Archives

Suyong River, Busan, South Korea

Mar4

A few shots of the river from the walking path near our apartment. These were taken in 2007. There’s been so much development since then. I’ll have to do another post on before and current pictures of this area.

Looking south
Looking north
E Pyon Han Sesang Apartments in the centre
fishing in the river
reflexology path
massage your feet
Happy trail

North Korea – No Freedom of Speech

Mar3

Criticism of the regime or the leadership in North Korea, if reported, is enough to make you and your family ‘disappear’ from society and end up in a political prison camp. It goes without saying that there is no free media inside the country. The only opinion allowed to be voiced inside the country is the regime’s.

– Liberty in North Korea

Goma Kimbap (꼬마 김밥)

Feb26

One of Korea’s most convenient foods is kim bap, which literally means seaweed wrapped rice. There are many types, but my favorite, apparently most liked by foreigners, is the Nude Kimbap. It’s wrapped with the rice outside, so it has rice instead of seaweed on the outside. Yum! Mainstay ingredients are yellow pickled radish, ham, carrot, egg and sometimes spinach. I like tuna kimbap too. It’s all good:-)

♥♥SOSHI LOVE ♥♥

IMG_4927-2(FILEminimizer)

Goma Kimbap or mini Kimbap (꼬마 김밥) is one of the favourite foods for the lunchbox or picnic.  Kimbap is Korean rice wrapped in seaweed and Goma(꼬마) means kiddie or mini, so Goma Kimbaps are very small rice rolls wrapped in seaweeds.

View original post 72 more words

The History of the two Koreas

Feb25

1945: The Division of the Korean People

Following Japan’s defeat in 1945 the Soviet Union and United States agreed to split the post-war control of the Korean peninsula between themselves. On August 10, 1945 two young U.S. military officers drew up a line demarcating the U.S. and Soviet occupation zones at the 38th parallel. The divide should have been temporary, a mere footnote in Korea’s long history, but the emergence of the Cold War made this a seminal event. Seeking to ensure the maintenance of their respective influences in Korea, the U.S. and USSR installed leaders sympathetic to their own cause, while mistrust on both sides prevented cooperation on elections that were supposed to choose a leader for the entire peninsula. The United States handed control over the southern half of the peninsula to Syngman Rhee, while the Soviet Union gave Kim Il-sung power over the north. In 1948, both sides claimed to be the legitimate government and representative of the entire Korean people.

August 15, 1948

Syngman Rhee declares the formation of the Republic of Korea in Seoul, claiming jurisdiction over all of Korea..

September 8, 1948

Kim Il-sung declares the formation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Pyongyang, also claiming jurisdiction over all of Korea.

From the Liberty in North Korea website

Japan’s colonization of Korea

Dec10

Japan Colonizes Korea

In 1910, the Chosun Dynasty ended with Japan’s annexation and colonization of Korea. Koreans remember the Japanese colonial rule as a brutal experience. Resistance groups formed in Korea and China, mostly adopting leftist politics in reaction to the right-wing Japanese administration. Memories of the Japanese Imperial Administration’s oppression continue to haunt relations between the people of both Koreas and Japan today. Korea also began to modernize during this period, and the city of Pyongyang in particular became a vibrant center for Christianity and western culture.

From LiNK – Liberty in North Korea

 

North Korea – No Freedom of Movement

Dec4

No Freedom of Movement

It is illegal for the North Korean people to leave their country without the regime’s permission, and the regime attempts to restrict the people’s movement even inside their own country. If you wish to travel to another part of the country, you are supposed to have a specific purpose and obtain permission from your work unit. If you do not live in Pyongyang, the showcase capital where most resources are concentrated, you will likely be denied access. The regime has also forcibly relocated hundreds of thousands of North Koreans to less favorable parts of the country as a form of punishment and political persecution.

from the Liberty in North Korea site