I finished my first week at my internship in Seoul. This summer, I was fortunate enough to find an opportunity to learn more about the Korean business environment through working at a Korean company for three weeks. The company is the place where Uncle Josh (the Byeons uncle, now my Korean uncle) works.
The companys name is STL Solutions. It is a security technology company that makes security DVR's and surveillance cameras. This past week, I worked in the manufacturing department making DVR's. I tested memory chips for the DVR's and packed them with their accessories for shipments.
While working during the week, I stayed with Josh's family. His home is closer to the workplace so it was more convenient. This meant that I had a full week of work and playing with his two children Jinyoung and Eujin. I haven't had a chance to see them since Seonyoungs birthday, so it was nice to spend a lot of time with them.
Everyday after work, I would play hide and seek with Eujin and American card games with Jinyoung. Hide and seek with Eujin is played a little differently than you traditional hide and seek: you must wait until he is ready for you to look for him. He always hides in the same place, but you must act like you can't find him. After yelling "I can't find Eujin" he would jump out squealing "Right here!" If you don't conform to Eujins rules, he will refuse to play with you and sulk for an hour. One evening we went to the park to play and had to play games by Eujins rules, meaning that he must always win. Oh Eujin.....I just hope he will realize that refusing to play by the rules will not be acceptable as he grows older. Being the baby of the family, both immediate and extended, he will have a lot of growing up to do. Jinyoung's final exams are next week, so she was very stressed this past week. However, we did have time to play some card games and to watch Kpop music videos. She is a very sweet 11 year old who has grown up so much since I met her last August. Her English had improved considerably and she is more self spoken.
Ok...enough about my Korean cousins, back to the internship...
The workdays were long, nine hours of working and 45 minutes commute. Finishing classes just five days before, it was quite a change! I went from studying to working long hours everyday. I suppose that's the benefit of internships: It gives you a glimpse of what life will be like when you graduate. I don't think I'm quite ready for that stage of my life, but I still have two years to reach that point.
We would reach the office around 9am and leave around 6pm. Every two hours, there was either a work break or lunch break. Everyone at the company were very welcoming of this foreign student who could barely converse with them. This week has taught me just how much vocabulary you need to know in order to be conversational. I definitely have my work cut out for me! They were very understanding when I would mess up my sentence structure and say something completely off the wall. They would smile and correct my sentence.
The work was tedious, but it was interesting. I have never been in this kind of work environment before, working an assembly line. It wasn't exactly a stereotypical assembly line, but it was still a series of jobs that would progressively create a product. Never though I would learn how to test DVR memory chips, but it is a new skill for me! Every afternoon I would have lunch with different coworkers. Despite my lack of Korean, they wanted to get to know me and we would talk in a mix of English and Korean.
I will try to discuss some other details of the week along with some of the things I noticed that were unique to the way Koreans conduct business in a future post. Next week I begin my work in the Marketing area of the company, which will be interesting to be sure! Adjacent to the marketing division is the R&D department so I will be sure to check it out as well.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Independence Hall and Moving to Seoul
Hello from Seoul! I am back at the Byeons for the summer. The trip up to Seoul went well, I took a bus to downtown Seoul where Oppa Byeon came to pick me up.
First, let me recap about yesterday:
Yesterday I went to the Independence Hall of Korea. It is located about twenty minutes from SCH. It is a museum that covers the independent spirit of Korea: A nation surrounded by several prominent powers over the course of history (China, Japan, Mongolia, and Russia), yet it has been able to maintain it's individuality. The museum focuses primarily in the late 19th and 20th centuries before, during, and after the Japanese occupation.
The trip to the museum was an optional fieldtrip from the school, so I was joined by many of the international students and a group of the Chinese students. We had lunch at the museum before going to the introduction presentation.
After this brief review of Korea at the presentation, we were able to walk through half the exhibits (up to the years preceding the end of the occupation). The museum was huge. I didn't realize how extensive it would be. We were rushed through these exhibits, but I did learn and see a few interesting things.
I was able to see some of the swords that belonged to Yi Sun-sin, who was the greatest Korean general in history. His intuition and naval strategies aided considerably to Korea being able to keep the Japanese from occupying Korean in the 1500's. He is one of the historical figures that I really admire. Not only was he a brave general, he was well educated and a poet. His poems are beautiful and his creativity led to the invention of the Turtle Boats, the first ironclad ships in history. His swords were the typical 6 ft long style from that period. I can only imagine what those swords have witnessed in history...
I also learned about some of the events that led to the occupation and some of the events that occurred during the Japanese colonization. The treaty of Ganghwa is quite an interesting turning point in Korean history. It was the treaty that was signed to open Korea up more to the world economically. It was drafted through the Japanese, who were already trading with most of the Western powers of that age. Through this treaty, Korea was no longer recognized as a protectorate of China. This status is an interesting piece of history as well.
When referencing Korea as a protectorate of China, it does not mean that Korea was ruled under China. It is more of a spiritual recognition. Chinese leaders are called emperors because they are not only rulers of the physical world, they are the mediator to the heavens. Korean leaders up to this time were called kings because they were only physical leaders, the spiritual responsibilities were that of the Chinese emperor. This relationship between China and Korea also included a mutual agreement that if one country was attacked, the other kingdom would come to its aid.
This is what happened during the Japanese invasion in the 1500's. Japan demanded Joseon (Korea) to join them in attacking Ming (China). Joseon refused, leading to the Japanese invading Korea in order to wipe out Ming's ally while slowly moving towards Ming. China came to Korea's aid during the invasion, which contributed considerably to driving Japan out of Korea. China's loss from the war was in fact larger than Korea. The friendship between the two was the result of this protectorate relationship.
Japan knew if they wanted to take control of Korea, they would need to convince Korea to end that agreement with China. They did so with this treaty and later giving a Japanese princess in marriage to the last King of Joseon, which occurred after his first wife was assassinated by the Japanese. Interestingly, The Temple of Heaven in Seoul was built by this last king of Joseon, because he was now the spiritual protector of his country. In Seoul, it is across from the palace where he lived, which has a traditional palace and several Western style buildings that were built immediately after this treaty.
When Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan was considered the dominant power of the region. Russia acknowledged Japan's relationship with Korea as "Paramount." At this point, China no longer had its "brother" like friendship with Korea while Russia, the other larger power in the region, considered Korea a tributary to Japan. In addition, the USA signed an agreement (Taft-Katsura) in which the USA considered Korea a part of Japan. There was a lot of political unrest in Korea at that time, so Japan used that time of chaos to establish its influence and eventual dominance over Korea. The Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1907 confirmed this dominance, leading to the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945
Though the museum included a lot of interesting historical facts, there were some inappropriate displays for children with no notice beforehand and several historical facts that were terribly distorted in favor of Korea.
Concerning my first statement: there was an exhibit displaying all the methods of torture the Japanese inflicted on the Korean rebels. Not only were there graphic descriptions of these disgusting acts, there were life size, life like robots that were displaying these tortures, screaming in pain as it occurred. I know the museum wants everyone to understand what happened during those years, but there were three school boys who were no older than 7, standing there in horror as these robots were being tortured. I think everyone needs to understand what happened, but it may not be the best time to share this information with a 7 year old. I know when I was seven, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle that, I was still freaked out by the Nazis being killed by the Ark in "Raiders." It was a shock to me seeing this display, but I can't imagine how these kids were able to process this information with such a shock factor staring them in the face.
Now to the second issue. In our introduction, the woman giving the lecture made this statement: "The occupation was a terrible time, but because of the Korean spirit, Koreans were able to drive out these invaders in 1945." Uh....What? From every history book I have read, it was because the Allied forces defeated Japan and under the conditions of their defeat agreement, had to leave Korea and turn them over to the Allied forces.
All in all, it was a good trip. In the evening, the remaining international students had a final dinner together. It was bittersweet to have this last bit of time together before we go our separate ways, unsure of when we will be together again.
Today, after Oppa Byeon picked me up, we went to get Seungyoung from his tutoring for dinner. We had Budae Jigae, which is a spicy soup that I have mentioned before. The soup made by the US army during the war that was pretty much anything they could put together: sausage, kimchi, green onion, ham, etc. After dinner, we went to visit Oppa's ping pong buddies at the place where he and Omma practice. Me and Seungyoung played a bit of ping pong while Oppa visited with his friends. The other people practicing there were so interesting to watch. Some of them I had seen at the Ping pong competition I watched Omma compete in November. In contrast to their Olympic like abilities, me and Seungyoung were happy just to be able to hit the ball back and forth without sending it flying off the table. It was fun to see where they practice and to play a round with Seungyoung.
I start my internship on Monday, so this weekend will mostly be a preparation/unpack/relax type weekend. I will keep you all updated about this internship, should be interesting....
First, let me recap about yesterday:
Yesterday I went to the Independence Hall of Korea. It is located about twenty minutes from SCH. It is a museum that covers the independent spirit of Korea: A nation surrounded by several prominent powers over the course of history (China, Japan, Mongolia, and Russia), yet it has been able to maintain it's individuality. The museum focuses primarily in the late 19th and 20th centuries before, during, and after the Japanese occupation.
The trip to the museum was an optional fieldtrip from the school, so I was joined by many of the international students and a group of the Chinese students. We had lunch at the museum before going to the introduction presentation.
After this brief review of Korea at the presentation, we were able to walk through half the exhibits (up to the years preceding the end of the occupation). The museum was huge. I didn't realize how extensive it would be. We were rushed through these exhibits, but I did learn and see a few interesting things.
I was able to see some of the swords that belonged to Yi Sun-sin, who was the greatest Korean general in history. His intuition and naval strategies aided considerably to Korea being able to keep the Japanese from occupying Korean in the 1500's. He is one of the historical figures that I really admire. Not only was he a brave general, he was well educated and a poet. His poems are beautiful and his creativity led to the invention of the Turtle Boats, the first ironclad ships in history. His swords were the typical 6 ft long style from that period. I can only imagine what those swords have witnessed in history...
I also learned about some of the events that led to the occupation and some of the events that occurred during the Japanese colonization. The treaty of Ganghwa is quite an interesting turning point in Korean history. It was the treaty that was signed to open Korea up more to the world economically. It was drafted through the Japanese, who were already trading with most of the Western powers of that age. Through this treaty, Korea was no longer recognized as a protectorate of China. This status is an interesting piece of history as well.
When referencing Korea as a protectorate of China, it does not mean that Korea was ruled under China. It is more of a spiritual recognition. Chinese leaders are called emperors because they are not only rulers of the physical world, they are the mediator to the heavens. Korean leaders up to this time were called kings because they were only physical leaders, the spiritual responsibilities were that of the Chinese emperor. This relationship between China and Korea also included a mutual agreement that if one country was attacked, the other kingdom would come to its aid.
This is what happened during the Japanese invasion in the 1500's. Japan demanded Joseon (Korea) to join them in attacking Ming (China). Joseon refused, leading to the Japanese invading Korea in order to wipe out Ming's ally while slowly moving towards Ming. China came to Korea's aid during the invasion, which contributed considerably to driving Japan out of Korea. China's loss from the war was in fact larger than Korea. The friendship between the two was the result of this protectorate relationship.
Japan knew if they wanted to take control of Korea, they would need to convince Korea to end that agreement with China. They did so with this treaty and later giving a Japanese princess in marriage to the last King of Joseon, which occurred after his first wife was assassinated by the Japanese. Interestingly, The Temple of Heaven in Seoul was built by this last king of Joseon, because he was now the spiritual protector of his country. In Seoul, it is across from the palace where he lived, which has a traditional palace and several Western style buildings that were built immediately after this treaty.
When Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan was considered the dominant power of the region. Russia acknowledged Japan's relationship with Korea as "Paramount." At this point, China no longer had its "brother" like friendship with Korea while Russia, the other larger power in the region, considered Korea a tributary to Japan. In addition, the USA signed an agreement (Taft-Katsura) in which the USA considered Korea a part of Japan. There was a lot of political unrest in Korea at that time, so Japan used that time of chaos to establish its influence and eventual dominance over Korea. The Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1907 confirmed this dominance, leading to the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945
Though the museum included a lot of interesting historical facts, there were some inappropriate displays for children with no notice beforehand and several historical facts that were terribly distorted in favor of Korea.
Concerning my first statement: there was an exhibit displaying all the methods of torture the Japanese inflicted on the Korean rebels. Not only were there graphic descriptions of these disgusting acts, there were life size, life like robots that were displaying these tortures, screaming in pain as it occurred. I know the museum wants everyone to understand what happened during those years, but there were three school boys who were no older than 7, standing there in horror as these robots were being tortured. I think everyone needs to understand what happened, but it may not be the best time to share this information with a 7 year old. I know when I was seven, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle that, I was still freaked out by the Nazis being killed by the Ark in "Raiders." It was a shock to me seeing this display, but I can't imagine how these kids were able to process this information with such a shock factor staring them in the face.
Now to the second issue. In our introduction, the woman giving the lecture made this statement: "The occupation was a terrible time, but because of the Korean spirit, Koreans were able to drive out these invaders in 1945." Uh....What? From every history book I have read, it was because the Allied forces defeated Japan and under the conditions of their defeat agreement, had to leave Korea and turn them over to the Allied forces.
All in all, it was a good trip. In the evening, the remaining international students had a final dinner together. It was bittersweet to have this last bit of time together before we go our separate ways, unsure of when we will be together again.
Today, after Oppa Byeon picked me up, we went to get Seungyoung from his tutoring for dinner. We had Budae Jigae, which is a spicy soup that I have mentioned before. The soup made by the US army during the war that was pretty much anything they could put together: sausage, kimchi, green onion, ham, etc. After dinner, we went to visit Oppa's ping pong buddies at the place where he and Omma practice. Me and Seungyoung played a bit of ping pong while Oppa visited with his friends. The other people practicing there were so interesting to watch. Some of them I had seen at the Ping pong competition I watched Omma compete in November. In contrast to their Olympic like abilities, me and Seungyoung were happy just to be able to hit the ball back and forth without sending it flying off the table. It was fun to see where they practice and to play a round with Seungyoung.
I start my internship on Monday, so this weekend will mostly be a preparation/unpack/relax type weekend. I will keep you all updated about this internship, should be interesting....
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
I'm an upperclassman!
Today I took my last final exams, marking the halfway point of my college education! I can officially say that I am of Junior status. I find it hard to believe that in the same span of time from when I moved in Towers East floor 6 on a hot August afternoon, I will be graduating on a warm May afternoon. I can still vividly remember moving into that 1970's style dorm, unsure of where this college journey would take me. Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned all of the events that have occurred in my life in these two short years. I am excited to see where these next two years will take me, what new places I will see, people I will meet, and things I will learn.
Tomorrow, I will be visiting the Independence Hall of Korea. It is a museum that documents the struggle for Korean independence from the Japanese during the Japanese occupation from 1912-1945. SCH organized a fieldtrip for students to go see this museum. I am very excited to go because I have not been there yet and it discusses one of the times in Korean history that I find fascinating. Most of the students that are still here (a large group of the internationals went to Thailand for the week) will be going on this fieldtrip, so it will be a nice final place to go and experience together.
It has been just as difficult as last semester coming to terms with the fact that this group of amazing students here at SCH will most likely never be all together again. It is one of the hardest things about studying abroad: You form a close bond with the other students, only to leave one another after four months, not knowing when you will see one another again. As a group, we have been trying to cherish the time we do have together.
On Friday, I will be making my way up to Seoul for the summer with the Byeons. Like last semester, I will be taking a bus to Seoul, which is always an experience with several pieces of luggage!
Tomorrow, I will be visiting the Independence Hall of Korea. It is a museum that documents the struggle for Korean independence from the Japanese during the Japanese occupation from 1912-1945. SCH organized a fieldtrip for students to go see this museum. I am very excited to go because I have not been there yet and it discusses one of the times in Korean history that I find fascinating. Most of the students that are still here (a large group of the internationals went to Thailand for the week) will be going on this fieldtrip, so it will be a nice final place to go and experience together.
It has been just as difficult as last semester coming to terms with the fact that this group of amazing students here at SCH will most likely never be all together again. It is one of the hardest things about studying abroad: You form a close bond with the other students, only to leave one another after four months, not knowing when you will see one another again. As a group, we have been trying to cherish the time we do have together.
On Friday, I will be making my way up to Seoul for the summer with the Byeons. Like last semester, I will be taking a bus to Seoul, which is always an experience with several pieces of luggage!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
DMZ
'The Korean War. No Victors, No Vanquished.'
- Stanley Sandler, U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Today, after ten months in Korea, I got to see first hand the immense wound searing through the nation: The separation of one people by two political ideologies represented by DPRK (North Korea) and ROK (South Korea). The quote above displays the emotions of both sides: neither side feels like there was a side that won the war. A separation of the nation could not be classified as a victory by any stretch of the definition. It breaks my heart to see this one people with a shared history that stretches over 2000 years divided and hostile towards one another. The DMZ is the most visible evidence that this division is alive and well, and it will take many years to be resolved.
Joining me on this trip to the DMZ was Alison, a fellow student at SCH, and like me passionate about East Asia, especially the dynamics between the two Koreas. The tour was through the USO and the USA military, so we met the tour group at the large USA base located downtown Seoul. This base houses a portion of the 28,000 USA military personnel that are stationed in South Korea. We then took a bus from Seoul to the outer portion of the DMZ.
I have never gone north of Seoul, so the bus ride up to the DMZ was interesting. I don't think I really fathomed how close this tense border is to Seoul. It is unbelievable that the most dangerous border in the world is only 30 miles from one of the largest cities in the world. About every eight minutes up this road to the DMZ, the cars on the road would diminish to about half of the previous number. By the time we were ten minutes from the border, there were about a dozen cars including several military vehicles driving along this four lane highway lined with barbed wire on each side. There is no place like this on Earth: Such a contrast of extremes in such a short span of time. From an urban hub to a dormant war zone in 40 minutes. When we arrived at the DMZ, we received a briefing on the history of the area. After this presentation, we proceeded to the JSA.
The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is the 250 km long, 4 km wide buffer zone between the two Koreas. It is monitored by the North, South, and the UN. In the middle of this 4 km border lies the JSA (Joint Security Area). This is an area of the DMZ that is shared and owned by both Koreas under the supervision of the UN. It is where leaders from both sides meet.
Only 30 troops from each side can occupy the JSA at one time. In addition, each side owns an equal amount of buildings in the JSA. For a time, the troops from both sides could freely walk about the grounds of the JSA, but this was discontinued after the Ax Murder Incident. In 1976, North Korean guards attacked two soldiers routinely pruning a large tree that was obscuring the view of one of the South's outposts. The Northern troops took the axes the two American soldiers were using and killed them. Three days later, the south initiated Operation Paul Bunyan. This operation was to chop down that tree that the Southern allies were trying to prune. The North threatened the South not to chop down the tree, but they finished their mission, removing the tree from the premise. After these two incidents, the UN initiated a division of the JSA. A concrete slab about a foot wide is the indicator of each side. The only area that both sides can occupy is the Conference Room.
The Conference Room is where the joint meetings between the two Koreas would take place. When a meeting is not scheduled, each side receives an equal amount of time in the room. The room is built on the line used to divide the two Koreas.
Along with the Conference Room, the JSA includes the North's "Peace Building," which is its main building in the JSA where they watch the South troops and tourists via video cameras and audio recorders. Another building is the North's "Recreation Building" which has been given the name "Monkey House" by the South because the only recreation they do in that building is making rude and threatening gestures towards the Southern troops. On the South's side is the "Freedom Hall" which was built in the hopes that meetings between separated families could take place. Unfortunately, the North refuses to bring any of its people that far South. The building currently is used as an educational facility for visitors of the JSA, with many meeting rooms ready and waiting for the approval of the North.
We were able to view the exterior of all these buildings except for the Conference Room and Freedom Hall. We first went to Freedom Hall, then to view the other buildings, and finally inside the Conference Room.
I think the reality and severity of the situation really hit me when we stepped out in the JSA square. There were four troops standing in a Taekwondo defensive stance, staring intensely at the Northern troop lurking about the viewing area of the "Peace Building." The ROK's (Southern soldiers) stood halfway exposed behind the buildings because it would provide a more difficult target to Northern gunfire. The Northern Soldier stared at us the entire time, occasionally bringing out his binoculars for a closer look at this mass of foreigners. Behind the Northern troop were several built in surveillance cameras and speakers. We were also told that the North uses microphones as well to pick up anything said in the JSA.
It was an experience unlike anything I have ever had to be in the one place where the two Koreas can confront one another face to face. You could feel the tension in the air, the troops staring one another down, unable to speak to one another except through their dominant stance towards one another.
I can't imagine what it must be like as troops for both sides stationed at the JSA. Here are two sides separated by political and economical ideals, yet at the end of the day, the enemy is your brother. The two Koreas may have different governments, but they are one people. This feeling is prominent in almost every Korean I have spoke to. Knowing this, it must be very hard for ROK troops to stand facing their countrymen everyday, knowing that they hate them solely because of political reasons. At the same time, it must be difficult for Northern troops, who think that the South is a bunch of evil Capitalist pigs destroying their country standing there day after day. Their perspective is probably similar to the South: the other side is ruled by evil men and they must be liberated from their strife.
After viewing the square, we went to see the inside of the Conference room. The room housed one long table with about a dozen chairs. There were two soldiers inside: one at the head of the table the other in front of the door on the opposite end. Our guide told us that the room was divided by the table as North and South territory. Standing on the opposite side near the guard by the door would technically mean you are standing in North Korea. It was wild standing in territory belonging to the North and to stand in a room that is occupied by the North for half the time.
Following touring the JSA, we went to an overlook where we saw the Propaganda Village. This village was built by the North to try to convince South Koreans to defect to the North. It is a good sized village that has been around for about forty years. However, not everything is as it seems. It has been discovered that this village is much like a cardboard cutout, fake buildings that are not inhabited. In the center of this artificial village is a 160 meter tall flagpole with one of the largest flags in the world. This was built in response to a 100 meter flagpole built by the South near the DMZ. From this overlook, we also saw some of the speakers used by the North to play propaganda and radio towers used by the North to jam signals from outside of the country.
Oh, here are a few random facts I learned about North Korea:
1. There is one TV channel that is broadcast from 4pm-10pm everyday.
2. There are several radio channels. Every home in North Korea has a built in radio that cannot be turned off, only turned down.
3. There is a 3 generation law in North Korean prisons. Basically, if you are imprisoned (almost always for life) and you have a child while in prison, they will incur the same prison time (aka life in prison). This would continue to your grandchildren born in the prison as well.
4. Folding an image of Kim Jong-Il or stepping on an image of Kim Jong-Il equals life in prison.
5. Kim Jong-Il has the largest library of Western movies in the world with over 20,000 movies. It is said that his favorite movies include "The Shining" (makes sense to me) and "Scary Movie," especially the third one, even though in this movie he is mocked. He even wrote to the creators of this franchise expressing his admiration for the films.
Nearby this area was Kaesong industrial complex, which is a South Korean run factory located right over the border in North Korea that hires North Koreans. It was founded by Chung Ju-Young, founder of Hyundai corporations. He was born in North Korea in poverty and moved to the South after the War. He devoted his life to improving relations between the two Koreas. With his help, Kaesong was established, improving cooperation between the two Koreas and employing impoverished North Koreans. He also helped establish tours for South Koreans to Kumgangsan Mountain, which unfortunately has been discontinued since 2007 when a South Korean woman was murdered by a North Korean soldier. Today, there are several hundred South Koreans that are given permission into North Korea to work at Kaesong.
After this observatory, we went to Dora observatory located on Dora mountain. It is one of the most strategic lookout posts for South Korean soldiers to view the activities of the North.
The next stop on the tour was the Third Tunnel. This tunnel is one of four that have been found thus far built by North Korea to invade the South. The four tunnels would be capable of bringing over 50,000 troops to Seoul each hour. They were found by the South after defectors from the North informed the South of their existence. The North claims they were coal mines, which is completely ludicrous. They covered the tunnels with coal dust, but the surrounding rock is sandstone and granite, in addition they built all the tunnels in the direction of Seoul. Today, these tunnels are open to the South for about a kilometer, after which it is blocked off by several walls 3 feet thick.
The last stop was Dorasan Station, the last train station in South Korea. It has two trains come from Seoul per day. When it was being built, there was the possibility that it could cross the border to several North Korean towns. However, this idea has been suspended as tensions increased under the most recent president of South Korea: Lee Myun-bak. However, the hope that it will someday soon become a hub station for North/South Korean travel remains. It was eerie to walk around a station so desolate. I hope the next time I visit this station, I will be traveling to a free Pyongyang.
This concluded the tour, but it only sparked my interest in inter-Korean relations even more. The dynamics between the two Koreas is a unique relationship. Seeing this relation first hand has only intensified my wish for the Koreas to be united. I believe that I will see the unification of Korea in my lifetime, I only pray that it comes very soon. The suffering of the Northern people under an evil narcissistic dictator must be brought to an end. It would be anyone's guess at this point in time how that downfall will occur, but it is inevitable.
- Stanley Sandler, U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Today, after ten months in Korea, I got to see first hand the immense wound searing through the nation: The separation of one people by two political ideologies represented by DPRK (North Korea) and ROK (South Korea). The quote above displays the emotions of both sides: neither side feels like there was a side that won the war. A separation of the nation could not be classified as a victory by any stretch of the definition. It breaks my heart to see this one people with a shared history that stretches over 2000 years divided and hostile towards one another. The DMZ is the most visible evidence that this division is alive and well, and it will take many years to be resolved.
Joining me on this trip to the DMZ was Alison, a fellow student at SCH, and like me passionate about East Asia, especially the dynamics between the two Koreas. The tour was through the USO and the USA military, so we met the tour group at the large USA base located downtown Seoul. This base houses a portion of the 28,000 USA military personnel that are stationed in South Korea. We then took a bus from Seoul to the outer portion of the DMZ.
I have never gone north of Seoul, so the bus ride up to the DMZ was interesting. I don't think I really fathomed how close this tense border is to Seoul. It is unbelievable that the most dangerous border in the world is only 30 miles from one of the largest cities in the world. About every eight minutes up this road to the DMZ, the cars on the road would diminish to about half of the previous number. By the time we were ten minutes from the border, there were about a dozen cars including several military vehicles driving along this four lane highway lined with barbed wire on each side. There is no place like this on Earth: Such a contrast of extremes in such a short span of time. From an urban hub to a dormant war zone in 40 minutes. When we arrived at the DMZ, we received a briefing on the history of the area. After this presentation, we proceeded to the JSA.
The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is the 250 km long, 4 km wide buffer zone between the two Koreas. It is monitored by the North, South, and the UN. In the middle of this 4 km border lies the JSA (Joint Security Area). This is an area of the DMZ that is shared and owned by both Koreas under the supervision of the UN. It is where leaders from both sides meet.
Only 30 troops from each side can occupy the JSA at one time. In addition, each side owns an equal amount of buildings in the JSA. For a time, the troops from both sides could freely walk about the grounds of the JSA, but this was discontinued after the Ax Murder Incident. In 1976, North Korean guards attacked two soldiers routinely pruning a large tree that was obscuring the view of one of the South's outposts. The Northern troops took the axes the two American soldiers were using and killed them. Three days later, the south initiated Operation Paul Bunyan. This operation was to chop down that tree that the Southern allies were trying to prune. The North threatened the South not to chop down the tree, but they finished their mission, removing the tree from the premise. After these two incidents, the UN initiated a division of the JSA. A concrete slab about a foot wide is the indicator of each side. The only area that both sides can occupy is the Conference Room.
The Conference Room is where the joint meetings between the two Koreas would take place. When a meeting is not scheduled, each side receives an equal amount of time in the room. The room is built on the line used to divide the two Koreas.
Along with the Conference Room, the JSA includes the North's "Peace Building," which is its main building in the JSA where they watch the South troops and tourists via video cameras and audio recorders. Another building is the North's "Recreation Building" which has been given the name "Monkey House" by the South because the only recreation they do in that building is making rude and threatening gestures towards the Southern troops. On the South's side is the "Freedom Hall" which was built in the hopes that meetings between separated families could take place. Unfortunately, the North refuses to bring any of its people that far South. The building currently is used as an educational facility for visitors of the JSA, with many meeting rooms ready and waiting for the approval of the North.
We were able to view the exterior of all these buildings except for the Conference Room and Freedom Hall. We first went to Freedom Hall, then to view the other buildings, and finally inside the Conference Room.
I think the reality and severity of the situation really hit me when we stepped out in the JSA square. There were four troops standing in a Taekwondo defensive stance, staring intensely at the Northern troop lurking about the viewing area of the "Peace Building." The ROK's (Southern soldiers) stood halfway exposed behind the buildings because it would provide a more difficult target to Northern gunfire. The Northern Soldier stared at us the entire time, occasionally bringing out his binoculars for a closer look at this mass of foreigners. Behind the Northern troop were several built in surveillance cameras and speakers. We were also told that the North uses microphones as well to pick up anything said in the JSA.
It was an experience unlike anything I have ever had to be in the one place where the two Koreas can confront one another face to face. You could feel the tension in the air, the troops staring one another down, unable to speak to one another except through their dominant stance towards one another.
I can't imagine what it must be like as troops for both sides stationed at the JSA. Here are two sides separated by political and economical ideals, yet at the end of the day, the enemy is your brother. The two Koreas may have different governments, but they are one people. This feeling is prominent in almost every Korean I have spoke to. Knowing this, it must be very hard for ROK troops to stand facing their countrymen everyday, knowing that they hate them solely because of political reasons. At the same time, it must be difficult for Northern troops, who think that the South is a bunch of evil Capitalist pigs destroying their country standing there day after day. Their perspective is probably similar to the South: the other side is ruled by evil men and they must be liberated from their strife.
After viewing the square, we went to see the inside of the Conference room. The room housed one long table with about a dozen chairs. There were two soldiers inside: one at the head of the table the other in front of the door on the opposite end. Our guide told us that the room was divided by the table as North and South territory. Standing on the opposite side near the guard by the door would technically mean you are standing in North Korea. It was wild standing in territory belonging to the North and to stand in a room that is occupied by the North for half the time.
Following touring the JSA, we went to an overlook where we saw the Propaganda Village. This village was built by the North to try to convince South Koreans to defect to the North. It is a good sized village that has been around for about forty years. However, not everything is as it seems. It has been discovered that this village is much like a cardboard cutout, fake buildings that are not inhabited. In the center of this artificial village is a 160 meter tall flagpole with one of the largest flags in the world. This was built in response to a 100 meter flagpole built by the South near the DMZ. From this overlook, we also saw some of the speakers used by the North to play propaganda and radio towers used by the North to jam signals from outside of the country.
Oh, here are a few random facts I learned about North Korea:
1. There is one TV channel that is broadcast from 4pm-10pm everyday.
2. There are several radio channels. Every home in North Korea has a built in radio that cannot be turned off, only turned down.
3. There is a 3 generation law in North Korean prisons. Basically, if you are imprisoned (almost always for life) and you have a child while in prison, they will incur the same prison time (aka life in prison). This would continue to your grandchildren born in the prison as well.
4. Folding an image of Kim Jong-Il or stepping on an image of Kim Jong-Il equals life in prison.
5. Kim Jong-Il has the largest library of Western movies in the world with over 20,000 movies. It is said that his favorite movies include "The Shining" (makes sense to me) and "Scary Movie," especially the third one, even though in this movie he is mocked. He even wrote to the creators of this franchise expressing his admiration for the films.
Nearby this area was Kaesong industrial complex, which is a South Korean run factory located right over the border in North Korea that hires North Koreans. It was founded by Chung Ju-Young, founder of Hyundai corporations. He was born in North Korea in poverty and moved to the South after the War. He devoted his life to improving relations between the two Koreas. With his help, Kaesong was established, improving cooperation between the two Koreas and employing impoverished North Koreans. He also helped establish tours for South Koreans to Kumgangsan Mountain, which unfortunately has been discontinued since 2007 when a South Korean woman was murdered by a North Korean soldier. Today, there are several hundred South Koreans that are given permission into North Korea to work at Kaesong.
After this observatory, we went to Dora observatory located on Dora mountain. It is one of the most strategic lookout posts for South Korean soldiers to view the activities of the North.
The next stop on the tour was the Third Tunnel. This tunnel is one of four that have been found thus far built by North Korea to invade the South. The four tunnels would be capable of bringing over 50,000 troops to Seoul each hour. They were found by the South after defectors from the North informed the South of their existence. The North claims they were coal mines, which is completely ludicrous. They covered the tunnels with coal dust, but the surrounding rock is sandstone and granite, in addition they built all the tunnels in the direction of Seoul. Today, these tunnels are open to the South for about a kilometer, after which it is blocked off by several walls 3 feet thick.
The last stop was Dorasan Station, the last train station in South Korea. It has two trains come from Seoul per day. When it was being built, there was the possibility that it could cross the border to several North Korean towns. However, this idea has been suspended as tensions increased under the most recent president of South Korea: Lee Myun-bak. However, the hope that it will someday soon become a hub station for North/South Korean travel remains. It was eerie to walk around a station so desolate. I hope the next time I visit this station, I will be traveling to a free Pyongyang.
This concluded the tour, but it only sparked my interest in inter-Korean relations even more. The dynamics between the two Koreas is a unique relationship. Seeing this relation first hand has only intensified my wish for the Koreas to be united. I believe that I will see the unification of Korea in my lifetime, I only pray that it comes very soon. The suffering of the Northern people under an evil narcissistic dictator must be brought to an end. It would be anyone's guess at this point in time how that downfall will occur, but it is inevitable.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Classes are Over!
Hooray! I'm officially done with my regular classes! Next week, I have four final exams: Korean Speaking, Writing, Korean Politics, and International Society. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel....
Yesterday was the closing ceremony for the English program. It is hard for me to believe that this semester is already over. I can still remember the commencement ceremony with 2NE1, visiting Hwaseong on a chilly March afternoon, and competing in a Tea Ceremony competition near Jirisan. I have so many great memories from this semester and I am truly going to miss all the amazing people I have met this semester. I feel like this semester everyone grew really close and it will feel really empty without each and every one of the students that came this Spring. I am also going to miss my suitemates. They are wonderful girls and I have become good friends with all of them. Some of them are coming back to GV next semester, but we may not be suitemates. Hopefully, I will get to spend time with them when they get a chance to visit Seoul over the summer. Even though this week has been very bittersweet, I am excited that I will be able to stay for a third semester and meet more incredible people from around the world.
Tomorrow, my Korean class is having a pizza party during our class time. After the party, I will be going up to Seoul with my friend Allison. We will stay the night with the Byeons and then visit the DMZ on Saturday! I beyond excited that I am finally going to visit the DMZ! The last time I tried to go, North Korea decided to foil my plans. The week I was planning to go, NK attacked Yeongpyeong island. The border closed after that for awhile, but now it has been about six months, so it is safe to visit. I will fill you all in about our adventure to the DMZ later this week.
Next week, I will return to Seoul for the summer after I finish my finals. I will spend the first three weeks of my summer break working at an internship with my Korean Uncles company. I am very excited to see first hand the ins and outs of Korean business from inside a Korean company. After those three weeks, I will have the rest of the summer to travel and spend time with my Korean families.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Field Trip and Hyeonchung-il
This weekend, I went on a "Friendship Fieldtrip" with some of the students from SCH. The school created this program for international and Korean students to travel together somewhere in Korea. The school provides some of the funds for the trip to encourage students to partake in this program. I went on this trip with Bernice, Maiko, and some of their suitemates. Along for the trip also included Jun (Maiko's Korean boyfriend), his roomate, and one of Bernice's exchanges. We went to Seoul and ate....a lot.
The Korean suitemates told me, Bernice and Maiko that they would plan everything, but I don't think they are very organized. I received several different plans for our fieldtrip: Busan, camping, Seoul shopping....yeah, I didn't know what we were doing even as we traveled there. It really didn't matter to me what we did, since the school was covering the funds. We ended up staying in a traditional house in downtown Seoul. It was really nice, there were even stairs up to the roof to see the sunset over the skyline! We walked around the neighborhood, which was made famous by a variety show here in Korea. It is one of the oldest areas of Seoul, in the shadow of Gyeonbukgung.
After walking around, we went to Cheonggyecheon, which is a man made stream built in the heart of Seoul. It is several kilometers long, so we walked a portion of the stream. There were a lot of families walking along the stream, as well as some street performers. After this we went to one of Seoul's largest markets to buy our dinner. There was an assortment of foods, including live squid, dog feet, and the ever so lovely fried silkworms. We passed on these entree options, instead buying fried vegetable pancakes and Samgyeopseol. I think the girls did not know how much meat to estimate for our dinner because they bought 5 kilograms of meat (about 9 pounds). When they told the butcher to prepare the meat, I was shocked! I asked them if they were sure they wanted to buy that much, but they were worried that it wouldn't be enough. We then carried our purchases back to the house to cook.
Sure enough, we had too much meat. Way too much! After stuffing ourselves for two hours, we still had 5 kilos left. It was ridiculous. We had more the next morning, but we still didn't finish it. One of the boys decided he would take it home. I just hope his family doesn't get food poisoning. He lives in Incheon, about an hour out of Seoul. On top of that, he spent the entire afternoon lugging around this mass of raw meat while we stopped at a cafe. I think he probably carried this meat around for a good seven hours before reaching home, hopefully his mom was cautious about eating pork that has been out in the heat of the day for hours. After breakfast, we went to a nearby cafe and ate some more. We had waffles and a fruit ice dessert, which is really popular in East Asia. The trip was fun, but I wish I knew what we were doing more than five seconds before going, I think I would have appreciated it more.
Today is the Korean holiday Hyeonchung-il. It is the Korean Memorial Day, where the soldiers from the Korean War and the wars since are remembered. The president has a special ceremony in Seoul where he pays respect to the soldiers laid to rest in the National Cemetery. For the rest of Koreans, it is just like American Memorial Day, relax at home with family.
Today was also my friend Amanda's Birthday, so we celebrated by going to see a movie in Cheonan. We had lunch at a Korean restaurant near the theater and then went to see KungFu Panda 2. It was nice to spend the afternoon celebrating her birthday.
This week is the last week of regular classes before finals! It is hard for me to believe that the semester is already at this point, but it is coming to an end! This semester zoomed by even faster than the first. I haven't figured out all my summer plans, but I will keep you all updated as I arrange them.
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