After a two day break, monsoon is back. But the monsoon season is supposed to be over, and those record breaking downpours that are drowning Korea and killing dozens raise again the issue of climate change.
In this country, everything moves 빨리 빨리. Even the weather. Korea has already experienced dramatic changes over the past 100 years : average temperatures have gained 1.8 degrees celcius, winters are 2 to 3 weeks shorter and summers 2 to 3 weeks longer, Jeju-do has become a semi-tropical island, and extreme years have multiplied since 1991.
Over the past 20 years, I did experience extreme episodes firsthand, mostly typhoons or flash floods transforming streets into rapids*, or the staircases of a downtown subway station into mini-Niagara falls. But I never saw the Hangang completely frozen, except on pictures from the 50s. And I've had my share of fantastic years with mild winters and pleasant summers.
We already knew Korea was at some kind of frontier, and thus more likely to major changes : if Vladivostock is not far away, its harbor is often caught in ice during the winter, unlike those of the whole peninsula (even if the North, more mountainous, usually faces tougher winters than the South). That's one of the reasons why the federation invested in the Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone in North Korea (Rason / Raseon logistic hub).
Ironically, as they pressed for more food relief, Pyeongyang propagandists forged just a few days ago a photo showing floods that didn't exist... Photoshop doesn't seem that necessary now. Images from the South are also hard to believe, but they are unfortunately true : the tragic landslides in Chuncheon or Umyeongsan**, cars crushed or drowned like toys...
Water's power of destruction showed no mercy for such wealthy areas as Daechi-dong (Gangnam-gu) or Bangbae-dong (Seocho-gu), but miraculously spared Seoul's fragile "moon villages" (generally close to mountain tops). Among the Umyeong-dong victims of the landslide, the wife of Shinsegae's chairman died in her own cellar. And another mudslide hit Ihwajang, the former home of President Syngman Rhee in Hyehwa-dong. Mobile networks went down at the heart of Gangnam, home to the new Samsung HQs and Teheran-ro start ups.
The powers that be have all been humbled and forced to reconsider their scenarii, up to the plans they had updated last year. Seoul and Korea will adapt once more, and one can hope today's tragedies will foster positive changes in urbanism and environment.
Seoul Village 2011
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* like last Chuseok (see "Chusoaked"), or my wet dog moment in 2008 (see "open air pool")
** Seoul Arts Center was hit, but Cezanne & co ("Musee d'Orsay in Seoul") are safe, but there too, many people died.
Showing posts with label Rhee Syng-man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rhee Syng-man. Show all posts
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Seoul, to rise again / Enrique Stanko Vraz's visit to Seoul in 1901
There's always some interesting exhibition at the Seoul Museum of History, and quite often two, like nowadays (hurry up if you want to see both : one of them finishes this Sunday)*.
If you're sick and tired of seeing always the same pictures of the late Joseon dynasty, you'll love those taken by Czech photographer Vraz during his three week visit at the turn of last century : abandoned palaces and lively streets, "new" panoramas on well known streets and landmarks (Jongno, Namdaemunno, Maporo, Donhwamun...), and people of all ages looking back at the camera, straight into our IIIrd millenium eyes...
We had the pleasure to watch the exhibition with a group of Seoulites in their at least nineties, most of them pushed in wheelchairs by enthusiastic organizers who read the captions for them... and were corrected anytime they made a mistake about a place they couldn't remember as well as their passengers. Of course, when these elderlies were kids, Donuimun was still standing after all those centuries**, and Dongnimmun a todler monument about their age (the Independence Gate was erected in 1897).
On the same ground floor, "Seoul, to rise again" focuses on the 1957-1963*** years that rocked the ROK, when the capital city boomed, and regimes changed (from RHEE Syng-man to PARK Chung-hee). Pictures and films capture the effervescence, the political, social, economical, and urban changes in black and white, plus all the variations of grey.
Seoul Village 2011
* make that three with the mini expo on Seoul design assets including the U-Smartway project (see focus)
** Note that Donuimun also will rise again (see "Donuimun Restoration and Sadaemun Resurrection").
*** and not 1961-1970, like in the volume 4 of the Seoul in Pictures series, also titled "Seoul, to rise again".
If you're sick and tired of seeing always the same pictures of the late Joseon dynasty, you'll love those taken by Czech photographer Vraz during his three week visit at the turn of last century : abandoned palaces and lively streets, "new" panoramas on well known streets and landmarks (Jongno, Namdaemunno, Maporo, Donhwamun...), and people of all ages looking back at the camera, straight into our IIIrd millenium eyes...
We had the pleasure to watch the exhibition with a group of Seoulites in their at least nineties, most of them pushed in wheelchairs by enthusiastic organizers who read the captions for them... and were corrected anytime they made a mistake about a place they couldn't remember as well as their passengers. Of course, when these elderlies were kids, Donuimun was still standing after all those centuries**, and Dongnimmun a todler monument about their age (the Independence Gate was erected in 1897).
On the same ground floor, "Seoul, to rise again" focuses on the 1957-1963*** years that rocked the ROK, when the capital city boomed, and regimes changed (from RHEE Syng-man to PARK Chung-hee). Pictures and films capture the effervescence, the political, social, economical, and urban changes in black and white, plus all the variations of grey.
"Enrique Stanko Vraz's visit to Seoul in 1901 / Soul roku 1901 objektivem E. St. Vraze" (20110414-0612)
"Seoul, to rise again" (20110309-0424)
Seoul Museum of History
Tel (Dasan hotline) : 120
Seoul Village 2011
* make that three with the mini expo on Seoul design assets including the U-Smartway project (see focus)
** Note that Donuimun also will rise again (see "Donuimun Restoration and Sadaemun Resurrection").
*** and not 1961-1970, like in the volume 4 of the Seoul in Pictures series, also titled "Seoul, to rise again".
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Empress's Last Bang
Korea's last empress, Sunjeong-hyo (순정효황후), clearly didn't leave the same mark as her legendary predecessor Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong), a modern reformer murdered by the Japanese in 1895 because she would have resisted the annexation of Korea much more efficiently than her husband King Gojong.
Empress Sunjeong never actually ruled : Japan officially claimed the country in 1910*, and Syngman Rhee kept her away from the palace during his presidency, probably to make sure Korea was done with monarchy... or at least royalty. She came back to Changdeokgung in 1961, where she died in 1966. No Child Left Behind : her husband was not murdered, but - thank Japanese innovation for small mercies - enjoyed a chemically induced sterility and debility.
To me, Empress Sunjeong perfectly illustrates the way Korean royals vanished during the tragic limbo between the end of the Joseon area and the beginning of democracy, a period she crossed almost like a ghost haunting former symbols of power. Note that the last person who could claim the throne died a few years ago, a poor old man living off songs and charity.
If you visited Namsan Hanok Village, you have seen the reconstitution of the Yun family house where the girl who would become the last empress grew up. At least, you may think, the memory of this one is respected. Uh... not exactly.
The original house lies in 47 Ogin-dong, Jongno-gu, a site signaled among the few remaining landmarks of an area West of Gyeongbokgung recently preserved by Seoul Metropolitan Government - as we saw earlier ("Stop The Hanok Genocide... And Stop Revival As Reenactment"), over 600 hanoks will be saved from almost certain destruction around Chebu-dong.
But when Hankyoreh journalist Song Chae-gyeong (송채경) visited the old Yun house, he came back with an utterly depressing story**. And what to say of the picture of the ruin inhabited by six survivors of the clan in contrast with that of the pristine reconstitution*** ! Song interviewed the chairman of the cultural heritage committee, who also lamented about the ludicrous contradiction : a lot of money has been spent in a fake and the original abandoned to redevelopement.
I'm sure that exposing this kind of follies will help Seoul city in its recent crusade in favor of the preservation of old Seoul. Beyond the survival of this house, Song's article shall also contribute to a vital pedagogy : when they are not obsessed with short term profit, many hanok owners are simply unaware of the value of traditional houses, not to mention cultural landmarks.
Note that a hanok can be ruined without being destroyed, for instance by owners who just want to make a quick buck because they think old stuff is bad for business. Korean traditional houses can easily be camouflaged : the old tile roof replaced with plastic, the front hidden behind big boards advertising a restaurant or a shop, a red brick wall and voila.
In Seochon, West of the Gyeongbokgung, most of the 600 remaining hanoks don't look like hanoks anymore : actually, I live not far from there, I've passed by every single alley and cul-de-sac, I have maps and aerial pictures of the area, and I'm aware of the way traditional houses can be camouflaged... but last year I've been stunned by the number : I would have estimated it to 200, 300 tops (but there are plenty of more modern yet interesting houses too, like the ultimately cute blue bookstore Daeoseojeom / 대오서점).
OH Se-hoon is right to secure key areas in spite of the anger of owners' associations. He is right to sponsor the restoration of hanoks because maintaining an old house is very demanding, particularly for old owners who can't afford it. Europeans are familiar with the vision of old castles falling apart even if people keep inhabiting them, but in Europe restoration itself is a century-old tradition, there are incentives, associations, and support from local as well as national authorities for important assets. Furthermore, the population sympathizes with people who fight for preservation. In Korea ? You are considered a lunatic when you refuse redevelopment, or if keep a hanok where you can build a 3 story-villa.
Long time Seoulite and hanok-lover Peter E. Bartholomew actually sued Seoul city to stop a redevelopment based on biased reports. He won the case last year and saved from destruction many hanoks in Dongsomun-dong (Seongbuk-gu), only to face the ire of other owners. Other acts of resistance involve financial investment : Arumjigi****, a private association, has been preaching by example for almost a decade, renovating houses across the country, investing in a future richer from the past.
Koreans love history, but to a certain point. Last Friday, the country celebrated the centennial of the death of resistant Ahn Jung-geun. I bet than one hundred years from now, the descendants of Dongsomun-dong hanok owners will celebrate the victory of Bartholomew v. Caterpillar.
Seoul Village 2010
See also : "Stop The Hanok Genocide... And Stop Revival As Reenactment", other Seochon related posts, including "Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It".
* 100 years after the annexation of Korea by Japan, both countries are at last discussing about a common vision of history. But for the moment, the Korea-Japan Joint History Research Committee only managed to shoot the myth of Imna Japanese Headquarters (an outrageous invention to justify the annexation : Japan would have ruled over Korean kingdoms during the 4th century !).
** "‘마지막 황후’ 뛰놀던 집 재개발로 헐리나" (Hankyoreh 20100329)
*** photographer : Park Jong-sik (박종식)
**** Arumjigi.org
Empress Sunjeong never actually ruled : Japan officially claimed the country in 1910*, and Syngman Rhee kept her away from the palace during his presidency, probably to make sure Korea was done with monarchy... or at least royalty. She came back to Changdeokgung in 1961, where she died in 1966. No Child Left Behind : her husband was not murdered, but - thank Japanese innovation for small mercies - enjoyed a chemically induced sterility and debility.
To me, Empress Sunjeong perfectly illustrates the way Korean royals vanished during the tragic limbo between the end of the Joseon area and the beginning of democracy, a period she crossed almost like a ghost haunting former symbols of power. Note that the last person who could claim the throne died a few years ago, a poor old man living off songs and charity.
If you visited Namsan Hanok Village, you have seen the reconstitution of the Yun family house where the girl who would become the last empress grew up. At least, you may think, the memory of this one is respected. Uh... not exactly.
The original house lies in 47 Ogin-dong, Jongno-gu, a site signaled among the few remaining landmarks of an area West of Gyeongbokgung recently preserved by Seoul Metropolitan Government - as we saw earlier ("Stop The Hanok Genocide... And Stop Revival As Reenactment"), over 600 hanoks will be saved from almost certain destruction around Chebu-dong.
But when Hankyoreh journalist Song Chae-gyeong (송채경) visited the old Yun house, he came back with an utterly depressing story**. And what to say of the picture of the ruin inhabited by six survivors of the clan in contrast with that of the pristine reconstitution*** ! Song interviewed the chairman of the cultural heritage committee, who also lamented about the ludicrous contradiction : a lot of money has been spent in a fake and the original abandoned to redevelopement.
I'm sure that exposing this kind of follies will help Seoul city in its recent crusade in favor of the preservation of old Seoul. Beyond the survival of this house, Song's article shall also contribute to a vital pedagogy : when they are not obsessed with short term profit, many hanok owners are simply unaware of the value of traditional houses, not to mention cultural landmarks.
Note that a hanok can be ruined without being destroyed, for instance by owners who just want to make a quick buck because they think old stuff is bad for business. Korean traditional houses can easily be camouflaged : the old tile roof replaced with plastic, the front hidden behind big boards advertising a restaurant or a shop, a red brick wall and voila.
In Seochon, West of the Gyeongbokgung, most of the 600 remaining hanoks don't look like hanoks anymore : actually, I live not far from there, I've passed by every single alley and cul-de-sac, I have maps and aerial pictures of the area, and I'm aware of the way traditional houses can be camouflaged... but last year I've been stunned by the number : I would have estimated it to 200, 300 tops (but there are plenty of more modern yet interesting houses too, like the ultimately cute blue bookstore Daeoseojeom / 대오서점).
OH Se-hoon is right to secure key areas in spite of the anger of owners' associations. He is right to sponsor the restoration of hanoks because maintaining an old house is very demanding, particularly for old owners who can't afford it. Europeans are familiar with the vision of old castles falling apart even if people keep inhabiting them, but in Europe restoration itself is a century-old tradition, there are incentives, associations, and support from local as well as national authorities for important assets. Furthermore, the population sympathizes with people who fight for preservation. In Korea ? You are considered a lunatic when you refuse redevelopment, or if keep a hanok where you can build a 3 story-villa.
Long time Seoulite and hanok-lover Peter E. Bartholomew actually sued Seoul city to stop a redevelopment based on biased reports. He won the case last year and saved from destruction many hanoks in Dongsomun-dong (Seongbuk-gu), only to face the ire of other owners. Other acts of resistance involve financial investment : Arumjigi****, a private association, has been preaching by example for almost a decade, renovating houses across the country, investing in a future richer from the past.
Koreans love history, but to a certain point. Last Friday, the country celebrated the centennial of the death of resistant Ahn Jung-geun. I bet than one hundred years from now, the descendants of Dongsomun-dong hanok owners will celebrate the victory of Bartholomew v. Caterpillar.
Seoul Village 2010
See also : "Stop The Hanok Genocide... And Stop Revival As Reenactment", other Seochon related posts, including "Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It".
* 100 years after the annexation of Korea by Japan, both countries are at last discussing about a common vision of history. But for the moment, the Korea-Japan Joint History Research Committee only managed to shoot the myth of Imna Japanese Headquarters (an outrageous invention to justify the annexation : Japan would have ruled over Korean kingdoms during the 4th century !).
** "‘마지막 황후’ 뛰놀던 집 재개발로 헐리나" (Hankyoreh 20100329)
*** photographer : Park Jong-sik (박종식)
**** Arumjigi.org
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