Armies and Parties

Seoul is a very cool and accessible city.  It has to be… it’s big.  The transport system is top notch with wifi and full mobile reception on all the subway systems (as in all Korean cities, like Busan too).  The result is a bunch of people talking to each other while on public transport.  This is a stark contrast in Japan where just hearing your phone ring in your pocket is an embarrassing no-no.

On our first day in Seoul we went to the DMZ –DeMilitarized Zone.  I learned a lot of interesting things from our very informative guide:

• Most striking is the DMZ is still in effect a war zone
• Although the number of South Koreans far outnumbers the Norther Koreans they can't just  invade because of the threat nuclear weapons.  Nobody knows just how crazy Kim Jong Il just is.  And Seoul, with its massive population of civilians, is very close to the DMZ.
• The Americans were (and still are) happy keeping a buffer between its ally and communist China.
• Most South Koreans do want to reunite with North Korea.  But they are weary after considering what the social costs to their own country might be.
• I’m stupid for not taking more pictures, but it was a cloudy day.

In the evening we had a good seafood meal, got very drunk on soju and hit a hit-up a club.

We must have looked like crap on the underground on the way home!