It is not often you have porn actresses contributing to an event next door to an elementary school, but that is what is happening in Suwon. However, if the kids cannot see what is going on inside the building during the event, is this really a big deal?:
Members of Suwon Women’s Network, comprised of seven women’s groups, hold a press conference in front of Suwon Station Cultural Plaza, March 12, urging the cancellation of the adult festival “2024 K-XF The Fashion.”
A controversial adult-themed event scheduled to be held in Suwon next month is drawing strong opposition, especially due to its proximity to an elementary school that is just 50 meters away.
The upcoming “2024 K-XF The Fashion ” is scheduled to be held April 20-21 at Suwon Messe in Gwonseon District of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and is expected to attract around 10,000 visitors, according to organizers.
The event will feature guest appearances from popular Japanese adult film actresses, lingerie fashion shows, and more, marking a significant increase from its predecessor in Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, last December.
Organizers defend the event’s legality and the importance of open discussions on sex in society. After reviewing relevant laws, Suwon City officials found no legal basis to prohibit the event but have requested ID checks to prevent minors from entering and informed local schools.
Another U.S. Soldier has self selected himself out of continued service it looks like:
An American soldier suspected of assaulting a South Korean bus driver was arrested over the weekend by police in Suwon city, according to a police official.
Police allege that a junior enlisted soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys boarded a tourist bus around 6:40 a.m. Sunday and “made a commotion” by yelling, a spokesman for the Suwon Seobu police station told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.
South Korean law enforcement officials customarily speak to the media on the condition of anonymity and do not publicly identify criminal suspects until trial. Suwon is roughly 20 miles north of Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.
The bus driver was pushed to the ground while attempting to restrain the soldier, the spokesman said. The driver notified police, who apprehended the soldier at a convenience store about 330 yards from the bus.
The bus driver and police officers at the scene said they smelled alcohol on the soldier’s breath, the spokesman said. Police will review security camera footage from the bus and plan to interview the soldier at a later date.
Clear sky at lastA man flies a kite under the clear, azure sky near Changryongmun, one of the gates of Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, just south of Seoul, on March 7, 2019. It was the first clean air in nearly a week after thick fine dust covered South Korea at its worst level and for the longest period on record. (Yonhap)
A ROK Drop favorite, Robert Neff has an interesting article with historical pictures of Suwon. It is hard to believe that just about a hundred years ago that Suwon looked like this:
Paldal Gate in Suwon, circa 1900-1920.
Twice, between early October and November 1884, George C. Foulk, an American naval ensign attached to the American legation in Seoul, traveled to Suwon.
The first time was in an open chair carried by two Korean coolies ― or servants ― and the second was part of his larger exposition to explore the southern half of the Korean Peninsula.
The road between Seoul and Suwon appears to have been kept in good repair and the ever-critical Foulk apparently even complimented the scenery along his path:
“The last four miles of road before Suwon were lined with picturesque old pines and numerous memorial stones. At one place was a resting place and pleasure resort for the King by a small lotus pond.”
U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert (C), escorted by Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young (R), looks around the Hwaseong Haenggung Palace in Suwon, west of Seoul, on April 29, 2016. The palace is part of Hwaseong Fortress, which was designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1997. King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), built the fortress in memory of his late father Sado. (Yonhap)
Participants warm up ahead of a multicultural walking contest in Hwaseong Haenggung, a palace in Suwon, south of Seoul, on Sept. 6, 2015. The contest was co-hosted by South Korea’s key newswire service, Yonhap News Agency, and the Suwon municipal government, for the first time this year. (Yonhap)
If you are a woman living in Suwon you might want to be a little extra careful, this is a lot women missing in just two years:
Over the past two years, 159 women aged 18 or older have been reported missing in Suwon, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said Thursday.
Suwon is the scene of last month’s gruesome “torso murder” in Paldal-gu, in which a Korean-Chinese illegal alien Park Chun-bong killed his Korean-Chinese ex-girlfriend and discarded her body parts in four separate places. Ten women, five each in 2012 and 2013 living in Paldal-gu were reported missing, police said.
In 2012, another Korean-Chinese, Oh Won-choon, kidnapped and killed a 23-year-old woman and cut the body into more than 300 pieces. Oh was jailed for life last year.
Police plan to expand their investigations based on a possible link between the missing women and Park, who was arrested on Dec. 15.
Police said they have designated some districts in Suwon where there are large foreign communities as “vulnerable areas,” and will increase patrols and security measure. [Korea Times]
The Suwon Fortress also known as the Hwaseong Fortress is a must see tourist site for anyone visiting Korea. The impressive fortress walls surround the entire old city of Suwon and are registered UNESCO World Heritage site. The fortress is not only impressive to look at but also features an interesting history.
The idea to build the fortress was first conceived by the Korea’s King Jeongjo (1776-1800). This period of Korean history featured much intrigue within the ruling yangban class which ultimately caused King Jeongjo’s father to be murdered. King Jeongjo felt that creating a new, well fortified capitol would strengthen the monarchy and dillute the power of the yangban class. He chose the city of Suwon just south of Seoul to be his new capitol. He moved the tomb of his father to Suwon and began construction of his great fortress in 1794.
There are a variety of old cannons located along the wall.
The fortress was designed by Jeong Yakyong (1762-1836) who was known nationally as one of Korea’s greatest scholars. He envisioned a fortress that balanced the needs of commerce, the welfare of the people, and military defense. The work force he employed to build the fortress was quite extensive. 642 masons, 335 carpenters, 295 plasterers and 11,820 painters and tilers were used. In total an average of 70,000 laborers were used to work on the fortress every year until completion. Jeong also did something that was unusual for this period, he actually payed his workers for their work instead of conscripting forced laborers to build the fortress.
Large rocks and bricks harden the outside portion of the wall and the interior side of the wall is composed of packed dirt.
When construction was completed, the walls averaged a height of nine meters and featured many watch towers, cannons, secret gates, and other fortifications. The total length of the walls is 5 kilometers long. The fortress was the first construction project in Korea to use advanced technology such as cranes to move dirt and blocks into place. It took a total of over 2 years to build the fortress.
Beautiful Korean artwork.
Over the years more improvements were made to the fortress but even these great walls couldn’t save Korea from the bickering and ineffective leadership of the yangban class that would ultimately lead to the annexation of Korea by Japan nearly a hundred years later. Due to the aftermath of the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, the walls were heavily damaged. In the 1970’s the Korean government decided to restore the walls to their past glory.
The outer wall that sticks out like a claw around the main entrance gate allows defenders to attack anyone trying to breach the gate from their rear.
Today looking at this great fortress one cannot help but imagine the amount of work that went into creating such a massive project. Though the walls never saw any great climatic battles, they still are impressive to see and good way to spend an afternoon in Korea. To walk around the fortress will take approximately 4 hours. The walk up Paldal mountain is steep so expect to get a good amount of exercise if you choose to walk up the mountain. From the top of Paldal mountain you can get a bird’s eye view of Suwon and the surrounding area.
Path up Paldal Hill.
Secret entrance along the wall.
View of Suwon
My only complaint about the area, if you can call it that, was that I think the city of Suwon can do more with this park. IMHO I think the city should try to give incentives to home owners adjacent to the wall in old Suwon to fix up their houses to look more aesthetic and dare I say more traditionally Korean instead of the many drab buildings adjacent to the fortress now. If the city inside the walls is known as the old city of Suwon shouldn’t it look that way?
Watchtower on top of Paldal Hill.
However, as I said before make sure you check out the Suwon Fortress at least once while here in Korea. The crowds amazingly enough are not very large even on weekends. Reaching Suwon is easy as well; just take the Seoul city subway to Suwon Station and then have a taxi take you to the fortress. It’s that easy. Now getting up mountain Paldal and around the entire fortress, that’s a different story.
