Category: Travel

Lost in Gwangju/Honam

Redevelopment and Its Discontents in Numun-dong

Gwangju News

Numun-dong, located directly across the Gwangju Stream from Yangdong Market, is one of the city’s more variegated areas and a stellar example of how urban planners used to prioritize density differently through jumbles of mixed-use, low-rise structures. Even as it is now midway through the compensation process, the area is still teaming with grizzled locals and faded mom-and-pop shops that spill out onto the streets between rows of tightly parked cars. It even has a few garish love motels crowned with fake castle turrets and Russian onion domes, though these are mostly abandoned now.

Around Korea

On the Frontline: The DMZ

Gwangju News

A trip to the DMZ is a surreal one. It is noted for being one of the most volatile regions in the world but is, simultaneously, a popular tourist attraction. Personally, I cannot think of many other places in the world that have such knife-edge tensions but can still be visited by ordinary civilians. This combination alone makes the whole experience truly unique and worth the visit.

Around Korea

How to Rescue a Wet Weekend in Busan

Gwangju News

After a quick regroup and Google search over breakfast and a strong coffee, I discovered my hotel was only a short walk away from Spa Land, one of Busan’s largest premier spas. This massive spa complex, located in Shinsegae Department Store, has 23 different types of luxury baths, all using 100% hot spring water pumped from 1,000 meters underground, as well as steam rooms, an outdoor foot spa, barbers, nail salon, restaurant, game room, and pretty much anything else you could possibly want.

Lost in Gwangju/Honam

Odds and (Dead) Ends: Embracing Lowered Expectations

Gwangju News

The long, sandy shore along the northwest coast of Imja-do recently stunned me when I discovered that, even at low tide, the beaches had excellent sand as far as the eye could see.

Around Korea

Yŏch’ŏn 1996: Returning to My Vanishing Korean Hometown

Gwangju News

Korea was a developing country back then – chaotic, construction everywhere, full of bad smells. Korean people were, if anything, kinder and more welcoming to strangers back then. Culturally, it felt geekier than today; I recall a fad at the time being guys wearing their glasses or sunglasses on the back of their heads, for whatever reason. We used to crack up watching “Icing,” a soap opera about a Korean hockey team.

Lost in Gwangju/Honam

Notes from the Punishment Room

Gwangju News

For this issue of Lost in Gwangju, I’ve spent a great deal of my recent free time doing an amateur corpus analysis of messages I found scrawled on the walls of a dozen or so “punishment rooms” (징벌실) within the now-shuttered Gwangju Prison in Munheung-dong. There’s nothing academic about my analysis, and my methodology is spotty, but I think the messages I’ve found nevertheless hold deep value: They lay bare many of the thoughts and emotions that the human spirit conjures up while locked away in a solitary cage.  

From Abroad

Travel Blog: Touring the Heart of Europe, Part 2 – Wallonia

Gwangju News

Crossing the language barrier over to French-speaking Wallonia, we end up at the capital of Wallonia, a city called Namur.

Around Korea

From Seaside to Mountainside – Sokcho and Seoraksan

Gwangju News

Located in the northeastern part of Gangwon Province, Sokcho is so far north that it was briefly under the control of North Korea after World War II , before finally changing hands following the Korean Armistice Agreement. These days, it is a popular getaway for those wanting to swap the stifling, summer streets of Seoul for the cool sea breeze of the coast.