The Forgotten War - Seoul Museums

Sunday, September 1, 2024

 

During our family trip around the United States in 2009, in Washington DC, Jeremy and I were most stirred by the Korean War Memorial and its message “freedom is not free.” Today - on the actual land where it all took place - we are seeking to understand the complexities of Korean history, the forgotten war, and the ongoing conflict and fragile peace that continues to persist.  Sandwiched between WWII and the Vietnam War, the Korean War is often referred to as the forgotten war because comparatively it received relatively little public attention.

 

Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separates North Korea from South Korea. It is the strip of land spanning the Korean peninsula where military activity is not permitted by the armistice agreement of the Korean War signed on July 27, 1953.

 

While US citizens cannot travel in, to, or through North Korea, a tour of the JSA (Joint Security Area) used to be the only way to technically step foot there. Sadly, that is no longer an option. The former highlight of a tour to the DMZ, where North Korean guards stand face to face with South Korean guards, has been closed to tourists since July 2023. Now when you tour the DMZ, you are viewing the forbidden land on a platform from afar - that is, if you can get in. Individuals are not allowed to enter the DMZ alone and only a certain number of tour buses are allowed each day.

 

We decided against the current DMZ experience, portrayed to me as rather touristy, in exchange for a visit to Seoul’s National War Memorial. Although the memorial includes an overview of all Korea’s wars, we proceeded directly to the Korean War Rooms. Beginning with North Korea’s surprise invasion on the South on June 25, 1950, this hall depicts all aspects of the war, including the combined role the United States and United Nations played and what wartime life was like for Koreans.

 

Seoul’s National War Memorial (free admittance)

 

After 1.5 hours at the memorial reading the Korean War exhibits immersed in the dim lighting, sounds of war, and exhibits of artillery, we were successful in gaining at least a rudimentary understanding of the Korean War - the three-year war that signed a ceasefire yet never reached peace even today.

 

Adjacent to the memorial building is an extended space with a large open-air museum housing various large military apparatus no longer in use, such as planes, tanks, guns, missile launchers, and even a boat.

 

Regardless of how you decide to learn more about the Korean War, you are sure to share the intense emotions of the soldiers and Korean people: rage, pride, fear, despair, and haplessness.

 

The National Museum of Korea, also free, is in the same area of Seoul as the war memorial and has equal popularity. Both museums cover a very large footprint of land and don’t have an abundance of lunch options, so we took advantage of the on-site convenience store.  Korea has handy convenience stores everywhere! We never go to them at home but we used them multiple times each day here.

 

We picked up a quick snack and ice cream bars.

 

The National Museum of Korea has a massive, unique design.

 

The museum contains artifacts and information spanning from prehistoric time all the way to Japanese colonization. We started with the first floor - the archeological and historical galleries. This museum has one-word descriptions of each artifact in English. We quickly realized that “necklace”, “earrings”, and “pottery” repeated over and over with no detailed explanations wasn’t holding our interest. If I had more time before our trip, I would have created a list of museum highlights, including descriptions, so I knew what we were looking at.  After an hour on the first floor, we decided to power walk the Buddhist sculptures, ceramics and art from around the world located on the third floor. Museuming for hours is hard work and we finally succumbed to our exhaustion after a long day of standing in front of exhibits and walking in the sun.

 

The National Museum of Korea has an impressive ten-story marble Pagoda from the Wongaksa Temple Site (Joseon Dynasty).

 

The third floor has Buddhist statues like this one, the largest iron Buddha ever found in Korea.

 

Stretching over two floors, a beautiful 17th-century scroll painting like this would be hung on special occasions, such as Buddha’s birthday.

 

We returned back to our hotel in Hongdae, the shortened form naming the area around Hongik University. It is a popular hipster hang-out for local youths and is apparent that this is the area in Korea where anything goes. You're guaranteed to see street performers and departures from Korea's conservative dress. No late night for us though. No clubbing for Chris. After having dinner, we called it quits.

 

Eoulmadag-ro in Hongdae is thriving with young people in the afternoons and evenings.

Hongdae is a shopping mecca.

For dinner we went to Sin Migyeong Hongdae Dakgalbi – this time we tried the cheese version of dakgalbi. ₩16,000/$12 each.