Heart and Seoul: Exploring South Korea

It’s a late afternoon in May, springtime in Seoul, and the sun is buttering the vast courtyard in front of the king’s throne hall. Clusters of girls skitter about, giggling as they pose in their hanbok, the local name for traditional clothing. For women, that's hooped skirts and cropped, loose jackets tied with bows at the back. There are men in hanbok too: roomy pants, long, loose-fitting robes and black hats with wide brims and small crowns. 

It could be a scene from a few hundred years ago, except that almost everyone is pouting at a cellphone camera or cocking an ear to a tour guide, listening to the tales of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Completed in 1395, it's one of five palace complexes built under the Joseon Dynasty, the last and longest-lived imperial line, which ruled Korea for more than 500 years [1392 — 1910]. Their history is cherished in these parts and credited with several cultural developments, particularly the creation of the Hangul writing system by King Sejong the Great, which made literacy accessible to the common person. A public square not far from here is dominated by a giant monument to the man. 

These days, I imagine people think of more modern things when they think of South Korea: tech innovators like Hyundai and Samsung, or the K-Wave of inventive bands, movies and Netflix shows that have been spiking heart rates for some years now. Fun fact: the first YouTube video to reach 1bn views was Korean DJ Psy’s Gangnam Style in 2012. And yet, this 1,100km-long, 300km-wide peninsula on the eastern edge of Asia has a history of human creativity that stretches as far back as 8,000 BCE. 

For a crash course, the National Museum of Korea is excellent. Its six permanent exhibition sections are arranged by period and theme, and feature more than 12,000 objects from Palaeolithic tools to intricate examples of sculpture and pottery. Among its highlights are a gold crown from the Silla kingdom (57 BCE — 676 CE); and several hypnotising moon jars. These imperfectly rounded pots of white porcelain were first fired under the Joseon dynasty and are now a national symbol. There's also the 13.5m “Ten-Storey Stone Pagoda”, made from marble in 1348 and noteworthy for its peculiar history. It was dismantled and smuggled to Japan in 1907 but returned in 1918 thanks to a campaign by international media. 

Elsewhere in the city is another excellent museum, Seodaemun Prison History Hall, which focuses on a painful period in the country’s history: the Japanese colonial era. The prison opened in 1908, two years before annexation by Japan, but was soon used to imprison Korean independence activists and other political prisoners. It's estimated that 40,000 activists were imprisoned here, 900 of whom died, many of them tortured and executed.

The detailed displays in the actual red-brick buildings and cells are not only informative but also paint a moving picture of Korea’s own liberation struggle. A room wallpapered with mugshots of the dead and the execution room — where a noose hangs ominously over a trapdoor in the floor — are especially devastating.   

A DAY AT THE DMZ

It’s ironic  that the longed-for end to Japan’s control in 1945 also birthed a fissure that exists to this day. South Korea’s adversarial neighbour — secretive, authoritarian North Korea — is a point of fascination for many. Seoul is only about 50km from the border, and an entire industry exists around the security situation and letting tourists see North Korea with their own eyes. 

It helps to have a basic understanding of how the hostilities came about, especially considering that the whole peninsula was united from the 7th century until the end of World War 2. With colonial power Japan on the losing side, the Allies divided Korea into two occupation zones, with the US taking the south and the Soviet Union the north. It was supposed to be a temporary trusteeship, but the escalation of the Cold War cemented the divide with both “big brothers” backing leaders aligned with their ideologies. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea sparking the Korean War, which lasted three years and ended in a stalemate. With no peace treaty ever signed they're technically still at war but agreed to a buffer zone between them, a 4km stretch of no-mans-land called the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), reportedly teeming with plants, birds and landmines and heavily guarded on both sides. 

Seoul-based tour companies do a roaring trade in day-trips to the DMZ, though the delicate situation means strict rules must be followed. We carry our passports, and at a checkpoint a soldier boards our bus and painstakingly inspects every one before we can continue. A definite sense of heaviness rises as the barbed wire, guns and barricades multiply.

The unnerving atmosphere is amplified at our first stop, known as the Third Tunnel of Aggression — proof that, despite the ceasefire, North Korea has still harboured nefarious ambitions. The so-called Tunnels of Aggression are four secret routes that have been found since the 1970s, dug under the DMZ from North Korea presumably with the intent to invade. For the record, absurdly, North Korea’s official position is, “It wasn’t me!” 

BRIGHT LIGHTS & BLESSINGS

Back in the capital by nightfall, it’s a relief to shake off the heavy tone of the day with bright lights, shopping and eating. With a population of 10 million people, Seoul feels youthful and edgy but also organised, clean and safe to stroll about, even after dark. 

Every night in the tourist area of Myengdong, the main pedestrian thoroughfare is lined with sizzling food stalls. Crowds sweep along like schools of fish snacking on fried squid, lemonade or pancakes oozing with cheese. In the doorways of shops on either side of the street, salesgirls compete for tourists’ attention by pointing out their wrinkles and waving packets of miracle skin cream. Of course, the K-Beauty industry is the next big thing filling up the world’s wanted lists.

And yet, maybe the real key to eternal youth lives a little way outside the city in Bukhansan National Park. Covering an area of 130km2, it's a lush land of hiking trails with forests, streams, gorges and granite peaks. Our last stop before leaving is here: to visit the Jinkwasa Buddhist Temple. It's more than 1,000 years old but since the early '80s has been run by Buddhist nuns. With shaved heads and grey robes, these women are world-famous for their cooking, epitomising the ancient art of Korean temple fare.