Christmas tree made of cigarette buttsA member of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, clad in a Santa suit, attends an event in Seoul on Dec. 23, 2019, to install a Christmas tree made of dumped cigarette butts, as the environmental activist group calls for a ban on the use of plastic for cigarette filters as part of efforts to protect the environment from toxic plastic pollution. (Yonhap)
Here is an article by a ROK Drop favorite and historian Robert Neff about how a US military unit in 1954 brought Christmas cheer to a group of Korean kids in post-war Korea:
For a soldier, Christmas is one of the hardest seasons to be away from family and friends but the military does its best, not only for its service members but also for the local community, to provide holiday cheer.
Through the lens of Corporal Marburger’s camera, we get a glimpse of what Christmas was like for an engineer unit and a group of Korean children in Seoul in 1954.
Santa Claus’ arrival naturally drew a large crowd of children. For many of them, this was their first encounter with the jolly old man. Some were thrilled but others seemed terrified.
You can read the whole thing and view many more historical pictures at the link.
However, I would imagine seeing a big fat foreigner dressed in red trying to grab you would be a pretty traumatic experience for a young Korean kid back then.
Xmas tree at presidential officePresident Moon Jae-in and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, pose in front of a Christmas tree set up at the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 7, 2018. (Yonhap)
I hope everyone and their families have a great Christmas holiday this year. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Christmas then by re-reading Chickenhead’s hilarious Twas the Night Before Christmas on the DMZ which is a true holiday classic.
Members of a South Korean animal rights group perform in Insadong, central Seoul, on Dec. 24, 2017, to oppose the butchery of dogs and other animals. (Yonhap)
Holidaymakers watch an early Christmas parade during a winter festival at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, south of Seoul, on Nov. 19, 2017. (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly replaced Christmas with celebrations honoring his deceased grandmother. While Christians remain a minority in North Korea, Kim has declared Dec. 25 a holiday to pay tribute to Kim Jong Suk, who died in 1949, according to media reports Sunday.
Kim’s grandmother was born on Christmas Eve in 1919. Known as the “Sacred Mother of the Revolution,” she was the wife of former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and a Communist activist. To honor her birthday, many North Koreans visit her tomb on Dec. 25 each year.
North Korea has prevously banned Christmas trees and Kim has upheld his family’s anti-Christmas beliefs. In 2014, he threatened war against South Korea after it announced it would erect a Christmas tree along the border.
“The DPRK ostentatiously treats anyone of faith, but especially Christians, as hostile,” wrote Doug Bandow, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C. “Believers place loyalty to God before that of the North Korean state. Churches allow people to act and organize outside of state entities. Christianity also has ties to a world seen as almost uniformly threatening by Pyongyang.” [International Business Times via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but considering how various Christian groups have been helping defectors escape from North Korea, it should be no surprise that Kim Jong-un has tried to eliminate Christmas.
I hope everyone and their families have a great Christmas holiday this year. Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section. Also what better way to celebrate Christmas then by re-reading Chickenhead’s hilarious Twas the Night Before Christmas on the DMZ which is a true holiday classic.
