Kenneth E. Harker
2008 Korea - Seoul

We spent five days in Seoul on our trip. Seoul is the capital city of South Korea, and one of the largest cities in the world. Located on the Han River in the northwest part of South Korea, Seoul was founded around 18 B.C., and today over 10 million people live in the city. Seoul was the host city of the 1998 Summer Olympic Games. Many of these photos were taken on a late Sunday morning walk through downtown Seoul with my uncle Tom on our way between the Jogyesa Temple and the Deoksugung palace in downtown Seoul.

These photos are copyright © 2008 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	Samsung Jongno Tower, near our hotel. This is a major landmark building in Seoul, and houses part of Samsung's financial securities business.
	The Jonggak subway station was one of the two subway stops closest to our hotel. There was a small shopping mall inside the subway station that included several restaurants and a Bandi & Luni's Bookstore. In a large underground atrium next to the bookstore, this group of classical musicians was entertaining about forty observers.
	The street scene in Myeongdong on a Saturday afternoon. Myeongdong is a popular shopping district with some very upscale retail outlets. We ate lunch there at a restaurant called the Nutrition Centre that specialized in a dish called samgyetang, a whole roasted chicken stuff with rice and ginseng and served in a soup. Summer is not really the traditional time of year to consume samgyetang, but it was a dish we wanted to try, as it is one that we cannot get in the Korean restaurants at home.
	A family dinner at an upscale buffet restaurant in the shopping mall at Lotte World. From left to right: Ken, Jen, Kwan Ik, Tom, Kwan Chul.
	The building on the left is the United States Embassy. The embassy used to occupy both buildings, but now needs only one. The embassy is near Sejongno, a very large boulevard that includes the Seoul City Hall and other government buildings, and is a popular location for public demonstrations and protests.
	The statue of Admiral Yi Sun Sin. Admiral Yi is perhaps the greatest military hero of Korea. His navies were the first in Asia to use armored warships. Called Turtle Ships, they fought in battles against the Japanese from 1592 to 1598. Admiral Yi was killed in action in 1598 at the Battle of Noryang Point. Another famous statue of the admiral is in the city of Busan, in southern Korea.
	A traditional Korean building on Sejongno, surrounded by modern office buildings.
	Fountains at the start of the Cheonggyecheon river walk. Cheonggyecheon is a creek that flows from west to east through the older part of downtown Seoul, and was for many years covered over with roads and other development. Uncovering the creek and developing it as a recreation destination has been a major public works project for the city.
	A public art sculpture near the west end of the Cheonggyecheon river walk. The scaffolding in the background was part of a Slow Food Festival that was to be held in a small park there the following day.
	Although Cheonggyecheon is a natural creek, the city can pump water into it from the Han River to keep it at a constant level.
	Cheonggyecheon, near Dongdaemun, about two kilometers to the east from where the river walk begins. Supposedly, this is a very pleasant walk in the evenings. On a very hot summer afternoon, however, shade was conspicuously absent.
	A large construction site near Dongdaemun. This used to be a soccer stadium. I don't know what it is going to be developed into. The majority of the high-rise buildings in this photograph are apartments. Seoul is full of construction projects, with lots of tall construction cranes throughout the city.
	We walked by the Seoul Museum of Art on the way to lunch and a visit to Deoksugung. The museum exhibits mostly focused on foreign art, rather than Korean art. Apparently, we had missed a travelling exhibit of Picasso originals that had been there earlier in the summer.
	The light poles in front of the Seoul Museum of Art all had whimsical sculptures of human figures on top of them. This figure is talking on a cell phone.
	I could not decide if this light pole person was dancing or playing basketball.
	This light pole person is clearly looking for something.
	This old wall in Jeongdong was covered in a chalk drawing of flowers. Jeongdong is one of the older neighborhoods in central Seoul and is the home to several prestigious, upper-class schools and the Seoul Anglican Cathedral. We ate lunch in Jeongdong at a restaurant that specialized in donkas, a style of fried pork cutlet (called tonkatsu in Japanese).
	Some public art in front of the Heungkuk Finance Group building in downtown Seoul. The arm with the hammer slowly moved up and down.
	The Western Ice Bar Texas, near Seoul Plaza in downtown Seoul. We did not cross the street to check it out in person. An "ice bar" in Korea is a bar that specializes in cocktails.