"sjvessey's South Korea Page" South Korea by sjvessey

Two months in South Korea, another Asian work assignment. Like Japan, and yet very different. Korea is much more insular and less cosmopolitan, and consequently as a visitor you'll feel more uncomfortable. The people aren't that used to Westerners, and not many people speak English, although most of them seem to be trying to learn it.

Your typical Korean

Most of my time was spent in Seoul, home to about a fifth of the entire population, so you'll find most of my information and photos on my Seoul pages, rather than here.

The one time I left the city was to visit the DMZ - heavily fortified border between North and South Korea. It's the only place I've ever been where I had to sign a disclaimer absolving the US government of all responsibility for my safety before I was allowed in...

GI helmet - with bullet holes

One of the first things you notice here, and something which becomes more apparent the more you come to know Korea, is how deeply everyone in the country was, and remains, affected by the Korean war. Only recently did I discover just how close the North came to winning that conflict, and with compulsory military service, there are a lot of guys in uniform here. Not to mention the 10,000 people who work at Yongsan US Army Base, which takes up a huge chunk of real estate in central Seoul. But then, you've essentially got a (potential) war zone only 30 miles north of the city. The police carry M16 rifles and wear kevlar helmets, and in the west near Incheon, the entire coastline is fenced off with a barbed wire-topped mesh fence, to try to keep out infiltrators.