Tag: Seoul

Note: This is part two of a two part series. Part one can be read here.

The tour of Changdeokgung Palace had so far covered the entrance gate, the royal throne room, the King’s office, the royal living quarters, and the King’s garage.

View looking towards the royal throne from near the King’s garage.

From the King’s garage the tour group then moved towards the Nakseonjae area of the palace:

The Nakseonjae area of the palace is easily identifiable because of its brown and white coloring:

This coloring is used because these buildings are not considered royal buildings. Only the buildings designated for royalty are painted with bright and vibrant colors. Nakseonjae was built by King Heonjong in 1847 for his concubine Kim Gyeongbin. It stands to reason that King Heonjong must not have been to infatuated with his wife considering he had this entire complex built for a concubine. Even the name Nakseonjae tends to indicate that the King preferred his concubine more than his wife because Nakseonjae literally means the “Mansion of Joy and Goodness”. This probably did not go over to well with his wife which might explain why the King died at age 22 only two years later in 1849.

Nakseonjae had been closed off to the public for decades because it had been used as the residence for the last remaining Korean princesses until 1989 when Princess Deokhye, the youngest daughter of King Gojang, the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty passed away in 1989. Even after her death Nakseonjae didn’t open to the public until 2006:

I found the colors and design of Nakseonjae to be even better than the royal buildings which in my opinion are too lavish compared to the more naturally eye pleasing colors of Nakseonjae. The inside of the building is all in traditional Korean design:

After visiting Nakseonjae I can understand why the last remaining Korean princess chose to live there until he final days. It is a beautiful home fit for a princess.

From Nakseonjae the tour then moved on to the Biwon or Secret Garden area of the palace. The Secret Garden is where Chosun Dynasty Royalty came to relax, study, and write poems. The most notable feature of the garden is the beautiful lotus pond surrounded with little pavilions and a rock island in the middle of it:

The rock island is supposed to be symbolic of a Taoist hermit. It was easy to imagine a Chosun King sitting on this pavilion overlooking the pond writing poetry:

On the far side of the pond is the Juhamnu royal library:

Juhamnu literally means to “Gather the Universe” and that is what the library tried to do on the first floor by gathering tens of thousands of books and manuscripts. The second floor of the library served as a reading room.

On another side of the lotus pond is a building known as Yeonghwadang:

The Korean government operated a examination system known as Gwageojedo in Korean that determined if people were qualified or not to hold various government offices. The exam was open to the Yangban class too take and required years diligent study to pass. Yeonghwadang is where the government officials sat to administer the test, known as a Jeonsi, to those seeking to pass it. This historic precedent for the importance of education helps explains the drive by Korean parents to this day to ensure their children are properly educated.

From the lotus pond the tour continued to follow a path deeper into the Secret Garden. Along the path was a number of these beautifully colored trees:

Even though it was summer time the trees still had this fantastic colors. These trees leaves remain this color all year long until it sheds its leaves in the winter. Along the trail I also noticed some other random buildings. These buildings housed people that worked in the palace and thus were only allowed to have their houses painted in peasant colors:

The trail continued and we eventually passed underneath a gate that legend claims gives those who pass it everlasting life:

However, the tour guide said it does not work very well because the average age of a Korean King at the time of his death was 38 years old. Pass the gate was more of the brightly colored trees:

The brightly colored trees surrounded another little lotus pond known as Aeryeonji:

Once again it was easy to imagine a Chosun King sitting on this pavilion drinking tea and writing poetry. The path continued pass the lotus pond and into the thickly forested area of the Secret Garden:

Some of the trees in the Secret Garden are hundreds of years old. For example this Chinese juniper is 750 years old:

The tree was planted because Chinese juniper wood was used as incense for royal ancestral rituals. The tour ends shortly after passing the Chinese juniper tree. Overall, I highly recommend a visit the palace, but make sure you budget enough time because the tour takes about 2.5 hours and some of the people in the tour group were quite surprised by its length. Also there is a lot of walking which also took its toll on some people in the group that were older or out of shape. Despite this the palace is still a worthy day trip in Seoul in order to learn little bit about Korean history and architecture plus having a chance to get some fresh air in the heavily forested Secret Garden, which is not something that easy to do in downtown Seoul.

Seoul has a handful of palace complexes that are all a bit different, have played an important part in Korean history, and are definitely worth checking out. However, out of all the palaces in Seoul only one of them, Changdeok Palace has been designated a World Heritage Area by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The palace is located in northern Seoul across the street from a fellow UNESCO site the Jongmyo Shrine and to the east of Kyeongbok Palace.  Changdeok Palace literally means “Palace of Prospering Virtue” and is easily recognizable when viewed from overhead because it is an island of green in the dense urban jungle of Seoul because of the thick foliage of trees that surrounds the palace.

In fact the green foliage and natural setting of Changdeok Palace played a major role in the justification UNESCO cited for including the palace as a World Heritage Area:

The Committee decided to inscribe this property on the basis of criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv), considering that the Ch’angdokkung Palace Compound is an outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design, exceptional for the way in which the buildings are integrated into and harmonized with the natural setting, adapting to the topography and retaining indigenous tree cover.

Besides the natural setting of the palace, UNESCO also cited the outstanding palace architecture as part of the reasoning for naming the palace a World Heritage Area. From the moment you arrive at the front gate of the palace it is easy to see why this is true:

The front gate of the palace is known as Tonhwamun and was first constructed in 1412, seven years after the main complex was constructed in 1405. The gate stood until it was destroyed during the Hideyoshi invasion of Korea in 1592. After the war it was rebuilt in 1607 and some how it has survived all the other subsequent wars on the Korean peninsula to become the oldest two story wooden gate in the entire country.

It is here at Tonhwamun that I bought my ticket for 3000 won to enter the palace. However, unlike other palaces in Seoul, this palace can only be entered as part of a guided tour in order to protect the historical and cultural treasures within the complex. There are tours every hour, but the only English language tours begin at 11:30, 13:30, & 15:30. I toured Changdeok Palace six years ago and found the then English language tour to be quite poor. I was pleasantly surprised this time around because the tour guide was actually quite good, though a bit robotic. A problem with the English language tours is that the limited number of them means the tour groups are quite large. This makes taking pictures and listening to the guide a bit difficult because of the sheer number of people you are surrounded by.

Once the tour began, the first historical structure that was presented was the Geumcheongyo Bridge, which was built in 1411 and is the oldest bridge still used in Seoul:

On the other side of the bridge is the gate that leads to the throne hall of the Korean King:

Changdeok Palace was built in 1405 as a secondary palace for the Korean Chosun Dynasty King with Kyeongbok Palace serving as the primary palace for the Korean royalty. During the Hideyoshi invasion of Korea, Kyeongbok Palace was destroyed and after the war it was not rebuilt and Changdeok Palace became the primary residence of the royal family.

The Chosun Dynasty King’s throne was located in Injeongjeon Hall:

The structure was originally constructed like most of the buildings in the palace in 1405, but was destroyed during the Hideyoshi invasion and rebuilt in 1607. The structure had to once again be reconstructed when it was destroyed by fire in 1803. The throne was rebuilt a year later and the current structure is now over 200 years old.

From this building the King was able to review his troops and governmental officials. The small stone tabulets on the ground are not gravestones, but markers that designated where the different governmental and military officials stood during reviews by the king.

Inside Injeongjeon Hall sits the Korean throne that had served as the seat of power for the Korean King for nearly 300 years:

The throne room is decorated with lavish artwork. The painting behind the throne represents the sun, the moon, and the five sacred mountains of Korea. The room is really incredible to look at with its highly detailed artwork and extragavant chandaliers. As impressive as this room is, the King actually did not use it all that often. Towards the back of this building the King had a smaller throne room the Seonjeongjeon that the King used to hold meetings with his ministers.

Outside of the building the roof is decorated with small and decorative statues of animals that represent an old Asian tale about a monkey king:

The buildings in the palace is filled with bright and colorful artwork. Here is how many of the corners of the roofs are decorated:

The sides of the roofs were painted in these patterns:

Even on lesser structures you could find beautiful, detailed artwork:

Even the doors are beautifully painted:

If you like bright and colorful artwork, Korean royal palaces are definitely the place to see it.

Adjacent to the buildings housing the King’s throne and meeting room is the buildings that housed the royal living quarters and office:

Huijeongdang is the building that served as the royal office. Huijeongdang has some impressive artwork on the sides of the roof:

What is interesting about the King’s office is the combination of eastern and western furnishings:

You can see the combination of western and eastern design in the construction of the building as well:

Huijeongdang was not only the King’s office but was also his living quarters. The queens living quarters, Daejojeon is located behind Huijeongdang:

The furnishings of the Queen’s residence were more traditionally Korean:

However, the royal bed is a mix of western and eastern origins:

The royal kitchen also had plenty of western influence as well:

The heating system though for the palace is purely the Korean ondol system. The ondol system is when hot coals are burned underneath the buildings in order to heat the floors. The smoke from this system is piped out of the building and channeled to these large decorative chimneys behind the buildings:

The ondol system is largely responsible for the Korean habbit of sitting and sleeping on floors.

Across from these royal buildings is the royal garage:

The royal family has had a number of cars that were housed in this garage and are beautifully preserved for people to see to this day.

These first two areas of the palace took about an hour to cover before the tour moved on to the last two portions of the palace Nakseonjae and the Secret Garden.

Next Posting: Nakseonjae and the Secret Garden

Seoul is a city that is literally surrounded by mountains that provide many great outdoor opportunities for those who want to escape the hustle and bustle of modern, urbanized Korea. The most popular destination for Seoulites looking to get away from the city and reconnect with nature for a little while is a day trip to Bukhansan (Pukhansan) National Park that towers over the northwestern landscape of Seoul. So many people visit this park that it is actually the most popular national park in all of Korea. On some days its popularity with the locals leaves you wondering if you have actually left the city or not when you are surrounded with visor wearing ajummas and ajushis dressed as if they are about to undertake a Himalayan expedition.

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The Joong Ang Ilbo has now reported on the controversy surrounding the Yanghwajin Foreigner Cemetery in Seoul.  The article is a good read and provides a decent overview of the fight going on over the future of the cemetery:

Those visiting the cemetery’s 14,000 square meters likely appreciate the sacrifice of those early missionaries, but they may be unaware that a present day conflict is underway between two Protestant churches one foreign and one Korean over the right to manage the cemetery and affiliated properties.

The foreign congregation, Seoul Union Church, with 100 members, claims that its Korean neighbors in the 2,000-strong 100th Anniversary Memorial Church are trying to push it out of a chapel on the cemetery grounds, which the union church has occupied since 1986 and has shared with the memorial church since 2005.

Seoul Union, founded in 1885, was the first Protestant church in Korea and its congregation has included some of the most venerable foreign families in the country. Many of its former members are buried in the cemetery. It worries that a demand by the memorial church that it change its service time from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. is a disguised attempt to displace it from the cemetery and the chapel. The deadline for the schedule change is Sunday, Aug. 5.

The situation has become so bitter that it seems headed for court. Both sides accuse the other of mismanaging the cemetery, while Seoul Union leaders say a long-standing agreement to leave the property under the effective control of the foreign church is being violated.
Union church member John Linton, a prominent Seoul doctor whose missionary family has been in Korea for more than a century, says the prospects for resolution are bleak. “We think this is a kind of war,” he said.

Yes war has been declared and it appears August 5th is when battle is going to commence:

Rev. Prince C. Oteng-Boateng, the current pastor of the union church, recently sent a letter to Korean church leaders asking for help. The pastor requested supporters to attend the morning service at union church on Aug. 5 and block any physical coercion by the Korean church.

“We believe that any attempt by the memorial church to disrupt or forcibly remove Seoul Union Church from its rightful home, and to obstruct our right of usage, will result in a public demonstration [against] its actions,” the pastor said in the letter.
“We are appealing to you and the entire Korean Christian community to pray with Seoul Union Church and to seek your direct intervention in defeating this persecution,” the pastor wrote.

The controversy over the Yanghwajin Foreigner Cemetery in Seoul has been covered in great detail before by guest blogger Robert Neff over at the Marmot’s Hole.  He was the first person to get the story out about why the Korean Memorial Church wanted to get rid of the foreigner composed Union Church; because they planned to disinter the bodies of foreigners in the cemetery:

In an interview with The Korea Herald, Kim Yong-nam, who identified himself as administrator to the Church and Yangwhajin, supported the claim that those who were unsuitable for the cemetery such as Koreans, a foreigner he described as an “Itaewon pool player,” and members of the U.S. military – who chose to be buried at the cemetery along with their families – would be removed at some time in the future.

Many of the graves that may be disinterred include members of the US military.  Robert Neff in a later posting at the Marmot’s Hole provided names of all the US military servicemen and their family members buried at Yanghwajin.  The list was forwarded to the US Embassy and USFK, but there has yet to be any feedback on what course of action if any US officials plan to do.  The list of servicemembers and their families buried at Yanghwajin is quite long, and it is sad to think these people, even death, are not free from discrimination of foreigners in Korea.

This is why the Union Church is fighting so hard to protect the cemetery from the Memorial Church and it appears this is headed for a final showdown on August 5th.

Family members of Korea’s most famous Christian missionary family, the Underwood family, are buried at Yanghwajin.  The members of the Memorial Church never caused any issues until Dr. Horace Grant Underwood III died in 2004.  It cannot be understated the amount of respect and influence a man like Horace Underwood III had in Korea.  It seems more than just a tad bit coincidental that this dispute over the fate of Yanghwajin began shortly after his death.

It would be interesting to hear what the Underwood family has to say about this matter, but the remaining members of the Underwood family left Korea for unspecified reasons shortly after the passing of Horace Underwood III.  The way things are looking now foreigners buried in the Yanghwajin Foreigner Cemetery maybe leaving for “unspecified reasons” as well.

One of the most unusual things to do in the Seoul area, is a trip to Dongnimmun Park and Seodaemun Prison. I say unusual simply because you wouldn’t think of a former prison as a recommended travel destination in Korea, but I recommend this park and prison simply because of the historical and psychological significance they have to the Korean people. If you have ever wondered why Koreans are so ultra-nationalistic this park and prison will give you an idea why.

When you arrive at Dongnimmun Park the first thing you will see is this large arch that towers over the park:

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A new feature I have decided to add to the site is to profile things to do in Korea. Last year there was a discussion initiated on multiple blogs about if Korea is boring. I have never found Korea boring and if anything having to much to do, however the complaint about Korea being boring is one I have heard all to often. So I plan on building a list of things to do in Korea. I figured I would begin with Dobong Mountain (Dobongsan) due to its close proximity to both Uijongbu and Seoul where many soldiers and expats live.

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The soldiers involved in a brawl in Itaewon last November have been sentenced:

A South Korean judge sentenced three U.S. soldiers Friday for their participation in a Nov. 11 bar brawl in the Itaewon entertainment district.

Two soldiers — Pvt. Sylvester Antely Clark, 19, and Spc. Tydes Whiten, 27, — were sentenced to 18 months in prison for punching and striking a U.N. Club bouncer with beer bottles during the fight.

But judge Han Yang-seok suspended both sentences for two years, saying he took into account that both soldiers paid compensation to the bouncer, had no prior convictions and “had worked diligently to defend the country” as soldiers here.

Pfc. Mario Duprey, convicted of assaulting a police officer, was fined the equivalent of about $3,000.

The two soldiers involved in the brawl have been maintaining their innocence that they were not the ones who hit the bouncer with a beer bottle.  Judging by past altercations involving Koreans falsely accusing GIs of assault, this claim may quite possibly be true.  However, there is not enough information available compared to the Acosta case, to really make a determination on this and the fact that PVT Clark was led into the courtroom in shackles I found quite interesting:

Clark, who was escorted in and out of the courtroom by Army criminal investigators and restrained with his hands shackled to a belt around his waist, declined to comment.

The fact he was led into the courtroom into shackles leads me to wonder what other trouble he has gotten into to be the only one shackled in the courtroom.  No one is going to jail, but they are definitely lighter in the pocketbook and hopefully other soldiers can take some good lessons learned from this incident, especially like when you are drunk don’t go to the police station and start crap there.Â

Then:

Namdaemun Gate shown in 1900. Namdaemun was the southern entrance into the old walled city of Seoul. Markets tended to form near the gates outside the cities, which you can see in this picture.

Now:

Today Namdaemun still stands in central Seoul after reconstruction from the aftermath of the Korean War. The old Namdaemun Market remains adjacent to the gate and recent renovations around Namdaemun have transformed the surrounding land into a really nice park area for the citizens of downtown Seoul.

NOTE:  I have a much more updated posting about Yongsan available at this link.

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The Garrison – Yongsan Garrison is a large compound located right in the middle of Seoul. It is truly an odd sight for such a big base in the middle of one of the world’s largest most vibrant cities. Could you imagine a large military base in the middle of Manhattan? That is why there are currently plans to move the compound within the next three years.

If you are lucky enough to get stationed here enjoy the place while it lasts because it is a great place to be stationed. Yongsan is one of the nicest military posts I have been on to include anywhere in the United States.

The camp houses some 6,000 soldiers, 1,000 ROK Army KATUSA soldiers that are augmented by 1,000 US civilian workers and 6,000 Korean civilian workers. The on post housing is outstanding with many new barracks buildings for the soldiers. There is also the newly renovated Hanam Village for families that are housed off post. For those that choose to live on the economy off post beware that there are numerous people willing to swindle you, so make sure you read your housing lease very closely. Click Here for the latest Yongsan housing information.

The shopping on the post cannot be beat. The PX is the largest I have seen in the army accompanied by the largest commissary I have ever seen. The post also has numerous mini-malls to augment the already great shopping at the PX.

The Post also has a multitude of eating establishments to choose from all over the post. The nicest restaurants are located at the 5-Star Hotel The Dragon Hill Lodge.

That’s right, Yongsan has it’s very own 5-Star Hotel. The Dragon Hill is one of the nicest hotels in all of Korea and is affordable to the average GI. Not only are the rooms and restaurants great but the hotel also has numerous bars and shopping areas to keep you occupied not to mention the fitness center and swimming pool.

Shopping – The Itaewon district just outside of the Yongsan garrison offers plenty of both shopping and entertainment. The district is the easiest market for shopping for foreigners in Korea. The shop owners in Itaewon all can speak some English and are familiar with western tastes. Unbelievable discounts on suits, leather jackets, hand bags, wallets, jewelery, etc. can be found in Itaewon. You will be absolutely amazed by the bargains there. Make sure you always haggle for the best price because in Asian culture haggling is expected so don’t by shy to negotiate for a lower price. Just tell them “kaka-chu-seyo!” This is Korean for, “I want a discount.” Use this phrase because it will save you money. Don’t pay more than you have to because if you do it encourages the shop keepers to raise their prices to rip off other foreigners.

Nightlife – The nightlife in Itaewon is outstanding. There is a club for everybody’s taste in Itaewon. There are rock clubs, jazz bars, Irish pubs, rave clubs, and your typical “juicy girl” bars. One of the most popular bars in Itaewon that is great for meeting other foreigners is Geckos just across the street from Burger King. Definitely a good place to start your Itaewon adventures at. However, do be careful what bars you go into at Itaewon because many of them have been put off limits by the army.

You do not want to get busted by the MPs. The MPs do have people in uniform and plain clothes monitoring the off limits establishments. The penalties are severe for infractions. Overall you can have a great time partying in Itaewon without visiting the more shadier establishments. So don’t feel like you are missing out on anything.