The Korean Peninsula
First time visit to South Korea, exploring Busan, Seoul, Jeonju, Seoraksan and PyeongChang. An observation about the culture and history.
Whereas Tokyo can feel somewhat stiff, Seoul is bustling. All tourists I speak to agree: there is a pleasant vibe in the city. Half of the more than 50 million South Koreans live in metropolitan Seoul. The city itself is home to some 12 million souls. I almost forgot what it was like to see trash on the streets after Japan. The courtesy of letting people pass gives way to pushing. Koreans are also noisier. At first glance, Korea can be placed between Japan and China in terms of culture. Korea scores at least as high on many lists as eternal rival Japan. Seoul in particular is ultramodern, commercial, well organized and equipped with all sorts of technological gadgets. In restaurants, you often order on a tablet, are served by robots and cash is rarely involved. But the city buzzes, people are more approachable and less reserved than Japanese. The subway network is the most sophisticated I know. A vast intricate web. Thousands of subterranean carriages move back and forth nearly 20 hours a day. Around rush hour, not the slightest chance of sitting down. Sardines is putting it mildly; it’s a lot of cramming and not everyone fits in. After a week in Seoul, I travel with two bags to the bus station over an hour away. After 20 minutes, an elderly man falls to the ground, hitting his head hard and is clearly knocked out. An immediate call is made, wagon is stopped and first aid is rendered. After a few minutes, the gentleman is hoisted upright and brought onto the platform. Meanwhile, the wagon has continued to fill up. Not much later we are moving again but I myself become faint and short of breath. The very first stop I want to get out with two bags but manage to get out with one only. The largest backpack travels on without me. A mini blackout. A moment later, a woman brings me my metro pass that I had also lost. Later that day, I tap the wrong PIN three times at an ATM. Fortunately, the bag is quickly retrieved; not that I would have any doubt about that. The question was not if but when. Dozens of camera images were immediately reviewed and calls made. Ten minutes later I can collect my bag 15 stations down the line. The bus has long left but that is of lesser concern. The express buses are great by the way; very spacious and you get (part of) your money back when you miss a bus. It seems there are cameras everywhere in Korea except in hotel rooms, bedrooms and toilets. Every square inch is carefully monitored. Security prevails over privacy. Camera images of suspects and wanted criminals are continuously repeated on TV. Naming and shaming, it is the method used to keep everyone in crowded Korea in line.
Meanwhile, in (South) Korea you find yourself in a country that has been at war with its northern neighbor for 70 years. A cease-fire was signed but never a peace treaty. In Seoul, just 30 kilometers from the border, subway stations serve as bomb shelters. Gas masks are widely available underground. On higher-end hotel rooms invariably a fold-out iron arm from which you can abseil down by cord. Although locals have gotten used to the provocations of their northern neighbors, the threat feels close through uncovered, clandestine tunnels. According to defectors (tens of thousands a year), there are more tunnels from which attacks can be made. North Korea was embarrassed after discovery of the tunnels, denied any involvement and had them painted black to pretend they served for coal mining purposes. We take a peek inside the tunnels, which were clearly not made for tall Europeans. With binoculars, we peer into the barren land of North Korea. Westerners find it particularly exciting to see anyone in this completely closed and isolated country. Little to nothing is known about daily life and problems in North Korea. Tourists are shown a biased picture under strict surveillance by two guides. Defectors tell a better, fairly disconcerting picture. Allegedly, the situation has been dire for years. Due to the economic sanctions, there is unprecedented poverty. Video recordings which have been smuggled out of the country show theft and dead people in the streets who are barely looked after. One of the few sources of revenue is providing construction services to unsavory regimes but also selling weapons and ammunition to Russia, Iran and Syria.
The border is the most heavily guarded one in the world. Yet many South Koreans are not preoccupied with any threat and prefer to get ahead in life. Although South Korean young men are subject to two years of compulsory military service, they make up for this time as quickly as possible by earning money and pursuing a career. There is little or no trust in reunification with their northern neighbors. Contrary to founder and former top executive of Hyundai. As a boy in the North, he tried fleeing from the countryside several times. After the war, he stayed behind in the South and founded one of the country’s largest companies (chaebols). For millions of Koreans, the war was divisive and they never saw family members again. Retired, the former Hyundai top executive donated 1001 cows to North Korea on the border bridge (renamed “cow bridge”). It was not to be a round number, but the beginning of something new.
After WWII, Korea was split in two like Germany, a border was drawn at the 38th degree latitude. The decades before, all of Korea had been colonized by imperialist Japan. After the separation, the North launched a large-scale, brutal invasion in 1950. The South was completely overrun. What followed was a now (in the West) almost forgotten, horrific war with four million casualties. The newly formed UN came into action for the first time. Numerous countries, including the Netherlands, heeded the US call to join the fight. In fact, the war was mainly against China and Russia. A cultural battle, an ideological battle, an outsourced war. It’s like the current Ukraine war. 4,500 Dutchmen enlisted. An adventure beckoned. Many had never heard of Korea, let alone knew where it was. 150 Dutchmen never returned.
The city dweller in the subway looks pale, coughs and sneezes from sitting indoors so much. Women in particular avoid the sun as much as possible. Hands in front of the face and lots of umbrellas, even on sun-drenched days! A white skin is the beauty ideal. There are even treatments and special creams for it. Like K-Pop and K-Drama, there is K-Beauty, being obsessively concerned with appearance. On every street corner there is a store selling skincare products and makeup from a major chain. But it goes further than that: Seoul is global “capital of cosmetic surgery”. In the Gangnam district streets full of billboards with ads from doctors in white coats. Most popular procedure? The double eyelid correction. Over 20% of young women have had one or are considering one. There is — unlike in Europe — absolutely no stigma about it. Recent graduates receive cosmetic surgery as a graduation gift. After all, you wish your daughter a smooth start into her career. Photos on resumes are mandatory and appearance — more than anywhere else — plays a decisive role in career success. This is because there is cutthroat competition for high-paying top jobs. The Asian crisis of the late 1990s is also to blame because the job market was thoroughly reformed in its wake and workers became less secure of their jobs.
Soccer coach Guus Hiddink is by far the best-known Dutch person in Korea. He owes this entirely to his feat with the national soccer team during the 2002 World Cup. Out of the blue, home country South Korea almost reached the final, but it was Germany — who else — who narrowly stopped them. They played good soccer, but they lacked confidence and belief. The team was also too nice on the pitch, too well mannered. Psychologist Hiddink forged a team, cultivated confidence and taught them the dirty tricks of soccer. The rest is history. People still talk about Hiddink with admiration; he is truly considered a hero who put Korea on the map as a soccer nation. Soccer, along with baseball, is the country’s national sport. With the long American (military) presence, baseball came along. So did religion. Korea here differs quite a bit from other Asian countries. Half of Koreans are atheist (reunification should be feasible for that reason alone), over 30% Christian and 15% Buddhist.
