
This octagonal pavilion is at the summit of the skyway, in a small rest area that is the only legal stopping point along the skyway. There are two restaurants here, one Korean and one Italian. The views are outstanding from here.



It's a bit cloudy and hazy today, but it's the warmest day of the week; many people are hitting the streets today to celebrate, helped by an elementary school holiday (normally, Saturday is a half-day), the opening of the ski resorts, and the lower gasoline prices. Today, gasoline is below 1,500 won per liter, rather than 1,800+ won per liter two months ago; it's even sweeter for me due to the recent sudden depreciation of the won, now trading at over 1,500 won to the US dollar. $3.80 per US gallon is something I can swallow - and certainly cheaper than last summer's California prices!

My car also comes with fog lights, which work completely independent of headlights. It's possible to drive with just parking and fog lights on, and many drivers do just that. I always use headlights when I am moving with lights on, however.
I finished the skyway, then proceeded north. My original intention was to head south immediately, leave the city, and visit the Korean Folk Village in Yong-in, about 20 miles or so to the south; but as I was in northern Seoul already, I decided to visit another sight nearby first. My drive northeast took me in front of Dream Land, an amusement park that is now completely closed and demolished to make way for something even better.




The memorial has a small hall dedicated to explaining the whole revolution. Here is a timeline of the events:
- August 15, 1948. South Korea founded, with Dr. Syngman Rhee as the inaugural President.
- July 4, 1952. Wartime amendment of the Constitution to allow Rhee's re-election.
- November 27, 1954. Another constitutional amendment to allow Rhee's unlimited re-election.
- December 24, 1958. Special security measures go into effect.
- April 30, 1959. Gyeonghyang Shinmun shut down for publishing articles critical of Rhee.
- February 28, 1960. Major student protest in Daegu over Rhee's tactics, particularly as he prepares for a fourth term. This was triggered by Rhee's orders to have the students attend school on Sunday, to prevent them from attending a rally in support of the opposition candidate.
- March 15, 1960. Presidential election held. Syngman Rhee wins fourth term. His ally Lee Ki-bung wins the Vice Presidency. However, it was done only with widespread poll rigging.
- March 15, 1960. Major protest in the southern port city of Masan against Rhee. A student by the name of Kim Ju-yeol, 17 years old, goes missing. Many others are gunned down by Rhee's forces as they protest the poll rigging.
- April 11, 1960. Kim Ju-yeol's body is found floating in Masan Harbor.
- April 18, 1960. Korea University students make a declaration, vowing to fight Rhee and protect democracy, following the school's tradition of fighting the Japanese and the Communists. The students march across Seoul, and many are injured when an "anti-Communist" youth group attacks them.
- April 19, 1960. Citizens hear of what happened to the Korea University students. They band together and march toward the Blue House, demanding to speak to Rhee. Policemen gun down many of them.
- April 20, 1960. Rhee makes a statement. His ruling political party, the Liberals, blame the citizens for the unrest.
- April 21, 1960. Rhee's cabinet resigns.
- April 22, 1960. A special National Assembly committee is formed to deal with the emergency.
- April 23, 1960. Vice President Chang Myon, from the opposition Democrats, resigns. He demands Rhee's resignation as well.
- April 24, 1960. Rhee resigns from the presidency of the Liberals. Lee Ki-bung resigns from all public positions.
- April 25, 1960. University professors join protests.
- April 26, 1960. Rhee resigns from the Presidency, and goes into exile in Hawaii.
- April 1960. Lee Gang-seok, son of Lee Ki-bung and stepson of Syngman Rhee, kills Lee's entire family then himself.
- July 29, 1960. A new National Assembly is elected.
- August 13, 1960. The Second Republic is established, with Yun Po-sun as President, and Chang Myon as the Prime Minister. The Second Republic was the only South Korean government to feature a bicameral legislature and a parliamentary government. It lasted less than a year, however, as on May 16, 1961, a military coup by General Park Chung-hee ended everything.



Not pictured, but also prominent, are messages from former Presidents Kim Young-sam ("YS") and Kim Dae-jung ("DJ"), both noted pro-democracy activists.




The effects of this revolution were felt overseas. Turkish students were inspired by their South Korean counterparts, and launched a revolution of their own that overthrew their own crony capitalist regime. Japanese students also took to the streets to protest some aspects of the Status of Forces Agreement for the US military in Japan, as negotiated by the Liberal Democratic government, without enough input from the people.
Within South Korea, however, the effects took much longer to take hold. The military coup in 1961 dashed hopes for a democratic society. While Park Chung-hee claimed to be upholding the spirit of the April 19th revolution, his actual policies proved otherwise, especially in the 1970s as he rammed through draconian constitutional amendments designed to keep him in absolute power for life. After Park's assassination in 1979, another military coup, this time by Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, took place, with Chun becoming President (and in the process, gunning down hundreds more peaceful protesters). Only when the people kept standing up to Chun, and the Reagan Administration's support of him, did change start coming. However, even in the presidential election of 1987, the first democratic one in decades, Roh Tae-woo won a minority victory due to the inability of the pro-democracy faction to agree on a single candidate. Only with the civilian Kim Young-sam presidency of 1993 was the April 19th revolution seriously re-visited. And this cemetery, a sleepy local cemetery since its creation in 1961, was finally upgraded to a full national cemetery and memorial in the mid-1990s.

I hopped back into my car, and started driving. News feeds indicated that Obama was now picking his Cabinet members, with his former rivals featuring prominently - Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State, and Bill Richardson as the Secretary of Commerce. While I have my share of disagreements with both, I do think they are good picks, as Obama can reach out to those Democrats who had disagreed with him, and unite the party (and down the road, America too). Both Hillary and Richardson bring tons of great experience, which is honestly a weak point for Obama.
As mentioned in my last post, the drive to Korean Folk Village took two hours. My route took me south along surface streets on the east side of Bukhansan, following the route of the subway system's Line 4, into downtown. From there on, I followed Line 3 across the Han River to the posh fashionista district of Apgujeong-dong, before getting on the Olympic Expressway, transferring to Dongbu Expressway at the Olympic Stadium, then following it to the end. Upon leaving Seoul, the Dongbu Expressway changes its name to Bundang-Suseo Urban Expressway, and raises its speed limit from 80 km/h to 90 km/h; it ends as it leaves Seongnam into Yong-in, merging onto Provincial Road 23. (The Yong-in section of the expressway is currently being built.) Continuing on the 23 for another 10 kilometers or so brings me to the Folk Village. Simple enough, but traffic was extremely heavy both in Seoul and in Yong-in, and the reckless urban taxicabs really tested my patience. On the other hand, the entire stretch was free, and using the tollways would not have helped at all, as they were also hopelessly jammed.

I was dismayed to find that the admission charge for an adult went up from 9,000 won to 12,000 won. But it's still cheaper for me than last time, thanks to the shrinking won. I guess 2MB is doing me some good after all.
Here's one of my favorite sights. This is a traditional Korean outhouse. The toilet is that wooden hole. The dry leaves in the corner are used as toilet paper. The wooden containers carry away the accumulated waste, and a pottery tank (not pictured) carries away the urine. Fortunately, guests to the Folk Village don't have to rough it out here; they can simply use modern restrooms with sit-down self-flushing toilets and full running water.





Masks have lots of different designs. My favorite is that of "umulcheonyeogwisin" (우물처녀귀신), a spirit of a maiden who had fallen into a neighborhood well and drowned. The connotation is that without having ever had a chance to fall in love, she would be one heck of a frustrated spirit, and would haunt many living people.




This particular fortune teller's house can tell me my general fortune, how long I'll live, how healthy I'll be, how well my business will run, and how compatible I am with my significant other (based on our birthdays and zodiac signs). I can get a reading for 20,000 won.



In The Book of Dead Birds, Helen would have performed this skill. However, I found that at least today, the announcer was the only female in the performing group, and all riders/warriors were men.

This partition - named "Seven Stars" - is a shamanistic shrine on the grounds of the temple, showing the Korean mix of Buddhism and shamanism. The "Seven Stars" theme is quite popular; "Northern Seven Stars" refer to the Big Dipper (Ursa Major), and a popular soft drink, Chilsung Cider (칠성사이다) which is a slightly sweeter alternative to Sprite and 7-Up, also carries the "Seven Star" theme in its name. (Chilsung = Seven Stars)
Counting stars is a popular theme in Korean culture anyway. The neoliberal corporate empire, Samsung, simply means "Three Stars."





Sure, it's kind of humiliating to sit in there with a neighbor's cat watching. But then, Jeju is a warm place, so going "traditional" means going naked from the waist down. Definitely humiliating whenever I go about doing anything! (Especially when I look like Ann Coulter between my legs.) At least there is no need to undress as I enter the toilet, since all I need to do is just squat down.
Helen lived in the 1960s, so by then, she would've worn full modern clothing, and even a wetsuit when diving (something she was never good at). However, she'd be familiar with another warm-weather provision: extensive use of wooden flooring in these houses, compared to those on the Korean mainland.

Unfortunately for Gayle, I could not find any harubang statues for purchase here. I was, in fact, advised that I'd actually have to fly to Jeju to get them. I have no plans to fly to Jeju at this time, as I'll be more than busy going to Hong Kong already. However, my next stint in South Korea WILL include Jeju. Sorry Gayle - you'll have to wait a bit longer for your harubang. At least I'll have time to study some key words of the Jeju dialect.



In front, there are two jars where I can try to throw arrows into. It's an old game, imported from Tang China and popularized by Silla about 1,200 years ago.
In the distance are seesaws and swings. Both were almost exclusively used by women, as they were often confined to their homes by the Confucian moral code, and needed a way to jump up high and see the outside world over the house fence. For safety, while two riders jump alternately on the seesaw, a third person needs to sit in the middle over the pivot point.
I tried the swing. No luck gaining any altitude.




I immediately drove back to Seongnam, even though it still took me almost an hour to cover just a few miles due to the construction. After some rest, I headed back out for a dinner, exploring the Bundang Ward.
While Seongnam used to be a cut-rate town just southeast of Seoul, merely a place to pass through and a home for those who couldn't quite afford the real Seoul, that's no longer the case. South of downtown Seongnam, a new ward named Bundang was created over a wide swath of rice paddies, and it was built up into an endless forest of high-rise (mostly) luxury apartments in the 1990s to relieve overcrowding in Seoul, along with lots of services and businesses to support them. Bundang is so nice, that it's nicer than any part of Seoul for that matter. I am currently in Bundang, which is also linked to Seoul's subway system via the Korail-managed Bundang Line. Just to the west, Pan-gyo is going through the exact same transformation. Seongnam, thanks to the development of Bundang, already boasts one million people, qualifying it to secede from Gyeonggi Province and become a metropolitan city of its own (equal to a province) if it wanted. Once Pan-gyo is fully developed, I am pretty sure this will go forward.
My exploration of Bundang covered the main developments, centering around Yatap and Seohyeon districts. Yatap has a Homeplus department store, anchoring a huge mall with free parking and lots of stores (many of which are empty for now, however). The mall also houses Seongnam's own express bus terminal, with frequent services to all points of the nation; for example, a bus leaves hourly for Busan, and costs 30,800 won for deluxe and 20,700 for regular. Meanwhile, Seohyeon has a Samsung Plaza department store with a food court, as well as a huge number of nightclubs (including apparently strip clubs), bars, exotic restaurants, and more. Bundang, as a whole, is extremely impressive with both its architecture and its businesses - and especially so when they light up at night.
I am expecting to spend tomorrow, my final full day on the road, covering Ganghwa Island in Incheon as well as the Ilsan area. Ilsan also saw massive Bundang-like development in the 1990s, and includes another observatory within a stone's throw of North Korea. Should be a good day.