Good fences(,24-hour surveillance, soldiers and government propaganda) make good neigbours.

This weekend I visited the DMZ-the DeMilitarized Zone. To say that it is anything more than an utter pathetic demonstration of the lowest form of humanity would be a compliment. I was clearly not impressed with the entire trip. Despite being an exceptionally lucrative business for both the South Korean and American government (and possibly the North Korean government too), the "huge" divide amongst supposed blood brothers is exploited and entrenched beyond measure! The imaginary 38th parallel line demarcating the two areas reminded me of a poem from High School-something Mr Jelley once taught us-that to this day I have never witnessed as blatantly and intentionally as this. Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" is a far more eloquent account of the DMZ than I will ever be able to write!

Here are a few selected lines:

He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
"Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down."

These last two lines- are interesting especially when considering the DMZ- as one would expect there to be hatred towards the DMZ- a resentment and an outcry. But with time passing, the whitepickets spanning every 200m along the "wall" serve as a symbol of complacency and no longer a desire for looming unitedness. There was an eerieness about the DMZ, with soldiers staring at their reflections(minus the slight apparel difference) in the Joint Security Area only a mere 10-20metres away ready to open fire if any slight provocation should allow for it. And then, to be observing "the war" as first hand as us tourists did-felt like we were in nothing less than a lion cage in a zoo with an American Soldier barking orders at us as to protect us from the ferocious beasts that look nothing more daunting than my grade 4 boys only a little more grown up and wearing aviators.


Am I cycnical about this? YES. Why I had to ask myself? Because the entire notion of war baffles me: it inflicts innocent people's lives, divides families, creates imaginary boundaries and at the end of the day makes money out of it-the cheek!

As I stared out into the Alpine-post-card-like mountains of North Korea, I couldn't help but think that I my 70 US$ would have been far more beneficial to a family in North Korea suffering in this unbearable cold.

Such is life!

A mime festival - a metaphor for South Korea?

After North Korea has been found guilty of sinking the South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors, President Lee Myung-bak has responded fiercely. He made a statement on Monday in which he has denied any trade to North Korea, as well as disallowed North Korean ships from passing South Korean waters as punishment. His rather bold statements endorsed by the States, seems to have created much tension, resulting in North Korea declaring a "full out war" if South Korea makes any further moves. Soldiers are on guard and ready to fight! I am living in a war ZONE!!!

Check out this site for more details: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20100524/AS.SKorea.Ship.Sinks/

I think the most interesting side of this tale is indeed CHINA, which as this article suggests is "on the fence" - Check it out:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/asia/24china.html

One would think people in South Korea and Gangwon-do particularly might be in some kind of fear or at least minor worry about the situaion, but NOPE, not at all! Am I senial that I am a little afraid, that a country 40miles away has nuclear weapons to blow us all up in a matter of seconds?!?

Well, in Chuncheon-my little city- is to be blunt: unphased! I woke this morning to a loud speaker booming a tune of "Mary had a little lamb" and Frank Sinatra's " I did it my way" from the main intersection, as the local elections (or eRections, as my one teacher informed me) is underway! Women are hired for R300 a day to stand on the side of the road and dance-literally dance with actual moves to such above said songs for a specific politician. I could not help bursting out laughing as I crossed the road to my bus this morning-too classic! Added to that, the Annual Mime Festival is in full swing this week. We (Ashley, Sam & myself) watched a side walk fire exhibition and a dance-off, mime rendition, in which we got roped into joining-dancing like clowns. As foreigners, we also got randomly interviewed by a group of Middle School students about the currency of Korea and the culture behind it-nothing out of the ordinary! Then we went into a kitsch photo room where couples and friends were taking absurd photies and adding smilies and stars and hearts to create an even faker atmosphere of pure bliss. As sheep, we joined in and posed ridiculously for a count-down timer camera!

Life seems so peachy, so gregarious and so completely peaceful, yet we are in the midst of a "full out war". Referring to my title- I question whether this country I am living in has turned a blind eye to the current critical situation or rather placed a wonderful, colourful mask to hide the real issues with North Korea: the possible decline in the economy with any kind of reunification in the future or the broken families that have still not met after all these years since the Korean war or the selfishness of a nation that has deservedly prospered through shear hard work, but done so in such a bubble that it is oblivious to real world issues, such as starvation and disease just across the border. I do realise the counter-argument of the older generation that still have recollections of the Korean war in their not so distant memories and rather like to forget about it. I get that-repression is a successful coping mechanism in doing that. However, I do feel that the government has got to do some removing of masks and open discussions about the North Korean issue, otherwise the "Korean Company" (as my one teacher put it) will continue to make money, with a nation of "employees" (generally younger ones) that are wealthy, but oh so disillusioned.

Despite a relatively great day playing an auction game with my kids, it is tinged with a rather sweet and sour taste of how I am feeling right now about this whole situation! SO for the meantime, I will just pray to a higher power that we are not bombed in the night and I will continue to enjoy the Mime festival this week! Oh- and as an activist in my small way-I am doing a lesson with my after-school class about Politics and what they would do as president for the day!

Bisous

JO