"Seoul Mate!" a Seoul Travel Page by Ramonq

Seoul, the capital of South Korea reminded me of a place I used to live, Canberra. It has a lot of mountains surrounding the city and there is a famous communication tower that looms over it. But that is where the comparison ends, because Seoul is a huge Asian megalopolis of more than 10 million people. It is the capital of one of Asia's economic superpower which is very industrial. Needless to say, there are a lot of industrial suburbs around Seoul and they are not of much of interest to your average tourists.

Around the mountains and on the slopes, the city is dotted with high rise apartments with same architecture much like Hong Kong. Many of these buildings are uninspiring "Soviet commie blocks" that you'd expect to see in former Eastern Bloc satellite cities like Warsaw or Beijing. Although South Korea is staunchly capitalistic, there was a relentless reconstruction of post-war Seoul during the period between 1960-80's that functionality rather than style was the preferred option at the time of rapid economic growth.

The Korean war in the 1950's has decimated the soul of old Seoul. Very few old buildings have remained and many of the temples or palaces that are presently visible are mere recreations of the old self. Rapid modernisation did not help too, as many of the old villages have been bulldozed away to make way for high rise apartments and metro stations.

However, Seoul is becoming an international city as it constructs buildings with modern "world class" architecture. Having hosted the Olympics in 1988 and the World Cup in 2002, Seoul now has dazzling shopping malls, office towers and stadiums. It's subway system can compete with Tokyo's and the highways are excellently maintained. There are quite a lot of migrants in Seoul which gives the city a cosmopolitan character. I stayed in the suburb of Itaewon, and I saw more foreigners than Koreans wandering around its streets. The suburb has lots of restaurants ranging from American fastfood to African eateries. It even boasts a big mosque. Itaewon is where many of the American GI's are based which is a constant reminder that South Korea is under constant threat from the North. A fascinating War Memorial museum is located near Itaewon where one can see monuments to the fallen soldiers and equipment used during the 1950's Korean war.

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Cheongdok Palace

A good starting place for tourists to explore Seoul is the Cheonyecheon River which flows through the heart of the city centre. This used to be a putrid river with shanties along its bank during the 1960's. But seeing it today illustrates how Seoul has successfully transformed itself from a war ravaged city into a modern metropolis in a short span of time. It's delightful to wander down its paved bank and listen to the rush of water which drowns the sound of the city traffic above. The long stretch of this river has become a respite for many Seoul citizens whilst they sit and contemplate life's mysteries. I even saw people meditating by the stream oblivious to Seoul's hustle and bustle.

Very little original structure has remained in Seoul. One of its iconic one is an ancient city gate. During the ancient times, Seoul was surrounded by walls for protection and it had gates to the outside world. These walls have since been torn down and some of the gates have been preserved. The most famous one is the Namdaemun Gate, but unfortunately the much-loved gate has be burnt down by some crazy arsonist. This has been reconstructed but it is not anymore original like many of Seoul's heritage sites.

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Cheongyecheon River

It's difficult to imagine that Seoul was an ancient city fortress that was isolated from the rest of the world for a thousand years. It went through the 3 Kingdom eras from 18 BC to 551 AD. Because of the strategic location of the Han River in respect to the Korean Peninsula, Seoul became an major transportation hub. The Joseon dynasty, which began at the late 14th century, declared Seoul as the capital city where they built the massive circular wall around it and inside, constructed palaces such as the Gyeongbokung and many Buddhist temples. It was a long era of isolation but by the late 19th century Seoul decided to open up and had the latest Western style infrastructure like Tokyo.

The Japanese conquered Seoul during the first half of the 20th century and they left after the WW2. Cold War started and Seoul underwent the most traumatic civil war destruction in the 1950's as communist North Koreans bombarded the pro-American city. The communists were repelled and Seoul has been protected by Americans ever since. Post-war saw Seoul grow tenfold and the economic boom times during the late 20th century has astounded the rest of the world. The citizens of the Seoul are an industrious lot, and they deserve the prosperity that they now enjoy.