Day 11

Today we visited the DMZ. The Demilitarized Zone is the most fortified border in the world separating North and South Korea. I took this picture very close to the actual border. The line is where the gravel ends and the concrete begins. The soldiers walking are from North Korea, and the soldier at the bottom of  the picture is from South Korea. Here is a closer look.

Periodically the North Koreans and the United Nations use one of the buildings (the Military Armistice Commission Building) in this Joint Security Area to negotiate. Our group of journalists was able to "stand" on the North Korean side inside the building. Regular tourists can do the same.

 No, those aren't blood pressure cuffs on our arms, as part of a special press tour, we had to wear these badges.

The demarcation line isn't straight. It winds through the countryside. We saw the border from several different posts, including these. Unfortunately there was a thick haze and the view wasn't great. At the bottom notice Chinese tourists looking through binoculars. On a clear day through these binoculars you can see the industrial city of Kaesong (121 factories) and a bronze statue of Kim Il Sung.

There have been a number of military incidents near the border. In 1976 the North Koreans killed two U.S. military men who were trying to trim a tree that blocked the U.S. view between two posts. Three days later "Operation Paul Bunyon" cut the tree down. Here's where it once stood.

Here are a few other pictures. This is a major highway that leads to Kaesong, North Korea. It's also the entrance point of our tour. Also below, see a Republic of Korea soldier (ROK-South Korea) guarding the Joint Security Area. He's wearing sunglasses to avoid any eye contact with the North Koreans and is in a taekwondo stance.

This is my last blog entry for this trip. I'll be back in Cincinnati on the air Monday. Thanks for reading!

Day 10

There aren't too many companies that have a travel insurance office, a post office and snack bar where everything is less than a dollar and all the profits go to charity. We are touring Naver, the Google equivalent in Korea. Seventy-percent of people search with Naver, and including other online users, like the Japanese, Naver is the fifth most used search engine in the world. Naver comes from the word navigate. In 2000 it merged with Hangame, an online game portal, and changed its name to NHN. (Next Human Network) Most of the employees are young, and generally work from 10am until 7pm. They are encouraged to take the steps, and when they do, they notice the painted stairwells. Bird pictures are on the walls, with the number of "hits" they've gotten on the web. The lounge area is big, and every Saturday is family day. (this stuffed animal is one of many)

The technology here is contantly evolving. The Naver public relations people tell us there's a feature where people can let the search engine hear a particular song, and it will tell them what it is. Downstairs Naver has a library. It's free and open to the public, but residents have to make reservations because it is so popular.

NHN is now developing a software institute to train potential future employees.
I spent most of the day today with Korean journalists. They just returned from the U.S. on an exchange like the one I am on.

While in the U.S. they had meetings with the State Department and the Defense Department and were kind of amazed that officials really didn't tell them anything new. They were interested in North Korea, among other things. In Denver they were suprised the Mayor was marching in a gay pride parade. In Korea it is not common to be openly gay. Tomorrow I head to the DMZ at the North Korean border.

Day 9

Because I'm a big baseball fan, I was especially looking forward to seeing a game in South Korea. The Doosan Bears (Seoul) were taking on the Nexen Heroes.(Busan)  Our group of journalists found out you don't call the team by the mascot, but by the company name. Korean fans told us the experience would be like no other. They were right! You buy tickets based on who you are rooting for, and then all the fans cheering for the same team sit together. We discovered some sections are wilder than others. First you have to have the right gear, starting with these cheering sticks.

Everybody beats them together during the game. There is also lots of singing. Cheerleaders from both sides hold up signs cluing in fans on what is next. This video I took gives you a small sampling of what it's like. Here's the Youtube link: http://youtu.be/11LvLqmtnn8

Just like with the Reds, each player has a theme song. Here they ranged from "Mary Had a Little Lamb", to "Surfin USA", to "Who Let The Dogs Out." I don't know for sure, but somebody told me Doosan is not very good, yet this game had a playoff feel to it. The food is kind of interesting. Chicken and beer seem to be the most popular. KFC even sponsors the team. Other foods served include various Asian dishes, Burger King's Whopper, a hot dog where they put the condiments on for you,  and Dunkin Donuts.

It was a late night, but well worth all the effort it took to get to and from the game. Traffic is slow in Seoul because the city is so big and rush hour continues well into the evening. We took the subway back to the hotel.

The baseball stadium is right next to Olympic Stadium from when South Korea hosted the Olympics in 1988.

Day 8

Making tofu in South Korea is probably no different than in the U.S., but the Koreans claim theirs is better. The farming community in Wanju (west-central Korea) let us try our hand at making it. The bowls you see have soybean soup in them. We added a water mixture, stirred, spooned it into a strainer, pressed really hard, and out came the tofu. Here's the finished product, and even with our inexperience it didn't turn out half bad. (maybe there wasn't much to mess up)

Packaged tofu from this local farming community is part of a plan to make these villages more economically independent. With a community food sharing association and a local food store run by farmers, the area is cashing in, and residents are able to eat locally produced foods. Cucumbers, tofu, eggs, grains, onions, spinach, and chicory are boxed up for delivery, and then other produce goes to this store to be sold.

Farmers can check in real-time online to find out if they need to bring more produce to the store. A live video feed shows what's still left on the shelf. The store also sells beef. We visited a farm with 150 cows, and it was the first barn I've ever been to where I needed to disinfect my shoes before entering.

Eventually I'll work up a longer story for broadcast on WVXU about the technology involved in helping these communities get back on their feet financially. I'm also working on a story about medical tourism.

Severance Hospital, a private hospital at Yonsei University in Seoul, is beginning to market in the United States. Director of it's International Health Care Center, Dr. John Linton, says his hospital sees 40,000 foreign patients every year. He says people are attracted to the high-tech sophisticated surgery Korean doctors can provide and the cheaper cost. While at the hospital I interviewed an American and a Russian. I'll report on this in "Focus on Technology" for WVXU in a few weeks.
We had a long bus ride today from Wanju to Seoul, and on the way home we walked around at the Korean version of a truck stop. It is very elaborate with fresh food, stores, and packaged items like: peanut buttered roast squid. Bon appetit!

Day 7

Who knew going to a grocery store in Gwangju would be one of the highlights of our 14 day trip to South Korea. With an hour left before dinner, a few of us headed into this three-story building to buy some junk food.
 

 

We got some strange looks from people going from aisle to aisle, taking pictures and examining products very closely. In the end, I bought squid jerky, white fluffy rice balls, (that tasted more like Styrofoam) chocolate, tea, seasoned dried Pollack, and something that looked like a doughnut, but was stuffed with bean paste. (I didn’t eat all these. I plan to share them on the bus) The shopping trip was a break from the serious discussion we had earlier in the day at a memorial site.

 

 

In May 1980 the South Korean government put down an uprising in Gwangju following the declaration of martial law. The government publication The May 18^th Gwangju Democratic Uprising says, “…the total number of those killed, wounded, or arrested, both during and after the uprising, may be closer to 7,500.”

Our guide still gets emotional when talking about the victims, including the first one to die, a deaf man, who had nothing to do with the uprising. Pro- democracy demonstrators marched through the streets for 10 days, and eventually the military cracked down at this very location. (see below)

Following the violence, residents of Gwangju tried to overcome their anger using art. Even today there are a lot of art galleries in the city. The memorial site is a popular stop for politicians. Just today, one of the leading presidential candidates, Sohn Hak Que, was there, and came over to talk to us. He is pictured below in the center.  To his right is Ray Burghardt, our group leader(East West Center) and former official in the U.S. Embassy in South Korea.

Day 6

The latest world’s fair is underway-Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea and today we were among the thousands of people attending it. The theme is “The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities.” That makes sense given Yeosu is along the ocean, and one of the most southern cities on the Korean peninsula. The Chairman of the organizing committee, Kang Dong-Suk, says the South Korean public-private partnership invested $1.7 billion in Expo 2012, with hopes of when the fair is over to develop an ocean resort including a marina, seafood restaurant, a performance hall and possibly a cooking school.

Even though this looks like a lot of people, attendance is far below what Kang Dong-Suk had hoped, and blames it on a poor marketing campaign. Most visitors will come from Korea, China and Japan; however a small portion will come from the U.S. Here’s a link to an article earlier this month in the New York Times.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/travel/in-south-korea-all-roads-lead-to-yeosu-host-of-the-world-expo.html?pagewanted=all

One hundred and four countries are participating in the expo, including the United States. The U.S. committee doesn’t get any government funding for this, so it relies on money from large corporations.  Twelve thousand people a day go through the U.S. pavilion to see a multi-media presentation that repeats "This is My Ocean.” The ocean theme is driven throughout the Expo, especially at Korea’s largest aquarium.

Highlights of our short visit here include a trip to the top of the Sky Tower (a pair of abandoned cement silos) with the world’s largest and loudest pipe organ, and an LED canopy showing marine life.

Expo 2012 ends August 12^th, Expo 2015 will be in Milan, Italy. Tomorrow our group of journalists meets with journalists from Gwangju, Korea and a university professor to talk about the upcoming South Korean presidential election.

Day 5

Next weekend thousands of people from around the world will come to this cemetary in Busan, Korea to remember the nearly 41,000 soldiers killed during the Korean War. (June 25, 1950-July 27, 1953) The three men pictured above are Korean War veterans, from left, age 86, age 81 and 81, say among their scariest moments was falling asleep at the trigger after extreme sleep deprivation. They spoke to our group at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea. (UNMCK)

Beomeosa (pictured above) is one of 2,500 temples in Korea and continues to have 150 monks living on its property. Many Buddists who visit here, come mainly in April and May because of certain religious dates. The original temple was built in 678, but was destroyed by fire in 1592. Beomeosa was rebuilt. Then just a year and a half ago, the third and final gate to the temple was burned down. The arsonist went to jail, and the burned gate is now under construction.

How about some very fresh fish? Today we went to the Jagalchi Market, Korea's largest fish market. Half a dozen people in our group (not me) ate freshly killed squid that was still moving as it went down their throats! Here are just some of the pickings:

Day 4

Today is a travel day so I'm giving you more pictures than words this time. A high-speed train connected our group to South Korea's second largest city. Busan is home to the country's most important port. It is located on the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula.

It's not very warm here today (in the 60's) and according to Koreans not hot enough to go swimming. You can see one of just a few people in wet suits brave enough to do some windsurfing.

Noodles, Noodles, and more Noodles.  See below as we sit oriental style and eat noodles and hot sauce.

Tomorrow our group visits the United Nations Memorial Cemetary and meets with a Korean War veteran.