Father of 1,000: Korean War Orphans

Russell Blaisdell, a chaplain colonel in the US Air Force during the Korean War is attributed for saving nearly a thousand children orphaned during the horrific war. Approximately 37,000 US soldiers died in the war, compared with the estimated 2 million civilian deaths in North and South Korea. The children of the streets were casualties of another kind, living while their parents died, but dying because they didn't know how to live.

Russell Blaisdell, assigned as a chaplain to oversee the other chaplains in the US Air Force along with Chaplain "Wally" Wolverton, already in Korea when Russell got there, were the first two US Air Force chaplains with no others imminently scheduled to arrive. Having no specific office, place to sleep and at lose ends about overseeing chaplains that weren't in Korea yet, Russell started dedicating his great energy to helping the children who crawled from make-shift shelters, who chased after American trucks begging and who were tattered and shell-shocked. Along with Wally and sergeant Mike Strang they drove their assigned jeep around, scooping up orphans and transporting them to various care shelters staffed by Korean volunteers. Care of course was easier to provide than food, a war was going on, so Russell would ask servicemen for contributions, and many willingly gave, some giving as much as 50% of their pay! 

Russell's mission to help the orphans didn't really get started until after US and Korean forces were able to retake Seoul after its capture early in the war. The shock of seeing orphans, and so many of them, crying on the streets or crawling in rice bags to die, fueled Russell's energy to help in any way he could. He had already seen orphans throughout the country, but none were as miserable and destitute as those in Seoul. Children were everywhere. Many had parents who had been buried in mass graves -- the bodies of soldiers, priests, government workers were killed when the North Korean stormed Seoul, and all orphans seen by the North Koreans were killed too. And he knew that if/when the North Koreans returned, these orphans would stand no chance. Yet, Russell was surprised at the fight for survival in many so young, and Wally, Russell, and sergeant Mike Strang started organizing places for the orphans to regularly receive help. That is, until for health reasons Wally had to suddenly return to the States. 

Russell and Mike were then alone to organize the removal of the 1,000 orphans they had scattered in various care centers, and the North Koreans were coming back, and this time with Chinese soldiers as allies. Time was important. Evacuation was underway, but how to transport 1,000 orphans and their care-givers?!?! 

Russell frantically contacted various departments, offices, and repeatedly, but there was priority on soldiers and supplies. People were very compassionate, many had helped contribute money, the motor brigade had been most helpful and were always on the lookout for orphans, but there was just no space for 1,000 orphans as troops were ordered out of Seoul in limited transport trucks packed with artillery, soldiers and essentials. Russell was frantic. He could have evacuated with the others, and as a colonel that was totally acceptable and expected, but he chose to remain with the orphans and pray, while running to other departments to ask for assistance.

Kids of the Korean War: Father of a Thousand

Finally he was assigned a boat! A boat that would transport the children to Jeju island. The fortune of a boat as transport would be cold and most miserable for the smallest children, but transport is transport. Yet, when he saw the battered scow that couldn't possibly hold even 100 and even less in the winter sea, he adamantly refused to put a single soul on.

When almost everyone had evacuated, Russell, frantically running around without sleep for five days, went one last time to the Air Force headquarters to make an appeal. Seeing an Air Force Colonel, he ran up to him, unshaven and wild-eyed, and began to blather, "I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble and I need some help." Air Force Colonel T. C. Rogers listened to Russell, pulled out his operations manual and placed a call. Then to Russell he said, "It just so happens that I have a wing of C-54s that have just landed in Japan from the States, and they don't have a mission. If you get those kids to Kimpo Airport by 0800 tomorrow morning, we'll get them to Jeju." 

Russell said he would and rushed back to Incheon where the kids had already been transported over a three-day span of time. He had less than 24 hours to transport the kids 28 miles without trucks over pitted, bombed roads back to Seoul, a task that had taken 3 days just a few days prior. He knew he had to do it! His opportunity came at 0500 when a transport vehicles loaded cement onto a scow. Pulling rank on the drivers, he ordered them to transport the kids to Kimpo. They were not happy, but rank is to be respected. Transport commenced, and suddenly an apoplectic high-ranking colonel drove up screaming, "What are you doing with my trucks?" When he heard that they were being used to transport 1,000 orphans for their chance of hope, the colonel gladly gave Russell permission to commence the evacuation.

The C-54s stayed on the snowy tarmac until 1000 when the children were delivered to the planes for transport. The orphan rescue operation became known as "Operation Kiddy Car", and reading about the children in newspapers and magazines, people in the US began sending donations and supplies. Ms. Hwang Oh-Soon, a woman already with 11 years experience at running an orphanage, became the new director, and a very capable one at that. She organized the kids, cleaned them up, and when Russell returned for a brief visit to Jeju in August 1951 (his tour had completed three months prior), Russell Blaisdell was greeted with a large banner held by the children, thanking him. He was proud to say he saw the beginning of smiles on the resilient faces of many of the orphans.

On January 26, 2001 Russell Blaisdell returned to Korea to reconnect with Ms Hwang Oh-Soon, who was still alive at 102 and still the director at the orphanage [The Orphans Home of Korea, Kyounggi-do] that had been relocated near the capital after the war. She and a cloud of orphans from Operation Kiddy Car met with Russell, age 90. Many orphans gathered also to meet, greet and personally thank Russell for giving them the gift of life, for without being transported to Jeju, the 1,000 orphans and their caretakers as well would have a had a very slim chance to surviving the coming North Korean invasion. It was a touching reunion, and a time or reminiscing and sharing.

--------------------------------------------------

[YouTube] "Arirang Prime－Blaisdell′s Operation Kiddy Car Airlift 브레이즈델 대령의 유모차 수송작전" (15:29)

When Russell first arrived in Seoul after pushing the North Koreans back in 1950, he estimated 6,000 orphans on the street. After the war ended in stalemate in 1953, 54,000 children were officially registered in orphanages, the youngest too young to remember their own names, let alone their parents' names, hometown or birthdays.

Hangeul Day, 2018 - Calligraphy at City Hall

History of Hangeul Day (Wikipedia)

According to the Sejong Sillok, King Sejong proclaimed publication of Hunmin Jeongeum, the document introducing the newly created alphabet which was also originally called by the same name in 1446. In 1926, the Korean Language Society, whose goal was to preserve the Korean language during a time of rapid forced Japanization, celebrated the octo-sexagesimal (480th) anniversary of the declaration of hangeul on the last day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which is on November 4 of the Gregorian calendar. Members of the Society declared it the first observance of "Gagyanal" (가갸날). The name came from "Gagyageul" (가갸글), an early colloquial name for hangeul, based on a mnemonic recitation beginning "gagya geogyeo" (가갸거겨). The name of the commemorative day was changed to "Hangullal" in 1928, soon after the term "hangul", coined originally in 1913 by Ju Si-gyeong, became widely accepted as the new name for the alphabet, and celebrated according to the lunar calendar.  

In 1931, the celebration of the day was switched to October 29 of the Gregorian Calendar, the calendar which is in contemporary use. Three years later, the date was moved to October 28, to coordinate the date with that of the Julian Calendar, which had been in use during the 15th century, when King Sejong had made his proclamation. 

The discovery in 1940 of an original copy of the Hunmin Jeongeum Haerye, revealed that the Hunmin Jeongeum was announced during the first ten days of the ninth month. The tenth day of the ninth month of the 1446 lunar calendar was equivalent to October 9 of that same year's Julian calendar. The South Korean government, established in 1945, declared October 9 to be Hangeul Day, a yearly legal holiday which excused government employees from work. 

Major employers pressured the South Korean government to increase the country's annual number of work days. In 1991, to balance out the adoption of the United Nations Day, it vacated Hangeul Day's status as a holiday. By law, Hangeul Day remained a national commemoration day, and the Hangeul Society campaigned for the holiday's restoration. On November 1, 2012, the Society won that campaign, when the National Assembly voted 189 to 4 (with 4 abstaining) in favor of a resolution that called for the return of Hangeul Day as a national holiday. This put pressure on the Lee Myung Bak administration, which applied the change in 2013.

But in reality, this is a bit of a "free" day for Koreans, meaning there are no social or family obligations entwined at all with this day. This holiday has no specific food traditions, no ceremonial traditions, and no duties or functions to perform or even think about. So people can just enjoy a whole day without communal obligations or need to gather over specifically prepared foods. They are totally free to plan their hours without any social constraints. and so I was really pleased to see a large gathering at City Hall where people could indulge in street food and experience Hangeul Day themed art. 

An extensive line-up of display boards lined the Cheongyecheon and the boards were loaded with Hangeul Day postcards, many done in watercolors and calligraphy inks. I'm under the impression that middle and high school students made a large contribution to this display, but the public was certainly encouraged to make their own Hangeul Day postcard at booths on both sides of the display. Wherever this huge display of handmade postcards came from, I have to say that the art level of some of the postcards was quite stunning!

Korea & UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Korea takes great pride in being recognized by UNESCO for its cultural heritage. As for right now, 1 January 2018, the UNESCO World Heritage Center lists South Korea as having 11 world heritage sites, 1 natural heritage site, and 16 more on the tentative list.

As for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in South Korea, at present there are 19 elements inscribed, one classified as ongoing (2018), and 25 on the backlog nomination list. 

19 Intangible Cultural Heritage elements inscribed:

2016: Culture of Jeju Haenyeo (women divers)
2016: Falconry, a living human heritage
2015: Tugging rituals and games
2014: Nongak, community band music, dance and rituals in the Republic of Korea
2013: Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea
2012: Arirang, lyrical folk song in the Republic of Korea
2011: Jultagi, tightrope walking
2011: Taekkyeon, a traditional Korean martial art
2011: Weaving of Mosi (fine ramie) in the Hansan region
2010: Gagok, lyric song cycles accompanied by an orchestra
2010: Daemokjang, traditional wooden architecture
2009: Namsadang Nori
2009: Yeongsanjae
2009: Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut
2009: Ganggangsullae
2009: Cheoyongmu
2008: Royal ancestral ritual in the Jongmyo shrine and its music
2008: Pansori epic chant
2008: Gangneung Danoje festival

Jongmyo Jerye & Jeryeak ... royal ancestral ritual in the Jonmyo shrine and its music

Pansori epic chant ... with a story-telling singer and a drummer
perhaps this pansori singer is singing the famous Arirang, another intangible heritage

One on-going nomination (not inscribed so no links as yet)

2018: Ssireum, traditional wrestling in the Republic of Korea

25 backlogged nominations (not inscribed so no links as yet)

2013: Yeondeunghoe, lighting lantern festival
2012: Korea's programme for documenting intangible cultural heritage (ART18)
2012: Music of Daegeum and Piri, traditional Korean wind instruments
2012: Music of Gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument
2012: Craftsmanship of Gat, men's horsehair hats
2010: Hakyeonhwadae-hapseolmu, the crane and lotus flower dance
2010: Hahoe Byeolsingut Tallori, mask dance drama of Hahoe
2010: Gyeonggi-do Dodanggut, tutelary rite of Gyeonggi province
2010: Bawijeol village funeral rehearsal play
2010: Naju Saetgolnai, cotton weaving of Naju
2010: Gasa, narrative songs
2010: Sagijang, ceramics
2010: Seokjang, stonework
2010: Jasujang, embroidery
2010: Chiljang, lacquer craft
2010: Gakjajang, calligraphic engraving
2010: Mokjogakjang, wood sculpture
2010: Yundojang, making geomantic compasses
2010: Wanchojang, sedge work
2010: Yeomsaekjang, dyeing with indigo
2010: Somokjang, wooden furniture construction
2010: Seonjajang
2010: Munbaeju, Munbae liquor
2010: Myeoncheon Dugyeonju, Dugyeonju liquor of Myeoncheon
2010: Gyeongju Gyodong Beopju, Beopju liquor of Gyodong, Gyeongju

a musician wearing a gat (horse-hair hat) playing the gayageum, a zither-like instrument

Citizen's Hall, Downtown Seoul

The special interest group, Business and Culture Club of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, made arrangements for their monthly lunch-time tour to be at the Citizen's Hall, downtown Seoul. The first and second basements are opened to everyone and have several continually changing exhibits for citizens to enjoy. 

Because the weather has been quite cold lately, citizens escaping the cold wandered from, to and between shops and temporary exhibits. The first basement is also a gathering spot for the homeless, I did notice were careful not to lay down on the benches. I get the impression that there's an unspoken rule that as long as they don't make Citizen's Hall obviously look like a homeless ward, they are welcome to enjoy it during the open hours (9am - 9pm). Sadly, many of the homeless seemed to struggle to stay upright. I felt quite bad for them; it's certainly a struggle to stay warm at night in the very, very cold weather, and in the warmth of the Citizen's Hall where their muscles can relax, they dare not to relax too much for fear of being expelled. 

Citizen's Hall is a history center. It's first basement has an excavation and development plan which shows the history of City Hall in archeological format: original street layouts with barely navigable paths between houses, wall delineations highlighting the fact that houses in former times were (as we think now) distressingly small. Also, according to archeological evidence, City Hall now sits on what was formerly a munitions factory. Quite the interesting place for a wander! Here's a little more detail on the purpose of Citizen's Hall Global Site:

 

Citizens Hall, situated on the 1st and 2nd basement levels of Seoul City Hall, serves as a Citizens’ lifestyle courtyard where citizens can create and share together. The hall is designed according to the principles of ‘void’ (emptiness) and ‘flexibility’ in such a way as to accommodate various types of citizen-oriented activities such as discussions, exhibitions, performances, lectures, and play programs. Its Chinese name uses cheong (聽) meaning ‘listening’, rather than cheong (廳), meaning ‘government office’, to express the idea of a courtyard where citizens’ voices are heard and where ideas and opinions are shared between citizens.

To go into the upper levels of City Hall, a pass is needed. A very fascinating place. One whole wall of City Hall is made of glass, allowing sunlight to flood in and kiss the leaves of the world's largest indoor vertical botanical garden ... or at least it was when it was first constructed in 2013. (It has since been surpassed in height by AeroFarms in New Jersey.)

7-Story Indoor Green Wall is an Enormous Air Filter for Solar-Powered Seoul City Hall 

Seoul’s new City Hall boasts a sprawling indoor green wall that's so big it set a Guinness World Record as the world's largest vertical garden in 2013. Designed by iArc Architects, the seven-story-high vertical garden was created to complement the new City Hall’s environmentally friendly features, including its numerous renewable energy sources from solar power to geothermal energy. Approximately 65,000 plants from 14 different species grow in the garden, which spans an area greater than 17,000 square feet.

The architecture inside the windowed grand foyer is bright and symbolic (the white chandier-looking glass mass near the ceiling symbolizes 'hope', one of several symbols). There are history corners too, e.g. details on the history of the plaster and stone work, the cornices, and the restructuring. Of big interest to me were large framed pictures on the wall showing City Hall and its development over the past several decades:

City Hall after the Japanese Colonial Period (late 1940s)

City Hall (late 1940s) with story-like explanations of what is actually happening in the photo

City Hall during the 1988 Seoul Olympics

City Hall during the 2002 World Cup - "Go Red!"

The former Seoul City governor's office is located in City Hall (and what a fabulous sunny view the governor had!) And recently added is a collection of the poet Go Un's books. South Korea excitedly awaited the 2017 announcement of the Nobel Prize in Literature winner, hoping that nominee Go Un would win. However, Kazuo Ishiguro, the British author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, won much to Korea's disappointment. 

Books personally donated from Ko Un's personal library

Go Un as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 2017 

Described by Allen Ginsberg as “a magnificent poet, combination of Buddhist cognoscente, passionate political libertarian, and naturalist historian”, the Korean poet Ko Un is the author of more than 150 collections of poems, essays and fiction, and has long been named as a potential Nobel laureate. He became a Buddhist monk after the horrors of the Korean war and wrote his first few collections while under holy orders, going on to become a political activist, during which time he was arrested and imprisoned repeatedly. Andrew Motion has described him as “a major poet, who has absolutely compelling things to say about the entire history of South Korea, and equally engrossing things to say about his own exceptionally interesting life and sensibility”.

Ko Un, reading one of his many poems.
According to the plaque on the wall, he has written more than 200 poems,
and he still writes strong!

Gamcheon "Painted" Culture Village, Busan

Gamcheon Culture Village is a town originally formed by the Taegukdo followers. Cho Cholje (1895-1958) and founder of the new religion had moved in the vicinity in 1948 just before the war. In 1950 when the Korean War pushed people from all over the Korean peninsula behind the tiny 230-kilometer line known as the Korean Perimeter, the only area not taken by the North Korean People's Army in the war, refugees crowded into Busan, many into the Jagalchi Market area which quickly became over-crowded. So many pushed to the steep hills of Gamcheon, a few kilometers away and in a safe but steep space. Overnight the area was transformed into a shantytown of 800 wooden shacks, clinging to the hillside. The shacks were made of corrugated iron roofs piled with stones to keep them from flying away in the wind; walls were of makeshift material. The village smacked of war, poverty, and hardship.

Cho Chojie, founder of the new Taegukdo religion which had been suppressed during Japanese occupation, by this time had 3,000 members in the area, and he promised the refugees toothbrushes, candy and rice if they would believe in Taegukdo. Soon almost 90% of Gamcheon residents practiced Taegukdo, and in 1955 Cho moved his headquarters to Gamcheon, which became known as Taegukdo village.

With Cho's move to Gamcheon, the village started to develop its economy and people started to earn money. They bought bricks and built up the wooden village of the '70s to two-storey brick constructions of the '80s and '90s. With the increase in people but not of land, it only made sense to build taller. Still, the hardships of war and poverty were imprinted on the village, and in actuality, it was much like a slum.

In 2009 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a program to renovate Gamcheon, naming the program "Dreaming of Busan Machu Picchu". The plan was to remodel the village into a creative community run by residents, artists and the local administrative office. The government therefore hired artists to paint murals and add 10 pieces of street art to the neighborhood. 

Phase 2 of the project known as Miro Miro soon followed with six houses and six alleys transformed into mini galleries and/or colorful paths. Experiential artists targeting tourism were set up -- pottery making, clothes dyeing, hanji craft, jewelry making, wood carving, puzzle painting, caricatures, metal crafts, and more. Arrows were painted for tourists to find their ways through the maze of alley ways. 

Many shops were opened by artisans, and cutesy jewelry, paper craft and handbags are frequently themes in booths attracting tourists. Several hanji shops were opened as well, as one particular one with a little craft room in the back of the shop snagged my attention. The elderly lady really had a talent for making exquisite hanji lamps and displaying theme elegrantly, not in a mishmash of bedlam like many of the other shops focusing more on quantity of item rather than quality of product. 

Local residents initially resisted the invasion of their privacy and balked at others seeing their less than modest homes, but gradually they have embraced the chance to earn a bit of money otherwise elusive to their neighborhood. 

Domestic media picked up on the change and have further stimulated tourism to the unique village charm via Korean movies and TV dramas filmed with Taeguk Village as a backdrop: "Hero", "Geu-nyo-ay-gae", "Superstar Kam Sa-young", and "Camelia". 

The village has also been dubbed as a Lego Village due to its perceived symmetric rows of colorful blockhouses perched on the hillside, and even tourist maps sentimentally label it as Santorini of Busan or Busan's Machu Picchu. In any regard, the former refugee shantytown has been transformed into quite the tourist spot, and is thought to be a model village for developing tourism in other Korean villages.

According to recent tourism figures, about 1.4 million tourists visit Gamcheon Village every year. Not quite sure how this number is generated, but I will say, during the Chuseok holiday when my friend and I were here, it was quite the hangout for young people -- groups of friends, dates, and families with young children. The town doesn't seem to attract the middle-aged or older people, but then most of tourism in Korea is aimed at the youth these days.

I don't quite get the importance of the photo zones .... but that seriously is the rage around Korea these days. There were several photo zone areas, the swimming whale below was pretty popular but the longest line was for young kids to take selfies with the Little Prince who was sitting on a wall over-looking a rather colorful area of Gamcheon Village.

Popular photo zone ... Wouldn't be any fun in this village without a selfie stick! LOL!

This couple found a space with a view but without a long line to take one of their couple-shots.
Quite cute actually.

One of the several painted stairways in the village.
With the theme of books, I actually found this one quite clever!

Appreciation goes to Yonhap News for writing a history of Gamcheon Village: "Street Art Rejuvenates Busan Ghetto" (Feb 1, 2012). 

History Alive: RAS Walking Tours

Hanyang aka Seoul, the pulsing vibrant capitol of the Joseon Dynasty and of modern Korea, mixes traditional architecture of the past with soaring tower constructions of the present. Vestige artifacts of the 500-year long dynasty are virtually hidden amidst the scrapers of capitalism. And yet, the old structures whisper history for those willing to listen.

In my 20+ years living in Korea, I’ve read books on the history of Korea and talked with many Korean friends, but it’s been the Royal Asiatic Society walking tours led by historians who have opened my eyes to the many historical treasures nestled in the Seoul downtown landscape.

While I read that Bosingak Belfry was the time keeper of the Joseon Dynasty and the bell was rung 33 times at 4 a.m. and 28 times at 10 p.m. to signal the opening and closing of the great gates and the market places, I learned in walking tours that the belfry was totally destroyed in the Korean War and the bell virtually buried in debris and earth.

The plaque at Tapgol Park reads that the March 1, 1919 independence protest began at Tapgol, but a RAS historian further explained the top of the 10-storey pagoda had been missing in the early 1900s and Koreans had no intention of reconstructing it. Korean belief was if the pagoda were completed, their nation would fall, which indeed happened. The Japanese learned of the superstition, completed the pagoda, and then ruled the peninsula for 35 years.

Tapgol/Pagoda Park in Seoul, ca. 1904 - Wikimedia Commons

I also learned Chong-ro—the road connecting the belfry, Tapgol Park and running close to the palaces—was formerly a place where people were executed by hacking or hanging, and the street was haunted by ghosts. It was also the road populated by the noble class with their horses, and peasants were obliged to bow in subservience while yangban processions passed. Pimatgol, literally meaning avoid + horse + alley, was the parallel alley for the peasants to go about their business and literally avoid the horses and forced bowing. Chong-ro is now a major downtown street and Pimatgol has been reconstructed into a place for business and social dining, but marked rocks in Pimatgol shout that history bled onto those stones. 

Why does a nation need five great palaces? Gyeongbokgung, the greatest of palaces, was built on principles of geomancy and astronomy. Building it symbolized the establishment of a dynasty, destroying it in colonial times symbolized the fall. Changdeokgung had been an alternative palace for a time and then used as a state palace, similar to Changgyeonggung, which in colonial times was desecrated by the Japanese invaders and turned into a zoo, an overt act of defilement. Deoksugung became the royal palace when Emperor Kojong was forced from Gyeongbokgung by the Japanese; after his death in 1919 the palace became a park and an art gallery, like many of the palaces. Gyeonghuigung was never a state palace, and during colonialism it was converted to a boys’ high school so the tramping of boys’ feet could smash its energy.

some dan-cheong imagery

I learned the exterior of the palaces is based on dan-cheong, literally “red” and “blue”. Dan-cheong is traditional painting of the palaces, so the palace supports are red like tree trunks, and the roof or upper part is green like leaves. And I learned that green and blue were not traditionally viewed as distinctly different in Korea as in the West. The small figures on the roof tiles invoke the power of the Monkey King, and the latticework on doors and windows are wishes for happiness, wealth or blessings for health. Architecturally, palaces, temples and houses were built without nails. Their joinery was the careful hewing and placement of beams at 90-degree angles. There are no flying buttresses and rose windows in Korea, but the graceful sway of the roofs are said to be like the up-turned feathers of a crane in flight. Traditional buildings are in harmony with nature.

Now when I walk the streets of Seoul, I nod my head as I listen to the buildings and stones telling me their little-heard histories. And while I still sign up for the RAS historical walking tours, I’m now a member of the society’s excursion committee planning other tours of discovery. For me, learning of the past is understanding the national foundation on which the present is built.

Published in The Korea Times under Culture and 4th in a series of viewpoints on Seoul as written by expats. [My Seoul Story[ History alive: Royal Asiatic Society walking tours, August 10, 2017.

Hiking Seoul City Wall, the Hanyang Do-seong

May 3 - Buddha's Birthday, May 4 a sandwich day, May 5 - Children's Day = If classes cancelled on May 4 (TH) and made up at an alternate time, then a 5-day weekend is formed. Done!

Hyehwamun - Malbawi Information Center

The weather was gorgeous and I had to be outside, so started walking ... and ended up walking along the Seoul City Wall from Hyehwamun, the northeastern gate and one of the 8 gates of the Seoul City Wall, to Malbawi Information Center on the way to Sukjeongmun, the gate north of the Cheongwandae (the Blue House). Read a book there for a few hours and then walked back home, thinking I would return the next day and hike further the trail behind the Blue House.

Waryong Park / Malbawi Information Center - Site of Donguimun/Seodaemun Gate

The next day I was back with ID card in hand to sign in at the Information Center so I could hike from the trail behind the Blue House and end up at the Changuimun Gate, about a 2 hour hike. While hiking the incredible scenic trail, I conceived the idea that I might as well just keep going and hike the whole Seoul City Wall. Two hours later, after handing in my ID hiking pass at the Changuimun Gate, I crossed the busy street that bisected the wall and started climbing the trail that went up Inwangsan. Wow, this was the most scenic part of the whole 18-kilometer trail! It was also the part where the wall was newly reconstructed in new white cement-stone, and evidence of an older wall totally eluded me. That said, despite history being recreated and looking white-washed and pure, the walk was quiet and ethereal. And I pretty much hiked by myself as it was the "sandwich day" between two national holidays. 

Just before passing beyond the Malbawi Information Center with walking ID in hand and entering the "no picture zone". Facing south, in the distance Namsan Tower stands on Namsan where the southern wall bands the city.

Since the Seoul City government is promoting people to walk the wall and offers a small badge for people who accumulate stamps from 4 areas (Sukjeongmun, Donuimun, Sungnyemun/Namdaemun, Heunginjimun/Dongdaemun) and I had received the stamp at Sukjeongmun, I thought I'd just collect all 4 stamps. Well, couldn't find the booth/office/place for receiving the stamp at Sungyemun. Not finding the booth was pretty consistent too as once the wall dipped down and was severed by modernism and development, the trail disappeared into urban bedlam. Construction, traffic madness, people chasing elusive ideas or narrow timetables ... couldn't find the stamp location. And the next morning when continuing the walk, couldn't find the location of the booth/office/place for receiving the stamp at Sungnyemun/Namdaemun Gate. I did find in the vicinity an adamantly closed Information Center kiosk with the dirtiest windows imagination ... like they hadn't been opened in weeks. Gave up the stamp idea. What good would come of getting a badge anyway? Humph.

A comment though on the wall and the semantics about the great fortress wall of Seoul. Eight years ago people talked about the 10 existing kilometers of the original 18 kilometer-long wall. Now, however, the marketing for the wall has radically changed. The wall is referred to as being 18 kilometers long, while in fact it is not. Yes, the extensive segment on Inwangsan has been built and other places radically rebuilt and/or repaired, but the wall certainly is not 18 kilometers long. The urban swell requires many roads to pass in and out of the city and major gaps in the walls exist to allow the city to be permeable with the rest of the country. In fact, most people on the roads aren't even aware of the wall on the higher slopes that "completely encircle the city". And, on the proposal submitted 2012 Nov 23 to UNESCO for the wall to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage (which it now is), the proposal clearly stated that 10.8 of the original 18.6 kilometers had been restored or well maintained. 

[Signs liberally posted along the wall walking path: Hanyang Doseong (Seoul City Wall) runs 18.6 km along Baegaksan, Naksan, Namsan and Inwangsan ... and passes through many historic sites including the four large gates, Sungnyemun, Heunginjimun, Sukjeongmun and the site of Donuimun.]

Anyway, the largest gap takes, according to the hiking map, 40 minutes to link the wall from the site of Donguimun Gate with Sungnyemun/Namdaemun Gate. I skipped this traffic hopscotch and still claim I hiked the whole wall in three days, which I did. 

The following statue is located at the end of the Bugaksan hike, after returning the security ID. Opposite the statue and across the street begins the next segment, the climb up Inwangsan.

Statue of Superintendent General Choi Gyu-sik and Assistant Inspector Officer Jung Jong-su

Choi Gyu-sik, born in Chuncheon Gangwon-do in 1931, entered the police service in 1961. As a chief officer of Jongno Police Station, he received classified information on January 21, 1968 detailing a North Korean commando unit composed of 31 troopers which included Kim Sin-jo was moving southward from the Paju area in a surprise attack on the South Korean Presidential Office, Cheongwadae (the Blue House). Choi Gyu-sik deployed police officers under his command to block the attack. The unit almost reached the Cheongwandae (currently, in front of the Cheongun Silver Center), but were stopped by armed commandos to inspect them, whereupon the North Korean troopers opened fire with machine guns and hand grenades. In the battle, Choi Gyu-sik was wounded in the heart and abdomen but ordered his men protect Cheongwadae before dying, which they succeeded in doing. In fulfilling his duties and giving his life in the line of duty of his government, Choi Gyu-sik was posthumously promoted to Superintendent General and awarded the Order of Taegeuk Military Merit. 

Assistant Inspector Officer Jung Jong-su, born in Sangju Gyeogsanbuk-do in 1935 and entering the police service in 1960, also died in the battle. He was posthumously promoted to Assistant Inspector Officer and awarded the Hwarang Order of Military Merit. The tombstone a few meters from Choi Gyu-sik's commemorative statue has been erected on the site where the two officers died while resisting the North Korean troopers infiltration. The bronze statue overlooks the road to Cheongwadae as in a symbolic showing that their spirits live on to protect Cheongwadae.

Climbing up Inwangsan ....

High up on Inwangsan looking back toward the wall already hiked (north).

Looking toward Namsan (south).

Continuing down ... heading south.

... southward ... it's quite a meander ...

A favorite shot on the Inwangsan descent. Namsan in the distance.

Getting lower and the mountain starting to level out.
Wow, I wouldn't like to hike this segment clockwise! Power thighs definitely needed!

Sungnyemun/Namdaemun Gate - Heunginjimun/Dongdaemun Gate

The rebuilt Namdaemun. It's only been open a couple years since it was burned by an arsonist in 2008. Quite an amazing shot at 9:24am on Children's Day ... virtually no traffic! A true miracle!!!

Climbing Namsan, looking westward.

On Namsan, a direct view to the north and the mountains I was on yesterday.

This section of the wall is the most popular. Here the wall is linked by large parks and culture trails to village areas, very crowded village areas, and to market to the continual flow of traffic, shops, street vendors,  and cultural interests (street artists, vendors selling locks for couples to "lock their love" on a gate, cultural performances like pansori or the guards reenactments). There are even several buses (all of them packed!) and a cable car to expedite the lazy to get to the top of Namsan with little effort. Yes, it is Children's Day, but wow, after the quiet of the other segments of the city wall, the thriving mass of people flocking to the Namsan section was a bit of a surprise.

"Locking Love" on a gate near the peak of Namsan. There used to be just one gate for proclaiming eternal love and now there are several sections. The cheapest padlock sold by a vendor in this area is W8,000, and they're plastic-like. The guy has enough to send his kids and grandkids to Harvard!

Namsan Tower from the first "Locking Love" gate.  The 5 pillars are actually part of an advanced ancient lookout system for alerting citizens of an invasion. 

Arrived just in time to see the 11am mini re-enactment of the defense soldiers coming on duty to serve on the lookout for the enemy invaders.

Sentinels standing guard ... My question, but shouldn't they be facing the other way in order to carry out their protection duties?

Descending Namsan and looking back ...

This whole section of the wall had frequent gaps in it to expedite traffic and urban life, and while the brown culture-referencing signs point walkers where to go to pick up the next severed segment, the signs are not always present. The most clearly marked gap was from Jangchung Gymnasium to Gwanghuimun Gate, a 15-minute walk through snaking back alleys. The two worst areas are from the moment the Inwangsan trail hit the urban area (utter madness and huge amounts of construction aiding the madness) and the gap from the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park to Dongdaemun itself. Too many ultra-tall buildings and a mad network of urban streets and no signs directing the way. I was very dependent on naver maps to figure out these urban yarn ravels. 

Heunginjimun/Dongdaemun Gate - Hyehwamun Gate

This is also a pleasant popular place to stroll, very popular for dating. Some little coffee shops and restaurants are speckled along the wall, and if the hiker doesn't exit from "inside" the wall to the "outside" on the steep descent, he/she will end up not at Hyehwamun Gate but suddenly find him/herself in the vibrant, pulsing Hyehwa area filled with shops of cutesies, culture restaurants and unique coffee shops. If you're seeing the beautiful wall and scenery in the shot below, then you've gone too far ... but why not get some great food in Hyehwa?

Hiking the 18 km Seoul City Wall in ... 1 day!

Though I hiked the city wall in three days, technically I hiked all but 40 minutes (Hyehwamun to Waryong Park) in two days, and I think the whole wall could could be totally done in just one day. The full one-day hike would probably take 10-12 hours, not rushing but steadily walking, allow for two 30-minute meals, and of course be walked counter-clockwise. (To walk in the clockwise route, a person would need power thighs!) I did a lot of back-tracking and a fair amount of asking directions and wandering in the gap areas, but if I hike the trail again, I could certainly know a lot of little "tricks" to make the hike smoother and faster ... and testing my theory that it could be comfortably done in a single day.