Yesterday my friend Lee called and asked if I wanted to take a trip to Independence Hall, and of course I was more than happy to go with him. There were quite a few tour buses and he said that a lot of schools and universities take trips there since it is such an historic place. It was very humid and I must say that Korea blows North Carolina away in the humidity department...I thought I would be ok since I had lived in Carolina for so long, but it is nothing compared to here. I have to keep my Orbit gum in the fridge or it is so humid I literally can't un-wrap it, it just sticks! HA! So anyway, the first thing when we got there to Independence Hall was a walk up the stairs to the Reunification Bell...a bell that reminds us of the two Koreas and the hope that one day they will be together again as one Korea. I asked Lee how most Koreans felt about North and South Korea coming back together as one country...he said the P.C. answer is that yes...they should be one country, but he said that a lot of South Koreans don't want to come back together...he said that the South Koreans have worked so hard for what they have and they feel like if they came back together to form one Korea that the North Koreans would basically benefit from all of their hard work. He also mentioned that there might be some real problems with how the country was governed. I think a lot of the older Koreans have hoped for a reunification just since many of them still know people in the North that were stuck there as they escaped to the South...however I think as the memories fade and the younger generations grow up, they don't know anyone in North Korea and Lee said a lot of the younger people look at the Northerners as inferior and just dirty and poor. I was kind of surprised that the Reunification Bell was there since Independence Hall is really about the time of the Japanese Occupation of Korea...but anyway.
One of the most impressive scenes as we walked through the gates and up to The Grand Hall of the Nation was that there are several hundred Taegeuki, which is the actual name of the Korean flag. It was really cool to see all of them flapping in the wind. Inside the Grand Hall is a huge statue called The Statue of Indomitable Koreans...this statue was made from 274 pieces of granite stone.
There were seven or eight buildings that had photos and stories of the people who lived during the time of the Japanese Occupation of Korea. This was a very horrible time in Korea as the Japanese were very brutal to the Koreans not only physically, but also mentally. Japan took control of Korea (illegally and forcefully) on August 22, 1910 and they were under Japanese rule until the end of World War II when the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing the Japanese to their knees and eventual surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945.
After the Japanese took control of Korea in 1910 over 170,000 Japanese migrated to Korea and basically took the Korean's land and started to use it for their own purposes. Japan's goal was to assimilate the Korean's and to root all elements of Korean culture from society. I think the article on Wikipedia explains this in a very effective way "In this period, the Imperial Japanese Army often discriminated, tortured, plundered, raped, summary executed and mass murdered innocent Koreans without valid reason. Major cultural genocides and war crimes done by the Japanese include forced sex slavery and kidnapping of young Korean girls and women for the Japanese army, human experiments on live Koreans, burying of live Koreans, burning down of Korean villages, banning of the Korean language and religions, complete censorship of media, unfair confiscation of land, food and cultural assets, forced name changes and Imperial education, which led to a strong rise in anti-Japanese sentiment and Korean nationalism, still persistent to this date in both South Korea and North Korea."
I am fascinated with history and I find it sad sometimes the things that people had to go through to make life what they it is today. That was one thing Lee and I talked about as we walked around was just how so many young people don't appreciate and respect what generations before have had to deal with to provide such wonderful lives for us now.
Independence Hall also features two incidents that kept the Koreans fight for freedom moving on including the March 1st movement in 1919 in which 33 nationalists read the Declaration of Independence aloud in a park in Seoul. They also signed the document and sent a copy to the Japanese Governer. Also the student uprising in November 1929.
The Koreans weren't really "free" until many years even after 1945 because of the Korean War which was fought from 1950-1953 (and technically still goes on today...they only signed a seize fire). I hope this wasn't too boring HA HA I just feel a need to let people know about the atrocities that people here had to deal with...obviously I don't know first hand, so I can never really know...but I think that a lot of people around the world have no idea what the Korean people had to deal with. If you are interested in reading a little more about the Japanese Occupation of Korea here is a link http://countrystudies.us/south-korea/7.htm. I asked Lee how he felt about the US dropping the bombs in Japan and he said "If I would have been alive I would have clapped my hands for joy". There is still quite a lot of animosity between Korea and Japan...not all people here hate Japan, but I would say generally speaking there is still quite a bit of dislike.
I know I went on and on about the history there, but I think to really appreciate the Hall you have to understand a little of why it is so important to the Koreans to now be free. It was cool I went to the bookstore and was looking for a small Taegeukgi to buy and the lady behind the counter told Lee (in Korean of course) that she just wanted to give it to me, she thought it was so cool that I wanted one and she felt honored that I even cared. Wow...how cool is that? I was floored and I have my flag hanging right about me here in the room! :)
After all that fun we drove to Asan which is about 15 miles maybe (all the signs of course are in km here) and we went to a Folk Village. It was really cool and just so peaceful...it was in a small little area at the base of a mountain and we just sat there and talked for several hours about life, and just how cool it is to make friends from different countries and experience different cultures. Lee spent 6 months in California and said he loved the experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. That is one thing that amazes me is how kind and open the Korean people are...if you even make an attempt they will do everything they can to make you feel welcome and appreciated.
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