We enjoyed some banana milk for breakfast that we bought at a supermarket last night. Korea is famous for it. It’s yummy, but pretty rich!
Then we set off for our first stop today - Gyeongbokgung Palace which means ‘the palace greatly blessed by heaven’. This was the largest of the Joseon palaces built in Seoul, and the one intended for the king to primarily reside in. It’s to the west of the village we went to yesterday.
The palace was completed in 1395, but has had a pretty turbulent history. Like Changdeokgung Palace, the Japanese destroyed this palace between 1592-1598. It was left derelict for 270 years, and was so badly damaged that instead the king decided to move to Changdeokgung Palace (the one we toured yesterday). In 1867, Gyeongbokgung Palace was reconstructed again and the Joseon Royal family moved back in. This reconstruction just about bankrupted the government, and still then the difficult times for the palace were not over. It was largely torn down during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to the 1940s, with the beautiful main gate Gwanghwamun even being disassembled (which explains why fragments of it were at the museum yesterday) and replaced with a government office building. In 2010, the gate was reconstructed and now looks as beautiful as ever. However, it’s sad the Korean people have lost the original gate. In 2010, despite constant conservation efforts only 25% of the palace had been completely restored. The restoration still continues.
We wandered the outdoor parts and were lucky that the rain that had been forecast did not eventuate...yet. We saw halls, went into a library, some interesting hexagonal chimneys and lots of other interesting buildings. In one section, we learned about the Japanese assassination of Queen Myeongseong in 1895 in retaliation to the royal family trying to ally with Russia. Behind this section we also saw some ruins of a part of the palace that was dismantled and taken to Tokyo.
After seeing the palace itself, we began the ‘museum’ part of our day. Dad had suggested last night that we do as many museums as possible today due to the rain being forecast, so that we could come up with a DMZ plan or other plan on a day later in the week. The first museum we went to was the Folk Museum inside the palace. We saw models and artefacts from daily life in Korea when people lived mostly in the villages. One bamboo pillow looked very uncomfortable! We learned that in those times, marriage here was decided by a lottery based on when you were born, and you met your spouse at the ceremony. A highlight was a colourful funeral bier used to transport the deceased’s body, which had a plaque that explained the royals had a three year mourning period for deaths, with 70 procedures occurring for state funerals during that time. That’s a long mourning period!
On our way out we saw a replica farm and buildings from village times. Then we headed to the front gate of the palace and were shocked by how many people were queuing to come in compared to when we arrived. We also saw the guards at the gate, dressed in colourful costume with large colourful flags. They had very good poker faces.
Museum number two was the Royal Palace Museum and was about the Joseon dynasty royals. During their 1392-1910 reign, the royals had 27 kings. We saw many documents, beautiful hairpins that belonged to queens, cars from the early 1900s, conserved paintings and beautiful embroidery. One model of a queen had so many hairpins on that it reminded me of when I used to make Mum, Dad, Nan or Pa sit down and I would attach the entire bucket of Mum’s pegs to their hair!! The last part that we saw was an impressive self striking water clock. We even saw/heard it chime while we stood next to it.
At this point we walked to Dongdaemun Design Plaza, and on the way stopped by Jongmyo Shrine. The next English tour wasn’t for over an hour though so we gave it a miss. On the way to DPP, we again passed through Insadong which was much more lively today, but by this stage the rain had set in. We enjoyed some yummy street food and then received some interesting news. The DMZ tour company emailed offering us an alternative tour for Friday for the DMZ. The JSA and some other parts are closed, but some will be open. However, we’ve been really unimpressed with the lack of communication/help we received from the company we booked. I called them again and they tried to say that despite not going to the JSA, the tour would still cost us $350 Australian per person. So instead we found a nearby tourist information and booked a tour with them for $50 for Friday. It’s a coach tour, and we can’t go to much of the DMZ. But it’s a major reason I came here so it’s the best shot we have. Keep your fingers crossed!!!
Then we arrived at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Formerly on this site, a football stadium built by the Japanese stood from 1925-2007. After this time, it was demolished and the design plaza built in its place. There were lots of design and art exhibitions going on, and interestingly some ruins that had been discovered during the demolition, believed to be military barracks from the Joseon dynasty. Two of the light towers from the sports stadium remain out the back.
Then we headed to the War Memorial of Korea. Our new DMZ tour concludes here on Friday, but we had read it was huge so decided to split it into two parts. As you enter the park the museum is in, you’re immediately confronted with the powerful ‘two brothers’ statue. An older brother fighting for the South Korean army is embracing his younger brother who is fighting for the North Korean army. Apparently this actually happened when they recognised each other on the battlefield. Many families ended up on different sides of the Korean War due to being forced to fight for a particular side (mostly the north).
There was another statue out the front too, with soldiers and civilians gathered together. The teeming rain by this point made them all look like they were crying, which was pretty fitting I thought. The sign in front of this statue read "freedom is not free". The sign also explained that the Korean War killed between four and five million people (10% of them were civilians), dispersed 10 million family members and caused $23 billion US of property damage. There were plaques and flags for each country that came to South Korea's aid out the front as well. I took photos of the Australian plaque, they are below. We sent 18000 soldiers over, and 340 of them were killed in action. We were the third nation after the USA and UK to send troops over.
Upon entering the museum, we were impressed with how massive it was. We went through a memorial hall, and then to the bottom level which was about ancient battles. We saw a pretty cool warship, but skimmed over this part as we really came here to learn about the Korean War. Apart from 'M*A*S*H' and the Korean War Memorial I visited in Washington, I don't really know much about it. As we ascended to the Korean War rooms, I though the motto of the museum was interesting - "if you want peace, prepare for war". A strange motto in my opinion, making it sound like war is inevitable.
For the next hour or so we read about the Korean War. We got through one of the three levels, so we will check the rest out on Friday. Here's what I learned...
The Korean War began in the early hours of the 25th of June 1950, when North Korea illegally invaded South Korea. North Korea's leader at the time, Kim Il-sung had been asking the Soviet Union and China for assistance to invade South Korea for a while. Stalin (Soviet Union) had said no all through 1949, however, in 1950 Stalin agreed to backup North Korea. At the time, South Korea was totally unprepared. For 2-3 months, South Korean troops had been stationed ready to defend if an attack occurred. But unbelievably, on the 24th of June (the day prior to the war) these warnings were called off, so many South Korean soldiers took leave at this time.
As well, South Korea was quite a poor country at this time. The Soviet Union provided North Korea with plenty of resources including tanks, weapons and training. South Korea had no tanks, and very little weapons. It wasn't looking good. Enter the US...
When President Harry Truman heard about the North Korean invasion, he asked the UN security council to be held immediately. The UN officially requested North Korea to back down, but they did not. So the UN committed to help, and the USA and numerous other countries committed to providing ground forces as of June 30th. At this point, I had 'We Didn't Start the Fire' by Billy Joel well and truly stuck in my head. "Harry Truman" and "Syngman Rhee" (president of South Korea at the time) both feature in the lyrics.
Just three days into the war on June 28th, Seoul fell to North Korea. However, a successful landing and attack by 75000 soldiers at Incheon (where the airport is nowadays) led by US General Macarthur meant that with the help of the allied forces, the South Koreans regained a bit of control. China then entered the war on North Korea's side, because Mao Zedong had promised Kim Il-sung that if the USA entered the war, China would too. China was interested in keeping the Soviet Union happy, and continuing the spread of communism.
Fighting ensued for the next three years, with an armistice proposed as early as June 1951. However, this wouldn't come to fruition until the 27th of July 1953. Various events led to this armistice, including the inauguration of the new US President Dwight Eisenhower (also featured in Billy Joel's song!), the demise of Stalin, and bombings by the UN over North Korea. A ceasefire was signed, however the war did not end. Technically speaking, the two countries are still at war today. That's why I wanted to visit the JSA, because the soldiers from each country literally face each other and protect their borders. This is also the site where the armistice was signed. It has been called an "unfinished war that should never be forgotten".
We watched a strange 4D reenactment of the Incheon landings and explored that whole level, then exited the museum to go and see the planes, tanks, submarines, helicopters etc. on display outside. A particular highlight was a huge US Airforce B52 plane that I could climb some stairs up to to get a closer look. By this stage it was very wet and we were glad we had taken umbrellas from our guesthouse.
We headed back into the metro and then had a quick stop at the National Museum. By this stage we were definitely experiencing what Mum and I have coined 'Museum Fatigue'. Pretty exhausted, we went inside and appreciated the huge scale of the building. We checked out some sculptures on the top level, enjoyed the view of Namsan Tower lit up and then headed back to Hongdae. I was so out of it by this point that we jumped onto a train that arrived at the metro station, and coincidentally it just happened to be the one we needed. I had forgotten to check - so that was lucky!
We had a delicious dinner in Hongdae at a Korean BBQ restaurant called Choigozip. It was honestly the most tasty cooked meat I have ever experienced, and the experience itself was very cool. A little charcoal pit is brought over and placed on your table, and the meat cooks right in front of you. You turn it over until you're happy with it, then place the meat in lettuce leaves with other additions like onion and various salads/sides. You wrap it up and eat it - delicious. We had marinated beef and pulled pork. It's making my mouth water typing about it just from how delicious it all was.
The rain was very heavy on the way home, but I stopped in a skin care shop and then we had a quirky ice cream.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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