aided the Republic of Korea. Inscribed over the outline was the name of the batallion or whatever military unit in particular participated. Most nations had one unit listed. The list of US units almost filled the plate. A mosaic on the wall inside the Statue of Brothers monument, showing the landing at Incheon. This large spire stood front and center on the pathway leading into the war memorial. Note the flags behind it. The bronze statues were about twice as large as real life, and were truly stunning in their display of human spirit. A close-up of the statues. They progressed from the elderly and injured laying low, to the young and strong lifting them up in a sweeping gesture to ever greater heights. The other wing of statues. The South Korean flag is on the left, with the American flag placed first beside it. These are the words the war memorial intends to commit to the memories of all who see it. The memorial includes a collection of black stone inscribed with the names of the fallen Korean soldiers. It also includes this plaque devoted to the foreign dead. Note the total number of foreign lives lost in the Korean war, as compared to the total number of US dead. Dozens of actual war machines used in the war sit on display. The majority are of American manufacture. The rest are Soviet and Chinese. I can't do justice to the solemn feelings of humility, regret, and resolve evoked by the Korean war memorial.

I had not even thought of the Korean war when I first planned on traveling to Korea. I am profoundly satisfied that of all foreign nations I could have visited first, South Korea was the one. The spirit of humanity on display in the Korean monuments, and in the actions of the Koreans I met, is a testament to the great bond of friendship between freedom-loving people, as well as the grim determination to accept no substitute for victory, and to stand opposed to the enemies of human freedom, no matter the cost.