Hangul Proclamation Day is a one-of-a-kind holiday. It is the Korean Alphabet Day. Hangul is one of the few writing systems where both the founder and the founding date are known, whereas most languages have just evolved over time. That's a good enough reason to have a national holiday! Prior to the monarch Sejong the Great in the 15th century, only the elite could read and write. Sejong thought his country would prosper more if the common person could read and write as well. The alphabet has roughly the same number as vowels and consonants as ours, and it is easy to learn the sounds; I can read nearly everything I see. Understanding what I am reading is a whole different can of worms.
October 9th, which the holiday falls on every year, the Ts and our family decided to go patriotic and celebrate Hangul Day by checking out South Gyeongsang Province Cultural Treasure No. 99 -- the Historic Park of Geojedo P.O.W. Camp.
The South Koreans still hope for a unified Korea one day. The brochure states, "The historic site where we dream of national unification beyond the severe pain of the Korean war."
The US flag was proudly on display as a participant in the Korean War.
There are a total of 16 flags representing the nations that participated in the war plus the UN flag.
North Korea invaded invaded South Korea by surprise in June 1950. The US and UN forces provided much aid to the South in 1951.
A P.O.W. camp was built around Gohyeon and Suwol in Goeje to accommodate the invaders who were captured during the war. These were mostly North Koreans and Chinese. The camp housed up to 173,000 prisoners out of whom 20,000 were communist Chinese and 300 were women.
South Korean soldiers campaigned in fierce trench warfare defending their beloved country.
When China joined the war, refugees desparately crossed the Daedong River iron bridge, which had been blown up, to seek freedom.
The Avatar POW combines the thrill of a roller coaster dropping up and down while zip lining. Daisy, Susie and I braved it.
Lijee tried his hand a driving a jeep.
The prisoners boarded LST ships to be transferred to the Geojedo P.O.W. Camp.
Abe the aerospace engineer is checking out the airplane.
Meanwhile, Daisy and I are helping the prisoners bathe.
The Daiser is being a team player and helping carry stuff. The men in the background are relieving themselves in the very public toilet.
The indoor kitchen and outdoor cooking area.
I think this is a UH-1 helicopter and an M46 tank behind Eli.
This hall portrayed the surrender of North Korean soldiers.
Goeje is about 1.5 hours away. The coastal views are gorgeous. All of the white things in the water are markers for fishing nets. It's amazing how many there are.
[October 9]
No comments:
Post a Comment