Kosh Agach and beyond - Seoul

4-9-2000
From a mountain top i overlook Seoul, there beneath me more people live than in Belgium - yet it is a pleasant city with its historic palaces enclosed by skyscrapers. A friendly Korean couple gives me an apple and an orange. The capital of Korea is in rapid progress, i saw a man in a wheelchair refilling the coffee vending machine in the subway, and everyday i come across a group of strikers, far outnumbered by the policemen who a closely watching. I discovered a street festival, first day creative rock bands (male+female), second day an interactive play; how to react on sexual harassement on the subway, the feminists still have a long way to go here..
Most of the temples and palaces have been destroyed twice by the Japanese, 16th and 20th century, this is repeated over and over again on all information panels, but the Japanese tourists are all over the place and the Koreans study the Japanese language eagerly. In my humid and tiny hostel a Dutch former scientology prophet tries to convince me he has seen the light.
Next day i try to get to the demilitarised zone, the border with North-Korea. The local tourism agency organizes tours trough the barbed wired landscape. First a Northkorean infiltration tunnel, 300mtr passed the demarcation line. I ask the guide if there exist not more than the 4 known tunnels, she gives me a serious look and says it is a secret, the Southkoreans would be scared if they knew how many tunnels exist. From an observation platform i look through a telescope at the propaganda village, empty. We stop at a supermarket and a family buys a bag of rice from the no-mans-land. On the mountain side a slogan to the north ; We Are One. Next year the railway connection is re-opening. Young people are not waiting for the reunification, they heard that taxes have gone up in Germany. Boarding the boat to China, i realise life is tough in the Middle Country; a different kind of politeness let's say.

Go West

Tom Tobback © 2000