Seodaemun Prison

One of the more interesting aspects of living abroad is trying to find some hidden cultural gems. Sure there are the big ticket touristy attractions many go out and see, but some of my best travel memories have come from just opening up the map and picking a direction and going. To a certain extent thats what happened yesterday.

Over the past few weeks, Ive traveled in Korea alone. Not by choice, but because the activities Ive chosen were, as some have called it, along the lines of thrill seeking. Now I dont think going on a mountain hike or visiting the DMZ all that adventurous, but then again, I like to jump out of airplanes but I digress. So during the past week, my friends and I realized that when they first came to Korea we did many things together, but as of late we went about on different excursions. Each of us missed the camaraderie and connection we had in the beginning and decided to explore Seoul together this weekend. The problem was what exactly to discover As I had recently chosen activities too thrilling for others, I let them plan out the day. This is what we did

Our first stop was Seodaemun Prison. It was a good choice, as it happened to be on my list of places to visit and the price was right at a mere W1500. Unfortunately, most of the materials for the self-guided tour are in Korean, so I missed out on a lot of what was available, but this I will share:

The prison is just over 100 years old, and by that I mean it was opened 21st October 1908. It was constructed by the Japanese to contain political prisoners when they occupied the peninsula. Once World War II ended, the Korean government used the prison until 1987.

The prison itself hasnt been well maintained over the years and is currently undergoing renovation. The Administration Building for the prison currently serves as the museum. It was here that was the most interesting bits of history were presented. Unfortunately they do not permit photography inside, so I cant share some of the more chilling images we saw. Namely, how the Japanese would torture men and women with cat-o-nine-tails, bamboo shoots, and soldering irons. The curators shared this gruesome history by using mannequins and screaming audio tracks. The entire scene was a bit eerie. At its height, the prison held roughly 500 men in women in cells no bigger then my apartment but rather than just a single occupant, there were 8-12 per cell. To get an idea of how bad conditions were, do a little research as to how the Japanese treated American POWs in WWII then imagine it worse.

But in a welcome contrast the prison grounds have been turned into a wonderful place to sit back and watch the changing colors of autumn. Doing so allows one to take in the beauty of the area, while paying respect to those that lost their lives fighting for Koreas independence. In fact, surrounding the prison is Independence Park.

Following this little educational trip, our group went to Jamsil in search of a free cultural performance. But alas, none was to be found. It wasnt for lack of trying either, since we found the venue only to discover no performance taking place (this was despite the Official Seoul City Guide, printed by the Seoul Tourist Authority, stated that there were weekly performances. That was fine, since I was able to scope out a new destination Lotte World. Its the Korean answer to Disneyland, but on a smaller scale and with out as many thrills as Everland.

Again, I digress. Those trips will have to wait for another weekend. Maybe next weekend.

So to round out our afternoon, we walked down to the Han River and hopped on the ferry for a delightful W11000 cruise. It took maybe an hour to float up and down the river. It was a great way to see Seoul from a new perspective. But more important it gave us a fantastic sunset.

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• korea
• travel
• log
• seodaemun
• prison
• han
• river
• ferry
• cruise

[IAGuy06]

Very interesting. I find it incredible what people can do to one another sometimes.

Jumping out of planes? I've wanted to do that for a while. Have a couple of things to work out first.

Thanks Steve.

[qiranger]

Yeah... It's quite sad. Humans can be downright mean.

Skydiving for the win!

[13thDimension]

13 ratings

[qiranger]

;-)

[deck2233]

Great video. Seodaemun Prison really was an eye opener for myself. I had no idea the terrible things that the Japanese did to the people involved in the Korean Indepence movement.

[wowwowthere]

not only do they deny their war crimes done in korea, but china philippines, and many parts of asia.even japanese gov. refuses to teach their own ppl about the real history. they write distorted history. sad their own ppl dont even know about their own past.. they were the NATZIs of asia. n they were actually natzi's allies, its not worldwidely known because these incidents didnt affect the "caucasian" population just asian. which i find annoying.

[MakeupGeekAddict]

@qiranger back in the romanian times.. they had a device called iron maiden it was a coffin shaped into a human body and they put the body in and had spikes in it

[ktmae]

"sew-dae-moon"

[isah71]

this show stinx!

[qiranger]

Gyeongbok Palace.

[hunter3333333]

Will be checking out Seodaemun Prison in January next year qiranger any other places you recommend as a must see?

[SpyderR0de0]

Is the stand up coffin like the iron maiden?

[dudadeda1234]

You look a bit like Star Trek character Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

[dudadeda1234]

I should be doing what you are doing in Korea right now. I somehow managed to drift and settle down in Europe. I'll be there some day soon I hope.

Thanks.

[fehquig]

A very fascinating history...

[dorotwhy]

Sad to hear how some humans treat other humans. This is the kind of "history lesson" that draws my interest. Not because of the gory facts, but because it isn't laden with names, dates, etc. I'm not much of a history buff but you made it interesting. (Although, I'm saddened by the atrocities).