Saturday, October 24, 2015

Walking with Peter Bartholomew



Many people are unaware of the many historical sites in Seoul, but Peter Bartholomew, former president of the RAS and living in Korea for well over 40 years, gives a tour of just, the big historical sites of Seoul, focusing on the architecture and especially the architecture of the palaces and yang ban residences. 

Here is the RAS write-up of the excursion:

This excursion is organised to explain to residents and visitors to Seoul the vast cultural heritage and history in and around the extensive royal compounds. While walking through historical compounds and buildings we will be shown how Seoul's massive palace compounds were organized and contiguously linked, from the five major palaces (one “Pŏp-Kung” and four“E-Kung”), to the 15 detached palaces (“Pyŏl-Kung”) and their service palace compounds. The palace compounds originally extended from Dŏksu to the present Seoul National University Hospital in the "Daehak‑ro" area, with insightful explanations of the history and reasons for their designs, uses and aesthetic layout. We will see little known nooks of virtually forgotten royal compounds.

The leader will explain the events leading to the establishment of Seoul as capital of Korea in the 1390’s, how (and why) it was originally laid out, and its evolution during the following 500 years into a massive royal complex comprising 5 major palaces, over 15 detached palaces, government administrative centres, numerous shrines and how the city grew up around it, first as primarily a royal government center and then evolving into the economic / commercial, social and cultural centre as well. He will also describe the tragic wars and purposeful demolitions that have erased all but a handful of the original buildings and compounds.

Dŏk Su Palace

This palace became the seat of the royal government only from 1896, following the assassination of Queen Min earlier that year and the subsequent abandonment of Gyeongbok (Kyŏngbok) Palace. It was the centre of the vortex of imperial power games swirling around Korea in the late 19th to early 20th century, with China, Japan, Russia, the British Empire and the United States all having a stake in the game. The tour leader will describe these events while visiting the very buildings and rooms in which King Gojong tried to steer Korea through the maelstrom of international political intrigue. Additionally, the leader will describe in detail the architectural and aesthetic aspects of Korean traditional palace design and science, using this palace’s exceptional styling to illustrate these points.

Dŏk‑Su Palace Library, “Chung Myŏng Chŏn” (Jung Myeong Jeon),which was formerly part of Dŏk Su palace, later becoming the Seoul Club from around 1906 until the 1970's, in which certain ministers in the King Gojong court were coerced by the Japanese to put the royal seal on the Protectorate Treaty papers, called the “Ulsa” Treaty in 1906, and the adjoining former Czarist Russian Legation site with other former diplomatic mission sites in Jeong‑Dong. All of these buildings were part of the violent period of imperial competition of the 1880’s through 1910 that finally led to Japan taking over this country, with Korea squeezed in the middle.

Kyŏng-Hui Palace (Gyeong Hui Palace), a little known secondary palace on Shinmun-ro 2-ga built in 1616 and having a chequered and colourful history (later became Seoul Boy's High School site and now partially restored as a palace). The Seoul History Museum occupies the front part of the palace compound. This is an exceptional example of Chosŏn (Joseon) period aesthetic, being built on a hill with different elevations for each of the ceremonial courtyards and buildings.

Meditating in front of the central building at Kyunghuigung.
This quiet palace is recently reconstructed (with work still in progress), little known and is great for relaxing and for excellent beauty spots as the palace is built on a slope and each of the buildings is a bit higher than the previous.
The compound of the 600 year-old White Pine in Hyoja Dong, and several of the large traditional Korean houses (hanok) in that former Choson Dynasty aristocratic residential area. Important sites surrounding Gyeongbok (Kyŏngbok) Palace, formerly serving the royal compound, while it was the center of the Joseon (Chosŏn) Royal Government until the late 19th Century. The leader will describe the spatial relations, history of development and architectural aspects that make Korea’s traditional architecture so unique. While we will not go into Gyeongbok (Kyŏngbok) Palace, the leader will explain the complex, vast layout and history of the largest Korean royal palace complex ever built. We then will walk between the north wall of Gyeongbok Palace and the “Blue House,” the official compound of the President of the Republic of Korea on our way to “Bukchon” / Ga-Hoe Dong.

The Blue House, resident of the Korean president. When in the area either walking on this street behind Gyeongbokgung or hiking on the hiking trail behind the Blue House, photos taken in the direction of the Blue House are strictly forbidden, except in photo zones like this one.
The Jong‑Chin‑Bu, Office of the Royal Household, the An‑Dong Detached Palace (An‑Guk‑Dong), and Seoul's only remaining aristocratic "great house" (99 "kan") house, the home of Korea's second president, Yun Po‑Sun, and other significant homes in the Ga‑Hoe Dong area, still occupied today by the son of Yun Po-Sun.

The Royal Astrological Observatory next to Chang‑Dok Palace (on the grounds of Hyundai’s headquarters), and the Unhyŏn Palace, former residence of the Daewon-gun, or Prince Regent, Yi Ha-ung. Unhyŏn Palace is the only remaining (somewhat!) in-tact “detached palace,” where offspring of the king (those who would not become the next king) lived up through the late 1960’s to 1980’s, when expelled by the Korean Government. The Taewon-gun's second son, born and raised in Unhyŏn Palace, went on to become King Kojong, the second to last reigning king in Korea prior to colonization (and the last King who truly reigned with power of the state; the last monarch, King Sunjong, was put into power by the Japanese in 1907 was simply their puppet!). This compound has residential buildings of exceptionally refined, sophisticated architecture which will be explained in their historical, aesthetic and execution contexts and a two story European style residential palace building, the last of its style remaining in Korea.

Other interesting Chosŏn Dynasty period homes and structures along the way will be explained and put into context, especially in the "Hyoja-Dong" area and in "Ka-Hoe-Dong" (“Bukchon”), the other primarily aristocratic residential area of the Joseon (Chosŏn) period, between the Gyeongbok and Changdok Palaces.

We are fortunate to have as our excursion leader Mr. Peter Bartholomew. Mr. Bartholomew has lived in Korea for more than 40 years and has made an intensive study of the Joseon (Chosŏn) Dynasty period from the architectural point of view with analysis of its history, culture and politics. He has made a special study into the evolutionary aspects of the royal capital city of Seoul. His fascinating article entitled "Choson Dynasty Royal Compounds ‑ Windows to a Lost Culture" can be found in Volume 68 of Transactions of the RAS, Korea Branch. He will continuously narrate the excursion with historical, cultural and aesthetic / architectural descriptions.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Gyeongbokgung Palace and Geomancy



Gyeongbokgung Palace, 23 October 2015
Picture taken by Robert Koehler
Gyeongbokgung Palace was the main royal palace where the king resided and carried out governmental affairs. The palace was built at the time of the Joseon Dynasty's founding and its establishment of a new capital. The dynasty's original capital was Gyegyeong but was relocated to Hanyang at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty to herald a new beginning and because of the auspicious topographical features. For a time Mt. Gyeryong area was considered for the Joseon capital but it was not deemed as propitious, according to the principles of pungsujiri (geomancy). After considering a number of possible sites, Hanyang was selected for the new capital, especially as it was more easily accessible from other regions on the peninsula and it had the Hansu River nearby as a source of water and transit. The area was also protected by two mountain ranges that included four inner and four outer mountains, creating an ideal pungsujiri topographical structure which was in line with the principle of baesanimsu (背山臨水, literally meaning "a mountain in the back and a river in front"), geomantic standards for the ideal house. Notice the four mountains protecting the Hanyang capital and how the mountain positions balance one another. Particularly, Bugak mountain stands tall, and its height changed the positioning of the typically east-facing structures, and so the north mountain instead of the typical west mountain became the behind-the-palace sentinel. Worth note, Gyeongbokgung and its straight axis of buildings face south instead of east.

Pungsujiri - geomantic principles for assessing spatial arrangement of surroundings and utilizing that space to create a sense or order and harmony on earth as represented in the heavens
The Hansu also included an inner and outer river, which complemented the four inner mountains to form another favorable pungsujiri characteristic called sanhageumdae. According to pungsujiri, the inner river represented a hanbok, the traditional dress, that seemed to be fastened together by a belt formed by the outer river, which served to embrace Hanyang and its Gyeongbokgung Palace. This geographical layout was ideal not only for pungsujiri principles but for natural protection from invaders as well. Indeed, the strategic value of Hanyang had also been acknowledged during the earlier Goryeo Dyansty, when five kings -- King Sookjong, King Gojong, King Gongmin, King Woo and King Gaongyang -- had attempted to relocated the capital to Hanyang. With the launch of the Joseon Dynasty, Hanyang finally became the new capital and center of government. Along with the declaration of the new dynasty, the construction of Gyeongbokgung Palace began in December 1394, and was completed in September 1395. After three months of finishing work, King Taejo moved into the palace and started to conduct affairs there on December 28, 1395.


Who designed the architecture of Gyeongbokgung Palace?

The palace designer was Jeong Do-jeon. He was not an architect but a Confucian scholar and politician who had played a key role in the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty. Jeong designed Gyeongbokgung by referring to the book "Rites of Zhou", a classical Chinese reference about political concepts, state governance, and ritual practices. Both the designer himself and the reference book seem to have little direct connection to building architecture. But, "Rites of Zhou" did provide guidelines for East Asian palace architecture. It instructs, "The palace should be in the center of the city, with an ancestral temple on the left [Chongmyo Shrine], temples to the deities to the right [Sajik Shrine], office buildings in front, bedchambers and a marketplace behind, and five gates and three districts." These instructions were carried out to the letter of the "Rites" and applied to the layout of wanggukgyeongwidogoedo (arrangements via longitude and latitude via axis lines?) and jowichimmyosajikdo (arrangement of the shrines). 

The instructions of the book ostensibly provided guidelines for the physical arrangement of buildings. In addition, it was a valuable source of political ideology related to "harmony of ethics and laws." When the instructions of "Rites of Zhou" are evaluated in detail, it is possible to discover the guidelines for political ideology as well as basic principles for the palace construction. The instruction can be translated as "harmony of axis and concentric circles". The axis symbolizes the authority to rule by law and by forcefulness. The concentric circles convey a sense of harmony, aesthetics of modesty, and governance based on ethical rule.

Two different views depicting the axis or hierarchical authority to power which in effect depicts the right and authority to rule. Basically, what is carefully arranged on earth is a reflection of the heavens, and it is the heavens that give the right to rule, and therefore the arrangements on earth must be correct.
A more complicated view of Gyeongbokgung Palace, fairly complete with all its 5 gates on an axis (the axis of power), the administrative offices arranged by their power positions, the king's area, and the queen's area in the far back, the place of course for modesty, a central trait the queen should have.
In north-east Asia there are five directions, and the four castle wall gates are built in the representative four directions. What is missing in the picture above is the central direction, represented by yellow. The center position is the king, and therefore the center position within Gyeongbokgung is the Geunjeongjeon, the king's throne hall. 

"Having five gates and three districts" is an especially critical requirement of the instructions in the "Rites of Zhou". The five gates are composed of Go-gate ("calling" gate), which is the front gate of the palace; another Go-gate ("storage" gate) that is constructed between the first Go-gate and the Chi-gate; Chi-gate which is the main gate of Chijo; Eung-gate that is built between the Chi-gate and No-gate; and No-gate which is the main gate for Yeonjo. Oejo (govt office area), Chijo (king's area), and Yeonjo (queen's area) make up the three districts. The first Go-gate, Chi-gate, and No-gate were located in front of Oejo, Chijo, and Yeonjo districts, respectively. Building two additional gates between the three gates accounted for the desired five gates. The principle of the five gates and three districts is widely applied in the palace architecture of East Asia.

Also of geomantic importance is the construction of an artificial stream flowing across the axis of lined-up gates. The stream is a representative boundary between the earthly and the heavenly, just as the palace is a earthly representation of the correct and just happenings of the heavens. So, when one crosses the artificial stream (every Korean palace has one), the person is metaphysically entering the realm of the heavens.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, 23 October 2015
Picture taken by Robert Koehler

Note the gates on the axis and how they get higher and higher. The highest one (appears to be #4 in the line-up is not a gate but is the Geunjeongjeon or Throne Hall, the place where the king met envoys and state officials. It is much like the modern-day convention center. It is not a gate but the center of official activity for the kingdom.

Another point to note, each of the gates and the Geunjeongjeon are built in harmony with the surroundings, each of them is an imitation or reflection of the mountains around (note the height and curve of the roofs to create a line-up of mountains).

Each gate has its own name, e.g. Gwanghwamun, and a generalized name, e.g. Go-mun.
  • Gwanghwamun (The Main and South Gate) - Go-mun ("calling" gate)
  • Heungnyemun (The Second Inner Gate) - Go-mun ("storage" gate)
  • Geunjeongmun (The Third Inner Gate) - Chi-mun, which is the main gate to the Chi-jo
  • GEUNJEONGJEON - not a gate but the centralized throne hall
  • Eung-mun, which is the main gate for the Chi-jo, the district for the king
  • No-mun, which is the main gate for the Yeon-jo, the district for the queen
Symbolism in numbers

Three and five are symbolic numbers. The number three symbolized balance and harmony, while the number five represents abundance, variety, harmony, retention, and completion of combinations in East Asia. The number five is visible in other examples, such as five colors, five musical notes, five tastes, five elements, five directions, five deities, five mythological creatures, five ethical practices, five classics, five vices, and five virtues. While these five gates are situated along an axis, the arrangement of concentric circles is found in wang-guk-gyeong-wido-goedo of the "Rites of Zhou". The axis and concentric circles are related to harmony and completion.



Concentric circles represent 조화 (harmony) - the harmonization of the king, queen, officials, servants, people, etc. In the broader meaning, the palace needs to be in harmony with the world. In Eastern society, concentric circles get more emphasis than the axis because the concentric circles form orders.

The forces of yin and yang are considered as well as the role the 5 elements have on creating harmoniousness and balance. In the same way, offices within the court are viewed by as their elemental function, and how their elemental function creates harmony and synergy when interacting with other offices (or not interacting with other offices because elements may not be beneficial for interaction and so drain the synergy). So, when the king gives duties to people in offices, he must consider the 5 elements which represent their positions. Offices are classified by capabilities. This concentric structure is used to manage people. Only Gyeongbokgung among the palaces is laid out this way.
Another look at the inter-play and exchange of the elements and the governmental offices.

The characteristics of the 5 elements are considered when creating offices and staffing available positions.

The 5 elements are the source of all energy in the universe and the source of perfect harmony. Therefore, Geunjeongjeon (the throne hall) is in the center of the palace compound, the king's district is right behind the throne hall and the king sleeps there in the heart of the palace so that even while he is sleeping, he can get the perfect energy so as to perform in his role as harmonizer in the earthly model of that which is heavenly.

Throughout Chinese history, there has been a distinction between a royal palace and an imperial palace. The principle of "five gates and three districts" is typically applied to royal palaces but not for imperial palaces. The Forbidden City complex is a representative example of an imperial palace while that of Gyeongbokgung is a representative example of the palace of a kingdom. Also, consider the western palaces - almost all of them are built as one very extensive building, perhaps in a linear construction or with multiple right angles, but still as one building. Then consider palaces of north-east Asia - the countries which have adopted Confucianism as fundamental principles of controlling the people, and you will realize that the architecture bespeaks the same control, the same harmony of togetherness and division. Following are other depictions of building Gyeongbokgung with harmony.


 In the heart of the diagram showing relationships and pungsujiri, there are 5 characters and 8 forms.

Chi-jo, the king's district, and Yeon-jo, the queen's district

In the king's district are three buildings, a small space but the characteristics of this space is dynamic. Though small, there is flow and steadiness, as represented in the structures. The center building is for the king and the outer buildings are for high-ranking and most trusted officials. These buildings metaphysically are "water" and "mountain", two opposing natural elements that balance each other. In nature "water" has the characteristic of always moving, flowing, increasing. Water is therefore representative of "intelligence". Yet in nature "mountain" is strong, stays continuous, and is steady. Mountain is therefore representative of "generousness". Confucius said, "Intelligent people like water; generous people like mountains". (Thus, when someone asks you whether you like beaches or mountains better, you'll recognize it as a psychology test.) These three structures are where the metaphysical flow of water (intelligence) and steadiness (generousness) are at the heart of the nation. [I'm not fully understanding how it was explained to me, but I tried.]


Similarly, the architecture of the queen's area reflects the characteristics she should uphold for the nation. The wall separating the other areas of the court and her private area is symbolic of mountains, and therefore represent generousness, the characteristic the queen is supposed to have.


The keywords in Confucianism are modest, harmony and courtesy - all realized in the architecture at Gyeongbokgung.

___________________________________________________

This lecture material was presented in a Korean architecture lecture series hosted by the Korea Foundation by Professor Seockjae Yim of Ewha Womans University. This year he wrote a book entitled "Gyeongbokgung Palace Built with Courtesy: 예도 지은 경복궁" 2015, which I think would provide even more fascinating insights on the pungsujiri of Gyeongbokgung. This was one of the most informative lectures I have ever attended!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Korean Painting Lesson

A one-time experiential class in Korean folk painting was offered at the Buddhist English Library, located at Anguk subway station, seconds walk from exit 6. According to the advertisement for the free class, up to 12 participants could attend. Unfortunately, only 4 people, and of course all female, registered. Very sad for the hosts who prepared a lot and had four assistants to augment the head painting teacher.

The teacher introduced a very famous 18th century folk painting to us - one of the most famous works of art by painter 신윤복 (born 1758), otherwise known by his artist or pen name Hyewon. His most famous piece is entitled "다노풍경", Dano for the spring celebration day and 풍경 meaning scenery; in short, the scenery of Dano. Dano is a traditional Korean holiday celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Korean lunar calendar. Traditionally on the day were special rites, singing and dancing, of course drinking, the playing of folk games like Korean traditional wrestling (씨름), and the presenting and eating of beautiful delicate foods symbolizing spring. To prepare for Dano was for the young ladies to wash their hair elaborately in iris-petal water to scent it and prepare it for the celebration. This hair-washing scene is part of the scene inside the women's court depicted in 신윤복's painting ... young women preparing themselves for Dano. We only painted a small portion of the scene, a court lady stepping on a traditional swing, but in the foreground of the original painting are young women gathered around a stream in the different stages of washing and scenting their hair.

This painting, although done in the 18th century, has been relatively well preserved and the colors, though somewhat faded over the march of decades, largely retained, which says a lot for the natural dyestuffs of the time as well as the hardiness of the natural paper products. "다노풍경" is a picture depicting the court and its ladies in the Joseon Dynasty. The original painting has been designated National Treasure No. 135.

Before we started painting, our teacher briefly introduced the famous painting to us and stressed how this painting depicted traditional court life. Therefore, by emulating the painting we would be participating in cultural knowledge advancement related to the Joseon Dynasty.


While we were painting, the four assistants constantly moved around the room to "advise" us on mixing colors properly. They insisted that we copy the color and design of the original as closely as possible. I've done a little research on why this copy technique is so important, and basically there are no copyright laws regarding old paintings and Korean art in general. Rather, to emulate exactly is to reach a higher realm of expertise and respect as a "great artist". Ok, I don't want to be a great artist. I made tons of color mistakes, but I wouldn't let anyone mix my colors. We had the basic pictures printed on the paper anyway, so what really could go wrong?

Of course a class, ceremony or celebration is NEVER complete without the closing ceremonial picture-shoot, so here we all are with our "original" paintings.


Sunday, October 18, 2015

Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine: "I live crying tears of blood"

In various English publications, International Strategy Center (ISC) had a posting inviting up to 10 people to take an overnight historical tour of the “Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine and Site of Civilian Massacre”. This type of tour is totally different than the typical templestay experience, visit a tea plantation and learn about tea ceremony, take a bus to Seoraksan for a color tour or to Haeundae Beach to soak up the rays. I’ve been to Ganghwa Island to see the famous table-top dolmen, have gone to several festivals, and climbed the tallest mountains in most of Korea’s 20 national parks. What really is lacking in a lot of these excursions is the voice of the people—not the voice of the festival participants or the Korean tourists who are traveling somewhere for entertainment, but the voice of the average person who has seen history unfold and is living that history. For that reason, I was quick to sign up to be among the 10 privileged people who would go on the tour.

On October 17 the participants and two leaders from the ISC met at Dong Seoul Bus Terminal, and imagine my surprise to find out only one other person, James a young historian, besides myself, an anthropologist, had signed up. Where were all the people who want a very unique tour rich in history? Are people not signing up because nowadays trips are taken for pleasure and personal entertainment? Shouldn’t mental enrichment also be a drawing factor when choosing a weekend activity? So just the four of us boarded the bus to Gyeongsan. While the hard-working ISC volunteers slept, James and I read the provided literature on the mine—all of it related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea and published in 2010.

Choi Seung Ho, publisher and president of Gyeongsan Sinmoon, met us at the bus terminal and became our guide. Choi is a pillar in the community, knowing and shaking hands with everyone; a dedicated man—according to a 2010 영남일보 위클리포유—who had educated more than 500 people in night-schools in the preceding 20 years. He is not related to the bereaved family members of the mine massacre but takes a very philosophical stance on why he wants exposure to what we learned was hidden history in the Truth and Reconciliation articles. “The last thing I can do for our children [future generations] is to give them their history, even if it is a shameful past,” he said. So before going to the mine itself, he gave us historical setting context to the mine massacre story by showing us the cobalt extraction site 1.5 kilometers away.

In the late 1930s the Japanese used Korean labor to mine the gold and silver in the mine, but with the discovery of cobalt and cobalt being useful for strengthening steel necessary for war munitions, cobalt became the more valued object of the mine. In 1945 the mine was shut down with the expulsion of the Japanese from Korea. Right after the onset of the Korean War, from July to September 1950, political prisoners were brought to the mine, beaten, shot, burned with flame-throwers, and thrown down the mine shaft, which was then dynamited to obscure evidence. I’ve read since that the largest civilian massacres occurred on the sites of former Japanese occupation.

The mine is kept locked to keep ghost-seekers out and to preserve the evidence. Already two excavations have taken place and bones for 400 or so people have been removed, but with the 3,500 people reported victims of the massacre, more than 3,000 are yet unaccounted for. Unfortunately, excavations are expensive and the bereaved families poor. Bags and bags of dirt with bone fragments and teeth line the inside of the mine, waiting for funding to further the excavation. Beneath the shaft where the largest number of bones have been excavated so far, the mud is oily with yellow adipose, even now, 65 years later. A trailer not far from the entrance stores several boxes of bones while the greater number are refrigerated for preservation at a research lab until funding can be obtained to continue the excavation. Bereaved families don’t know if their family members have been excavated yet, and DNA testing is too expensive, so they wait to excavate all before giving all wandering spirits a soul-cleansing ceremony to bid them cease their wanderings. But there is no money, no discussion, and no reconciliation. Therefore, there is no closure for the mine victims and for the bereaved families by extension.


As one Truth and Reconciliation article pointed out, “During the military dictatorships and repressive regimes of President Rhee Syngman, General Chun Doo-hwan, and President Park Chung-hee, these atrocities were kept secret,” and bereaved family members who organized in the 1960s were imprisoned. Korea has had a long history of guilt-by-association so for survival the bereaved family members became silent.

In 2000 under the presidency of Kim Dae-jung, a special law related to the Cheju Uprising, another Korean War massacre site, was passed and all bereaved families members were finally encouraged and invited to register as such. This registry as I understand it was only open for one year and has never been opened since. It is estimated that only 10% of the bereaved families registered for fear of continued guilt-by-association consequences that they had lived with all of their lives. Guilt-by-association prevented them from being civil servants which therefore discouraged them from studying as jobs opened to the educated were in general not opened to them. 2,500 of those massacred in the cobalt mine were classified broadly as ‘political prisoners’. A ‘political prisoner’ could be someone who spoke out against the ruling party, fed someone who spoke out, or even had money and therefore was viewed as being associated with the moneyed “reds”. Just by having a relative massacred in the mine placed the label of “red” on whole families by extension.

President Roh Mu-hyun allotted funding for excavations and made an apology, officially recognizing the illegal use of power in previous governments. However, this funding was cut short in the Lee Myung-bak presidency and at present the topic of funding or recognition is like a heavy tombstone under the office of Park Guen-hye. Elder daughter of the military dictator-president Park Chung-hee, Park Guen-hye presently seeks to use government office to write and enforce a “Correct History Textbook” in middle and high school classes across Korea. Many historians argue that replacing the current choice of eight textbooks with only one, which they feel will “whitewash” her father’s era of military rule among other historical events, will continue to hide historical truths and events that need to be academically discussed and presented. Korea disputes the Japanese textbooks which Koreans say distort history, and yet the current government is taking steps to change history via textbook also. Franklin P. Jones, 18th-century publisher, so aptly said, “Perhaps nobody has changed the course of history as much as the historian.” The question asked by many is, if history is distorted and events glossed over, how will future Korean leaders learn the mistakes of the past so as to aim for a better and brighter future?

In the course of the weekend I learned many disturbing things. First, the Internet is almost silent on the Gyeongsan Cobalt MineMassacre. What is published is a few short blog entries on the mine and massacre and a few articles put out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea in 2010. Not much else exists in English. More surprising is the lack of information regarding almost all Korean War civilian massacres in Korea. According to Wikipedia, the list of civilian massacres in North Korea cites one, and in South Korea eighteen; the Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine Massacre, with its 3,500 victims, is not in the list, and yet, according to Na Jeong-tae, vice-president of the Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine Bereaved Families Association, 114 such bereaved families associations exist regarding civilian massacres in South Korea. The silence is deafening.

The Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine Bereaved Families Association wants reconciliation. They want investigations on the war crimes as to the reasons for the illegal killings; they want their fathers, uncles, brothers or other family members from the massacre to have their names cleared of “red” slurs, and their own tarnished names to be simultaneously restored. They seek funding to finish the excavations and be allowed Confucian respects to ceremoniously bury their relatives. They also want the bereaved families registry to be reopened so other families can join and be bonded through spirit and share in the catharsis of healing together. However, seeing no hope for change at the moment, Na Jeong-tae, who was able to receive only four years of education, said, “I live crying tears of blood.”

I wouldn’t call my weekend exciting and certainly not entertaining, but what I gained from going to the Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine was knowledge that most Koreans are not likely to have, especially if the Korean government does not acknowledge its own historical past. I listened to the voice of a marginalized people, and I came away with an understanding of family and truth as being treasured values as opposed to what seems to drive society nowadays: economy and politics. I think I can say that the time spent learning about this obscure history and meeting four members of an effectively silenced group, was one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had in Korea. Meaningful because people spoke from their hearts about their experiences to survive, and meaningful because they learned to endure despite the pain of being marginalized and emotionally suppressed. I liked feeling their strength because it is this strength from enduring that has built Korea into the nation it is today.



Published on the International Strategy Center website in their World Current Report, Vol 10, October 2015 publication.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine: Civilian Massacre Site

The Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine and massacre site is shrouded in a silenced history. Before going there, I had only heard of the infamous Nogunri massacre, the Cheju massacre and the Kwangju massacre. Actually I heard of the Kwangju massacre first because my first year in Korea back in 1991 was in Kwangju, so my fellow colleagues and I saw many demonstrations and battles between demonstrators and demonstration police fighting with stones, bricks taken from the sidewalks, and molatov cocktails. The year in Kwangju was an intense year of watching demonstrations and not fully understanding that, although the people were said to have democracy, they were still fighting for their democratic rights as citizens. The same seems to apply to many of the Korean War massacres. It seems that many times people spoke out against the ruling party and were permanently silenced along with a lot of other sympathizers and non-involved innocent people.

On October 17 and 18, I went to the Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine and learned for the first time of the massacre. I also learned that there was shockingly a total of 114 bereaved families associations in South Korea that are registered as having family members were who killed in civilian massacres, mostly at the onset of the Korean War. 114 civilian massacres! What an insanely high number, and these families are still waiting for government recognition so they can have legal assistance in expunging the "red" slurs attached to their murdered family member's name and by extension to their own names.

Choi Seung Ho, publisher and president of the Gyeongsan Sinmoon, met two International Strategy Center volunteers, James a young historian, and myself an anthropologist when we got to Gyeongsan and showed us the cobalt excavation site and then took us 1.5 kilometer distance to the mine and massacre site itself. He narrated the dark history to us. Choi had no family connections to the mine but back when he was a 20-year-old journalist he had been asking questions about the history of the Gyeongsan and then he learned that the rumors he had occasionally heard growing up were actually truth. He found out more, shocked that such a history could exist but not be discussed. Back then, because the topic was so politically sensitive, he had to be careful when he wrote about it or referenced it.

Not much could be said publicly about the mine, but in 2001 there was finally a war criminal tribunal in New York pertaining to the mine along with other massacres around Korea. Choi and a few others went. There, Ramsey Clark, human rights lawyer and former US Attorney General, admitted that the US was responsible for war time operations. In 2003 in Geneva the UN sub-committee on human rights requested an investigation on the Gyeongsan mine site. The Jamaican chair said if both North Korea and South Korea agreed to have an investigation, it could happen, but South Korea refused. In 2009, there was finally recognition by the government of the illegal killings. Compensation was to be allotted to each of the 120 bereaved families with each family receiving approximately 100,000,000won (1억), which is relatively little compensation for the years of being marginalized, disallowed to hold any civil servant positions and carrying the taint of "commy" at work, school, play or wherever. Yet, it is a beginning for healing and acceptance and restoring their murdered relative's name and their own. (The money has been promised but the families still have not received it.)

Remnant Japanese constructions 
Remnant Japanese construction from the cobalt extraction area.
Choi Seung Ho says that the task that now remains is to turn the cobalt mine and the excavation site 1.5 kilometers away into a type of peace park with a museum, which could be the venue of a human rights film festival, and an iconic place to give others in international atrocity sites hope. He said that the mine could be made into a historical site demarking Japanese colonialism, but there is already such a mine, and that mine is well-preserved and doesn't have connotations of a massacre.

The reason Choi Seung Ho was showing us the excavation site and mine is to reveal truth about a shamefully disguised past. He is a scholar, and a seeker of knowledge. He values truth and openness. In his quest for knowledge for himself, he also gives knowledge to others and for the past 20 years has dedicated himself to teaching night-school to locals. In a 2010 newspaper article in the 영남일보 위클리포유, he was reported to have already taught 500 people in night schools. That is dedication. He is dedicated to sharing the silent history of the mine also. "The last thing I can do for our children [future generations] is to give them their history, even if it is a shameful past,” he said. So before going to the mine itself, he gave us historical setting context to the mine massacre story by showing us the cobalt extraction site 1.5 kilometers away.

Choi and a number of local historians and a professor of anthropology showed us the excavation site with its large cement structure for sluicing the rock and floating out the cobalt. One large structure for sluicing water was also a random murder site back in 1985 or 1986. A man was murdered up on the low mountain where the sluice structures still exist, and the murderer, thinking to hide the victim's body, threw it in the sluice whereupon it rolled down to the bottom and was soon discovered by a local. Since that time, that mountain too has taken on connotations of murder and a vengeful ghost so few people ventured up the mountain afterwards.

Part of the sluicing system for water and materials separation.
Also the shaft that a murdered man was thrown down in 1985 or 1986.
The other end of the slicing shaft ... and where the murdered man tumbled and was easily found by a local.

The Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine


The mine is kept locked to prevent kids looking for ghosts out and to preserve the evidence still within. The only people who have keys are Choi and the bereaved families.

At some point in history, the entrance we entered was sealed off with cement, and the mine with its spring of water became a reservoir for water (which I honestly don't want to imagine as the water would be very contaminated by the thousands of dead bodies within). In 2001 the blockage was blasted open. Bones that had been disturbed by the flow of water were lying everywhere, and even today there are pieces of wood washed up in areas, and if someone looks closely, bones will be seen washed up under them. The further we went into the cave, the more yellow and oily the mud became. The oily discoloration is adipose which is still decomposing 65 years later because of the coolness of the mine. The largest number of bones recovered were 150 meters into the mine and directly under the shaft, which had been dynamited closed to obscure evidence.

So far, about 400 people have been accounted for as represented by 800 femurs located. The femur is the hardest bone in the body and therefore disintegrates more slowly than other bones; therefore, counting femurs is the measurement for the body toll accounted for.

The humanitarian and right thing to do is to excavate them and give them a proper send-off to quiet their restless spirits. Burying ancestors within three days upon death is the proper Confucian practice as the ancestors properly buried and given filial respects will look favorably on their descendants and "watch over them" in the unseen role as guardian between the real and the spirit world. The bereaved families have never buried their restless dead who died shameful and ignominious deaths; therefore, the families are also disturbed too by the unrest of their ancestors and want to provide closure to this fruitless time of wandering. However, without money to excavate the bodies and give final respects, the restless spirits and families by extension remain uneasy and disrupted. Although the excavated 400 or so people's remains could be buried, bereaved families don't know if their family member is among the excavated and therefore the local families demand that all of the remains be excavated first and then buried with recognition, recognition that is by the government.

There is no recognition and the funding established by Roo Moo-hyun, the last liberal president, was cut off by President Lee Myung-bak. Choi explained that the Lee Myung-bak and present Lee Guen-hye governments have roots in Japanese colonialism as the police officers, ministers, land owners, politicians were educated in the Japanese occupation period and when the new government was established after the expulsion of the Japanese, these educated and connected people were set in power by the American government which had a kind of military rule from 1945-1948. It is the descendants of these educated people who now are in government office.

Choi Seung Ho explaining the history of the mine and why there are so many bags of dirt inside ... basically, with no funds for further excavation, they must keep the mud until excavation can continue and the mud can be sifted through for teeth, bone fragments and other telling pieces of evidence. 
Sandbags of earth waiting to be sifted through and analyzed. 
A natural underground spring keeps the mine muddy and has effectively over time buried the victims' bodies. The mud is not naturally oily and yellow; that is the adipose that has yet to decompose, even 65 years since the massacre happened.

A Box of Bones


To raise awareness about the silence surrounding the cobalt mine and massacre there, Choi took a box of bones to the Kwangju Biennale 2015. People were shocked that the bones would be displayed and shocked that such a history unspoken about existed in South Korea. They wanted to know why the bones hadn't yet been buried, but Choi explained that families want to know that their dead and dishonored family member is peacefully buried and that can only happen if all persons involved are buried and that the government recognizes this burial.

He explained the dynamics of the illegal killings. The people killed in the massacre site were killed without trial. The majority (about 2,500) were political prisoners who had been detained, but prisons were overflowing with political prisoners, and it was feared if the political prisoners were freed, they would join the forces of the North, so they were illegally brought to the mine and killed. Among these "political prisoners" were people who had fed or clothed someone considered to be a "red". Others were thrown in the middle by just being in the wrong place at the right time, or just by innocent association.

The "red scare" was prevalent and stigmatizing to those labeled. Families who had a member who was killed in the massacre were determined to be "guilty by association" and were tainted with "red" labeling, resulting in being watched. Therefore, they were not allowed to travel overseas. They could not hold any kind of government office, which means they could not be civil servants, about the only job an educated person could have back in the developing years of Korea's economic growth, the 1950's, 60s, 70s, and 80s certainly. As a result, parents did not tell their children about relatives that had been killed. Neighbors could not know. The topic became one of silence as families took action for self-preservation. People were imprisoned or disappeared for speaking against the government in the 1960s so silence was the preferable option.

The excavated bones, however, are a screaming testimony to atrocities of the past. Near the mine is a trailer that contains several boxes of bones. Most of the excavated bones, however, are refrigerated at Chungbuk University in order to preserve them for testimony. Choi showed us a box of femurs, another of ribs, and other boxes with carefully separated bones, a skull with a bullet-hole over the right ear opening, another smashed by a hammer, teeth with gold fillings, and the odd leather shoes. Some bones were white, others had been blackened with flame-throwers which were used to incinerate the victims before throwing them down the mine shaft. Perpetrators initially shot the victims before dropping them into the mine, but forensic evidence suggests that when the perpetrators ran out of bullets, they started beating the victims before pushing the bodies into the shaft. Some of these victims were people who
  • belonged to social movements
  • opposed the ruling government
  • demanded redistribution of land after Japanese occupation
  • demanded compensation for barley that the US had confiscated
Local rumor has it that three people survived the 60-70 meter drop. One person is said to have survived the drop but starved subsequently. Another man is reported to have escaped the mine but only to be recaptured, while the third is said to have escaped the mine and run away.

Meeting 4 Members of the Bereaved Families 


The Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine Bereaved Families Association was established after the Korean War, but in the Park Chung-hee era, the association was eradicated. It was started again in 2000 under the presidency of the liberal Kim Dae-jung, when many other bereaved families associations registered also. In total there are 114 bereaved families associations representing Korean War civilian massacre sites. Wikipedia, like the Korean government, is very silent about massacre sites in the country; Wikipedia cites 18 of the reported 114 sites. A strange silence on a very ignominious past.

Lee Jeong Woo, President of the Legal Body
To give background, in July and August 1950 soldiers and police who were part of the National Guidance League killed about 3500 people. So far 500 have been excavated, but many more are in water and mud, but it's painful that we can't excavate the remains. Our original Bereaved Families Association started out in 2000 with 160 families [now there are 120 but some families have passed away and others have removed their names from the association], so we've had about 16 years of activism. The ROK is democratic but nonetheless there's no support; we would like the government to support us. We receive help from a civil society group, a farmers association here in Gyeongsan, and from the newspaper, but we need more and we need more public awareness. 
I was 8, in 2nd grade of elementary school when father was killed. Father was head of the fire-fighters. Life was difficult. We farmed a little, but eventually had to sell the land. After graduating from elementary school, we moved to Daegu and lived in a one-room: my 3 siblings, myself and my mom. After finishing the military service, I took a test to become a military servant and passed at the 4th level. I worked 3 years and wanted to move up to the next level, but every three years there is a background check, and my background check revealed that my father was "killed in a strange way" and that father had been a political prisoner. The office mood became so bad toward me that I was forced to resign after only working as a military servant for three years. I got a job at a regular company and worked there until I retired. 
One of my nephews also had difficulties when he wanted to study abroad. However, his family record showed that my father (the nephew's great uncle) had a political prisoner record, and therefore, he was disallowed to go abroad. I went to the police station, talked with police and pleaded with them. I bought them lunch, and the nephew was allowed to go. Guilt by association was hard.
Kim Kab Soon, on the Board of Directors
When our Bereaved Families Association started in 2000, 114 other bereaved families associations started at the same time. The bereaved families have succeeded in getting reparations in the lower courts, but now the proceedings need to be passed in the Supreme Court. Through government oppression, many of the bereaved families didn't come forward. When others tried to find the cobalt mine bereaved families, people were afraid to come forward because in the past there had always been oppression and guilt by association, so who was to say that if people registered, they wouldn't later be labeled as guilty again. 
Na Jeong Tae, Vice-president

Kim Kab Soon and Na Jeong Tae
The thing that is restricting bereaved families is guilt by association. Supposedly in 1983 when Chun Doo-hwan was grabbed by the knees by a woman who pleaded with him, Chun didn't know what guilt by association was and asked his advisors. When he heard the explanation for the first time he said, "Well, get rid of it!" What he said was publicized but the law was not changed and still exists today.
Kim Kab Soon, on the Board of Directors
Legally it still exists, but it is not put into practice. Now a person can take an exam and, without a background check, the person can become a civil servant. Also before, when becoming a civil servant, a person had to have a background check as well as sign a document about one's political stance. These two things were required before getting a position like a public servant, before being an employee at a large company, or to work at most large companies, chaebols in those days. One also had to submit a document of assets because the government could confiscate those properties if a person was seen politically going against the government. 
I was 13, the oldest son, when my father disappeared. I had two younger sisters. My father was a railroad public servant [basically a union member]. When the [Korean] war broke out, father was apprehended (snatched) and mother went around looking for him... Mother was a seamstress, and I helped. On the way home from school, I picked up sewing for Mother, and the next day on the way to school I delivered the sewing. Mother worked so hard but she had to eat. While she ate, I would be at the sewing machine sewing. Eventually, I took the exam and was allowed to work as a 5th ranking public servant. I retired and immediately joined the bereaved families. I had to retire first before speaking out. Even though there was a background check every three years, records didn't show about my father. If I had been found out as a bereaved family member, I could have lost my job.
On Young Sook, bereaved family member
I was 4. My father had just become a pharmacist. That was a very good position. But he was killed and we had nothing. If he had been a farmer when he died, we would have had land to live off of. It was hard. My brother, born in 1949, was barely born, and live was hard for him. He did go to college and when he came out in 1980 he applied for a construction company, but the job required overseas travel which as a bereaved family member he was not allowed to do. There was one chance though. He needed two public servants of 3rd rank [pretty high] or higher to vouch for him. My mother ran around searching and begging for the signatures. As bereaved family members, the only choice the kids had was to sell stuff, be farmers, so what was the point of going to university if the kids couldn't be public servants? [no private companies at that time] So what was the point of studying? Eventually mother got the signatures, and he was able to take the job and do work overseas. My brother won't talk about the bereaved families. He knows I'm active but he doesn't want to know anything. He had a hard life growing up. 
Also, eventually I studied for a high school degree by myself. I couldn't go to university but I took online courses (at age 60!). My mother before she died was always nagging me about my courses but I wanted to study. I want to learn. I was married. My husband died young. I didn't tell him I was a bereaved family member when we got married. He found out, and asked me, "So what will happen to my job if people know?!" And afterwards whenever he got drunk, he would yell about people finding out and other bad things.
Na Jeong Tae, Vice-president
50 years had passed since the massacre before we were established in 2000 (as bereaved families). People knew about the massacre but didn't talk about it. Certain political dynamics prevented discussion. President Kim Dae-jung acknowledged the massacre at Nogunri and that started the discussion here. 200 families originally joined but there's a decline in the numbers, because old folks have passed away; others were scared because it was a "dangerous place for me" and feared repercussions. President Roh Mu-hyun in the Participatory Government helped a lot. In 2005 the government asked people to register as bereaved families [for all the civilian massacres sites]. Only about 10% came forward, but the government then said that there wasn't enough evidence to prove they were bereaved families. [about 10,000 bereaved families registered but only 8,000 were recognized by the government as being bereaved families. Na Jeong Tae and others believe that the 10,000 who registered is only 10% of the bereaved families and that the number is realistically closer to 1 million!] The problem with this is "Why is the government asking people to register rather than coming to us and saying (personably) there is a problem? Why do we have to go to the government ... and then prove we are bereaved families?"  
When the Korean War started, the bereaved families fought for recognition and on the side of what is South Korea now. Then when Park Chung-hee was president, the families were detained and questioned and not allowed to talk about the mine genocide. The reason why there is little hope now is the children can't talk about it and grandchildren don't know what happened. Parents don't want to tell their children, because of shame. They want their children to be free of shame and have good lives. We want the government to investigate how the victims were killed and how the victims had their human rights infringed upon. We want the civilians who were killed in the massacre to have restored reputations, and a press conference to be held to discuss the problem.  
Now the Bereaved Families Associations are petitioning the government to help the 1 million victims  of the Korean War. The petition, if containing 50,000 signatures and 10% of which are bereaved family members, will be opened at the National Assembly in April 2016. The petition already has 40,000 signatures, mostly obtained since the May 18 press conference on the topic of massacres. The petition appeals for the remains of massacre sites to be excavated, that a project to commemorate the victims (like in Kwangju) be made; the bereaved families want a direct apology from the government as well as the bereaved families registry to be reopened [people could only register during one year, 2000], and they also want the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Korea be re-established and for bereaved families to again be recipients of funding. The petition, only in Korean, for those who wish to sign is here
Na Jeong Tae didn't say much about his life. He was in his 4th year of elementary school when his father was killed, and his education therefore ended. Life was very hard. His mother remarried [because what could a woman do at that time?] He was sent to a relative's house where he worked very hard. Now he does interior decorating, translating as menial labor in gutting and rebuilding the inside of houses or shops. His hard, rough hands are testimony to a life of rough physical labor. He said, "I live 'crying tears of blood'".

September 9 (lunar calendar) 


September 9 on the lunar calendar, or this year October 20 (Tuesday) on the solar calendar, is the day chosen for observing chaesa, ancestor bows and respects. Typically, the day for chaesa is on either the anniversary of the ancestor's death or on his or her birthday; however, with so many families involved in the communal grave, the date in some foggy time in the past was decided upon: lunar Sept 9. Unfortunately, even though our team of 4 were there on October 17 and 18 (solar), we just couldn't return in the middle of the week for the big ceremony of honor and respects to the dead. This is a very important ceremony as in Korea families are linked to their ancestors and respects are given, traditionally, to up to four ancestors immediately past but in the present-day to only parents and grandparents. The dead are thought to bridge the gap between the spirit world and the living world and therefore can influence the fate and blessings of the family. Ancestors properly buried, and especially in propitious sites, are believed to direct greater blessings on the descendants they watch over than those ancestors that are wandering from careless burials or unattended tombs. With family and family connections being so important in Korea, the day of chaesa is a ceremonial calendar day. No wonder the bereaved families seek to console the dead and properly bury them.

Two books written in Korean about the Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine Massacre. (2008)

Truth and Reconciliation Commission links:

Crimes, Concealment and South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Unknown Korean War: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea and Excavation of the Remains of Mass-murdered Victims

Other related links:

UbuntuWorks: Reflecting Our Common Humanity: "Bury My Heart at Gyeongsan"
Accountability & Prevention: An Analysis of Civilian Killings in the Korean War
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Korean War
Truth and Reconciliation: Activities of the Past Three Years
Looking Back while Moving Forward: The Evolution of Truth Commission is Korea
The NewYork Times - "Unearthing War's Horrors Years Later in South Korea"