Hermit Hideaways

I was walking through downtown Seoul earlier today on my way to a friend’s house when I stumbled upon a sea of unhappy campers parked outside City Hall. Still up in arms, many were drumming up protest to the government’s apparent lackluster response regarding US beef imports.

Photographer, master printer, author and tutor, Andrew Sanderson’s work is pretty grand and definitely worth a squint. Go have a look and see for yourself.

I found him while shopping for black & white film. My Dutch grandfather used Ilford for years.

I was very happy to hear the other day that one of my photos from an earlier issue was selected and made into a poster.

Anyone wishing to scoop one up can do so directly via the site.

The desire for parents to send their children overseas in order to get a solid education is very strong in Korea. Referred to as 기러기 아빠 (wild geese father), a growing number of families are being broken up as mothers and children are sent away to foreign English-speaking countries while the fathers are left at home to cover mounting expenses. Although such experiences may be valuable for the children down the road, such separation can also prove detrimental as it slowly rips away at the fabric of traditional family life. There’s a very good photo essay featured in The New York Times that documents this phenomenon.

It’s just a sad reminder at how jaded the schooling system in Korea has become for parents to go to such extreme measures at insuring that their children receive the proper education they deserve.

The KTO piece I wrote recently is now up. Those of you who want to have a peek can do so here.

Spent the afternoon walking along the Han River. We made it all the way up to Seoul Forest, a demanding little 4 kilometer journey given the scorching heat today.

Although The Korea Times featured this set quite some time ago, Chris McCarthy’s photos stand as some of the best I’ve seen from this amazing hideaway.

Pictured below are the statues of Lt. Kim Man-Sul and Colonel Yi Yu-Chung, together with the Ten Human Bombs and Memorial Cemetery monuments. Standing solemnly throughout the grounds of Unification Park, they honour the many brave souls who lost their lives during the Korean War.  

Perhaps the most touching memory from my recent tour to JSA was Freedom Bridge. Crossing a stream adjacent to the Imjin River, it served as a crossway for refugees from the North many years ago. I snapped this shot at the entrance before making my way over. Flung across a nearby bordering hedge is a long line of ribbons commemorating many of the lives that were lost during the Korean War.

The area of Imjingak was used primarily as a place of refuge, a haven for consoling those from North Korea who were unable to return and reunite with lost family members. Bearing witness to such painful historical symbols only re-ignited a brewing resentment I have always felt toward the senselessness of war and the inevitable suffering that results from political instability. Suffice it to say, as much of an adrenaline rush Panmunjeom is, I couldn’t help but get even more frustrated at the sheer hopelessness of it all after walking around Imjingak. I can only hope that such calamities of this magnitude never happen again.

My visit yesterday to Panmunjeom was an eye-opener. Also referred to as the Joint Security Area (JSA), the heavily guarded and hostile zone serves as a buffer between the North and South where officials can meet to discuss possible means of ensuring peace on the peninsula. Our tour guide, a veteran himself, was great and his disarming personality really added to the overall experience quite nicely.

Got a few more here.