By The Korean scholar Andrei Lankov has a nice article in the Korea Times about the life of Korean War refugees in the city of Busan. Make sure to read the whole thing, but from the refugee experience of the Korean this is what began the slicky boy and camp town culture that persists in Korea to this day:
People stole the cargo from passing trains, and the bravest risked their life in daring raids at the U.N. military facilities — with pieces of coal or good metal being the major prizes. This was not easy, since the guards shot to kill and sometimes they did not miss. As one would expect, prostitution flourished in this environment, too. [Korea Times]
It is the sad reality. No mistake...
11:31 am on February 16th, 2010 1
Hard to imagine in todays world.
4:36 pm on February 16th, 2010 2
We all saw the suffering/poverty/helplessness of people of Haiti. And to think that even up until around 1960, that's what South Korea was. One of the POOREST nations on the planet. Haiti of today is what S Korea was at end of Korean war in 1953, literally and figuratively.
One must give credit where it's due.
One funny thing I read last year. S Korean newspaper carried a small story of a group of Americans from the South (Georgia and neighboring states I think) that visited S Korea, I believe with Hyundai motor's sponsorship (?). The piece included a comment by one of the teenagers in the group, who expressed his shock of how S Korea was so developed when his only image of S Korea was one formed by watching videos of Korean war (maybe MASH?). I guess he was saying it thinking it would make S Koreans feel better.
One netizen who commented on the story said something to the effect, "well it's great that we've improved our lot and all. But what is HIS problem? Can you be that ignorant?"
11:22 am on February 17th, 2010 3
Not a problem. You are talking about a teenager who probobly did learn about Korea through MASH. Can he be so "ignorant"? Sure. How many Koreans can find Oklahoma on a map, much less relate to the dust bowl of the 1930s. Bet their opinions are based on Al Capone (as they were at one time) and other American movies as well. It is a media that made the US famous. Much less so the other way around.
Now please, tell me about Sri Lanka, bet most Sri Lankins know where the US is, but few in the US know where it is.