I visited Dongdaemun Market in ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’07, ’10, and ’14. Every time it was like going to a different place. I kinda miss the ’93 version…
Myeongdong and Namdaemun changed too; but not as drastically…
@setnaffa – I know what you mean. My time in Korea spanned (in tours) 83-85, 88-92, and 95-00. I still remember stepping off the plane in Osan (at that time is was a chartered Northwest Airlines flight) and getting a whiff of the myriad smells, kimchi mixed with chicken shit and hog manure (springtime planting and winter kimchi harvesting). At that time, Osan was still a very rural place. At that time, cars were still a luxury item for most Koreans so I saw many one-eyed buffaloes and the original two-eyed variety plying the roads. A much different situation today.
My second tour the 88 Seoul Olympics were gearing up. That was when Korea stepped onto the world stage and did it with very little (as I remember) problems. That tour, many changes occurred as Korea hit the tech boom. Cars were more prevalent with the wealth starting to spread beyond the CEO’s of the chaebols.
Last tour in Korea it was a totally transformed place and now, I wouldn’t even know my way around Seoul, where I used to travel extensively. For me, the biggest changes in Korea have come in the social and cultural realms. Wealth and privilege transformed the rank and file Korean from a welcoming guest to a tolerating sycophant of Western culture, particularly American culture.
As you stated at the end of your posting, “I guess that’s just part of life…”
setnaffa
4 years ago
Trying to keep up with the Japanese? Or serious about regional security?
Conservatives over take ruling party in the polls. Finally. All it took was Commie Moon tanking the economy and making the rich get richer via housing prices.
I visited Dongdaemun Market in ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’07, ’10, and ’14. Every time it was like going to a different place. I kinda miss the ’93 version…
Myeongdong and Namdaemun changed too; but not as drastically…
I guess that’s just part of life…
@setnaffa – I know what you mean. My time in Korea spanned (in tours) 83-85, 88-92, and 95-00. I still remember stepping off the plane in Osan (at that time is was a chartered Northwest Airlines flight) and getting a whiff of the myriad smells, kimchi mixed with chicken shit and hog manure (springtime planting and winter kimchi harvesting). At that time, Osan was still a very rural place. At that time, cars were still a luxury item for most Koreans so I saw many one-eyed buffaloes and the original two-eyed variety plying the roads. A much different situation today.
My second tour the 88 Seoul Olympics were gearing up. That was when Korea stepped onto the world stage and did it with very little (as I remember) problems. That tour, many changes occurred as Korea hit the tech boom. Cars were more prevalent with the wealth starting to spread beyond the CEO’s of the chaebols.
Last tour in Korea it was a totally transformed place and now, I wouldn’t even know my way around Seoul, where I used to travel extensively. For me, the biggest changes in Korea have come in the social and cultural realms. Wealth and privilege transformed the rank and file Korean from a welcoming guest to a tolerating sycophant of Western culture, particularly American culture.
As you stated at the end of your posting, “I guess that’s just part of life…”
Trying to keep up with the Japanese? Or serious about regional security?
https://news.usni.org/2020/08/11/south-korea-plans-to-build-f-35b-lighting-aircraft-carrier
Need more millennials like this guy and odds on next favorite to be arrested for speaking the truth about Commie Moon.
http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=294317
Conservatives over take ruling party in the polls. Finally. All it took was Commie Moon tanking the economy and making the rich get richer via housing prices.
http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=294348