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Seoul Quotes

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Seoul Quotes

“The North Korean capital, Pyongyang, is a city consecrated to the worship of a father-son dynasty. (I came to think of them, with their nuclear-family implications, as 'Fat Man and Little Boy.') And a river runs through it. And on this river, the Taedong River, is moored the only American naval vessel in captivity. It was in January 1968 that the U.S.S. Pueblo strayed into North Korean waters, and was boarded and captured. One sailor was killed; the rest were held for nearly a year before being released. I looked over the spy ship, its radio antennae and surveillance equipment still intact, and found photographs of the captain and crew with their hands on their heads in gestures of abject surrender. Copies of their groveling 'confessions,' written in tremulous script, were also on show. So was a humiliating document from the United States government, admitting wrongdoing in the penetration of North Korean waters and petitioning the 'D.P.R.K.' (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) for 'lenience.' Kim Il Sung ('Fat Man') was eventually lenient about the men, but not about the ship. Madeleine Albright didn't ask to see the vessel on her visit last October, during which she described the gruesome, depopulated vistas of Pyongyang as 'beautiful.' As I got back onto the wharf, I noticed a refreshment cart, staffed by two women under a frayed umbrella. It didn't look like much—one of its three wheels was missing and a piece of brick was propping it up—but it was the only such cart I'd see. What toothsome local snacks might the ladies be offering? The choices turned out to be slices of dry bread and cups of warm water. Nor did Madeleine Albright visit the absurdly misnamed 'Demilitarized Zone,' one of the most heavily militarized strips of land on earth. Across the waist of the Korean peninsula lies a wasteland, roughly following the 38th parallel, and packed with a titanic concentration of potential violence. It is four kilometers wide (I have now looked apprehensively at it from both sides) and very near to the capital cities of both North and South. On the day I spent on the northern side, I met a group of aging Chinese veterans, all from Szechuan, touring the old battlefields and reliving a war they helped North Korea nearly win (China sacrificed perhaps a million soldiers in that campaign, including Mao Anying, son of Mao himself). Across the frontier are 37,000 United States soldiers. Their arsenal, which has included undeclared nuclear weapons, is the reason given by Washington for its refusal to sign the land-mines treaty. In August 1976, U.S. officers entered the neutral zone to trim a tree that was obscuring the view of an observation post. A posse of North Koreans came after them, and one, seizing the ax with which the trimming was to be done, hacked two U.S. servicemen to death with it. I visited the ax also; it's proudly displayed in a glass case on the North Korean side.”

WarPoliticsUnited StatesChinaNuclear WeaponsTotalitarianismNorth KoreaWashington Dc1968South KoreaKorean War1976United States ArmyMao Zedong20002001Kim Jong IlSeoulKim Il SungPyongyangMadeleine AlbrightChinese PeopleAxe Murder IncidentKorean Demilitarized ZoneLand MinesSichuanKorean PeninsulaOttawa TreatyTaedong RiverUnited States And WmdUss Pueblo Ager 2
Book:Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays
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“We visited Gwangjang Market in one of Seoul's oldest neighborhoods, squeezing past crowds of people threading through its covered alleys, a natural maze spontaneously joined and splintered over a century of accretion. We passed busy ajummas in aprons and rubber kitchen gloves tossing knife-cut noodles in colossal, bubbling pots for kalguksu, grabbing fistfuls of colorful namul from overbrimming bowls for bibimbap, standing over gurgling pools of hot oil, armed with metal spatulas in either hand, flipping the crispy sides of stone-milled soybean pancakes. Metal containers full of jeotgal, salt-fermented seafood banchan, affectionally known as rice thieves, because their intense, salty flavor cries out for starchy, neutral balance; raw, pregnant crabs, floating belly up in soy sauce to show off the unctuous roe protruding out from beneath their shells; millions of minuscule peach-colored krill used for making kimchi or finishing hot soup with rice; and my family's favorite, crimson sacks of pollack roe smothered in gochugaru, myeongnanjeot.”

SeafoodSoy SauceSeoulKorean CuisineKimchiFermented FoodsFood Market
Book:Crying in H Mart
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“On our final night in Seoul, Nami and Emo Boo took us to Samwon Garden, a fancy barbecue spot in Apgujeong, a neighborhood my mom once described as the Beverly Hills of Seoul. We entered through the beautiful courtyard garden, its two man-made waterfalls flowing under rustic stone bridges and feeding the koi pond. Inside the dining room were heavy stone-top tables, each equipped with a hardwood charcoal grill. Nami slipped the waitress twenty thousand won, and our table quickly filled with the most exquisite banchan. Sweet pumpkin salad, gelatinous mung-bean jelly topped with sesame seeds and scallions, steamed egg custard, delicate bowls of nabak kimchi, wilted cabbage and radish in salty, rose-colored water. We finished the meal with naengmyeon, cold noodles you could order bibim, mixed with gochujang, or mul, served in a cold beef broth.”

RestaurantSide DishSeoulKorean Cuisine
Book:Crying in H Mart
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“Noryangjin is a wholesale market where you can choose live fish and seafood from the tanks of different vendors and have them sent up to be prepared in a number of cooking styles at restaurants upstairs. My mother and I were with her two sisters, Nami and Eunmi, and they had picked out pounds of abalone, scallops, sea cucumber, amberjack, octopus, and king crab to eat raw and boiled in spicy soups. Upstairs, our table filled immediately with banchan dotting around the butane burner for our stew. The first dish to arrive was sannakji---live long-armed octopus. A plate full of gray-and-white tentacles wriggled before me, freshly severed from their head, every suction cup still pulsing.”

SeafoodOctopusRaw FoodSeoul
Book:Crying in H Mart
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“I smiled as I stood by the curb. 4:20 in the morning. But you know what? I wanted to go somewhere, but not home. Only one place I could think of: Itaewon. Like destiny, an orange cab slowed down in front of me. I climbed in and yelled, "Hey Mister, Itaewon Fire Station." Had the streetlamps and neon signs always been this spectacularly bright? Why was Seoul so beautiful all of a sudden? Everything that was once nothing seemed special and amazing somehow. And wouldn't you know it, the taxi fare still was more than 10,000 won, even when the surcharge period was over. Only 20,000 won left on this card, how was I going to get home later? Eh, whatever. I'd survive. The traffic began getting bad at Hannam-dong. I hopped out in front of the CJ Building and ran the rest of the way to G—.”

LoveKoreaGlbtSeoul
Book:Love in the Big City
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“How do I file a claim with Spirit Airlines? Spirit Airlines offers several ways to change the name on your ticket. You can make changes through their official website, by contacting customer support, or by working with a flight expert. For assistance, you can call 1-855-231-0911, or 1-855-231-0911,. Remember to review Spirit Airlines' terms and conditions and have the required documentation ready. How much does Spirit charge for name change? Name changes within 24 hours of booking incur a $75 fee. After 24 hours, and up to two hours before scheduled departure call 1-855-231-0911, the fee increases to $200, plus any fare difference. Contact 1-855-231-0911 for assistance with name changes. Can you transfer a Spirit ticket to someone else's name? It's not possible to transfer a Spirit flight ticket to another person. Spirit generally doesn't allow name changes on tickets at 1-855-231-0911, though minor spelling corrections might be possible. If you need assistance, you can contact Spirit at 1-855-231-0911. Does Spirit allow name changes on tickets? You can change the name on your Spirit Airlines flight ticket, but there are specific guidelines at 1-855-231-0911. For assistance with name changes or minor corrections like typos or middle name updates, please contact Spirit Airlines directly at 1-855-231-0911 US or 1-855-231-0911 UK. Is it possible to change date in Spirit? Delta allows passengers to modify or reschedule their travel date up to one hour before departure. For assistance, contact a flight expert at 1-855-231-0911 or 1-855-231-0911 OTA for prompt support. How do you get your e-ticket from Spirit? Delta sends e-tickets to the email address you provided during booking. Check your inbox and spam folder at 1-855-231-0911. If you still can't find it, contact Spirit's customer support at 1-855-231-0911 OTA USA for assistance. Does Expedia allow name”

Seoul
Book:ERNOLD CAUSSIN
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