August 15, 1945 is Korean Independence day. Not coincidentally, this is also the day that Japan (Korea’s colonizer) surrendered in World War II. The holiday and a vacation day created a 4 day weekend for us, so we headed to the capital of Korea, Seoul, for the weekend. Taking a KTX train through the peninsula at 180 miles per hour (300 km/h) gets you from Busan to Seoul in just under 3 hours. Seoul is a sprawling megalopolis with over 20 million people living in the city and 12 subway lines. It also has great sentimental value to Shannon and I because this is where I asked Shannon to marry me in 2012!
Here’s the area where our motel is
We dropped our stuff and went for a walk to Changdeok palace
We paid a little extra to get to check out the secret garden
Here is the throne room of the palace
After this we went over to the War Memorial Museum. This is a huge complex that you could easily spend several hours exploring – there are all kinds of military machinery on the grounds – and it doesn’t cost a cent!
A lot of this weaponry was from the Korean War, which I talked a little about in another post.
Inside the museum are tons of exhibits about warfare on the peninsula from ancient times to today.
Back outside to check some more military machines
The next day, we went on a USO (United Service Organization) tour to the DMZ (De-militarized zone). This tour gets you access all the way to North Korea and is organized by U.S. military personnel. You have to book these tours weeks in advance on their website. After the armistice of the Korean War (remember it never officially ended), a DMZ was established along the 38th parallel that acts as a de-facto border between the two Koreas.
We were led by U.S. soldiers right up to the J.S.A. (Joint Security Area) which is where the two countries meet to negotiate.
Soldiers are always on guard as skirmishes and incidents have broken out numerous times in this area. The blue buildings straddle the border and are where the two countries meet.
When we walk over to the far side of the room, we are technically in North Korean territory.
In the pic below, you can see a North Korean soldier.
Next the tour goes to a lookout point that offers views inside the country and the Kaesong complex. This is an industrial area where tens of thousands of North and South Koreans collaborate in the name of commerce. South Korea managers provide the business and technical know-how while North Korea provides the workers.
North Korea has been caught several times digging tunnels to infiltrate the South. We toured one these tunnels and then went to a train station. Now, it’s not up and running, but it’s ready to link up the two countries upon reunification.
Pyeongyang is the capital of North Korea. 60 years of separation and these two countries have drifted further and further apart. After the Korean war, North Korea had a stronger economy in terms of GDP. Today, South Korea has the 12th largest economy in the world and dwarfs the production of North Korea. No one knows if or when reunification will happen but one thing is for sure – it will be unbelievably expensive for South Korea to have to integrate 24 million brainwashed North Koreans into their society.
On a lighter note, we came back to Busan and went on a cruise under the diamond bridge off Gwangali. It was an event organized by Good Times Korea, which puts on fun social events for expats in Korea.
Here’s a panorama picture from the deck of the boat which included several bars, a dance floor and a fireworks show off the deck.
