Articles by mgedwards

A few firsts in Seoul

As I mentioned in earlier blog entries, I haven’t seen much of Seoul yet.  This morning I had the pleasure of driving past two of Seoul’s most famous monuments, Seoul Station and Namdaemun (남대문).  Seoul Station is Seoul’s central railway station.  Built in 1925, has served as Seoul’s rail hub for 80 years.  It is still a fully functional rail hub.  The building’s structure is a classy design that reflects the architecture style of that period.  It is one of the few remaining structures built by the Japanese during the colonial period.  I also saw Namdaemun (literally "South Gate"), the former southern gate of the City of Seoul.  The wall that once surrounded the city was dismantled by the Japanese during occupation, and only a few of the prominent gates remain.  Namdaemun is perhaps the most famous.  It is especially well-known for its large open market situated just to the west of the gate.  The gate has been beautifully restored.  Because it sits on an earthen island in the middle of one of Seoul’s main traffic arterials, Namdaemun reminds me of an Asian version of the Arc du Triomphe in Paris (or vice-versa).  The ancient gate in the middle of modern Seoul serves as a reminder of the city’s pre-modern history.  Although I was only able to view Seoul Station and Namdaemun from a car window, I enjoyed seeing them for the first time.  I read about them often while learning the Korean language, and now I finally know what they look like firsthand.  I want to revisit them as soon as I can as a local tourist.

I also encountered my first demonstration (데모) today in Seoul.  It is well-known that demonstrations are common in Seoul, especially near the U.S. Embassy.  This is the first one I have seen, and it was very orderly.  Police outnumbered the number of protesters, and the protesters marched peacefully, waved colorful banners, and chanted with bullhorns.  Traffic was snarled near downtown, but otherwise the protest passed without incidence.  A Korean friend mentioned that these protesters were primarily street vendors protesting recent changes in the law on how they can conduct business.  I don’t know much more than that.  I observed the protest with curiosity while I was stuck in traffic.  It was not an anti-American protest, as I feared it would be.  Local police patrol vigilently in large numbers at key points in the city everyday.  It’s a strange feeling wearing a suit and overcoat and walking past an armored vehicle with a squadron of police in riot gear armed with shields and batons.  It’s one of the surreal aspects of Korea I’ve encountered since I arrived.

The Media and BTK

The U.S. media has focused its much of its attention lately on two news stories, the Michael Jackson trial and the arrest of a suspect in the BTK serial killer case.  Michael Jackson is obviously a big story because of his notoriety as the "King of Pop" and the bizarre nature of his case.  I have tried not to follow the trial too closely, but it’s hard to avoid trail coverage threaded among news I want to watch.  The BTK case, on the other hand, is a bit of an anomaly in that it does not involve a celebrity or a recent murder, yet the U.S. media has decided to make it a major news story.  The BTK killer is responsible for murdering 10 victims in the Wichita, Kansas area between 1974 and 1991.  The case grew cold until the BTK killer reemerged last year to send electronic communications to local media and police, one of which ended up tipping police to a suspect arrested on February 25th.   

There have been many sensational serial killer cases, but the arrest of a suspect in the BTK case has generated more media attention than any other serial killer case in recent years.  I offer a couple of recent serial killer cases as examples.  Gary Ridgeway, the infamous Green River Killer, was arrested and plead guilty to the murder of 48 women in November 2003.  The Green River Killer case is the worst serial killer case in U.S. history.  I followed this case closely because most of the Green River Killer’s victims were from the Seattle area, and I lived in Seattle at the time of the trial.  I did not live in the Seattle area at the time of the murders, but the Green River Killer haunted the psyche of most Seattleites until Ridgeway was finally apprehended three years ago.  Robert Lee Yates, another infamous serial killer from nearby Spokane, Washington was sentenced in 2000 for killing 10 women.  His case received little national media attention.

The BTK case, while gruesome in its own right, seems to be picking up much more media attention than did the Green River Killer or the Spokane killer cases.  Why?  I assume that its because of three reasons, perhaps more:

  1. The BTK case happened in the heartland of America (Kansas), making it a story that interests Americans nationwide.  It happened in a relatively peaceful, safe mid-sized city, Wichita.  It sends the message that it can happen anywhere, not just in large urban areas such as Seattle.
  2. The BTK killer taunted the media and authorities by putting out periodic communications to let them know he was monitoring them.  His unique method of communication–by phone or by computer disk, his "calling card," made him especially intriguing to the media.
  3. The media is looking for another big "people" story to generate public interest.  Now that Scott Peterson has been convicted, Kobe Bryant may settle out of court, Elizabeth Strange is back home with her parents, and Martha Stewart is out of jail, the media needs another "human interest" story.  Americans are fascinated by bizarre cases, especially serial killer cases and cases that affect families.  This case offers a "human side" in that the suspect is a family man and well regarded in his community.

What’s lost in all this media interest over BTK are the victims.  It is they who should receive media attention, not the serial killer.  I was struck by this fact when I watched Gary Ridgeway on television pled guilty in court to 48 murders.  As the clerk read off the names of the victims and Ridgeway pled guilty to each murder, I realized how lost the victims are in the proceedings of serial killer case.  The victims became lost in a sea of names.  The BTK news has so far focused primarily on the suspect and on family and friends who were unaware of his alleged crime.  I have yet to see much about the victims. 

Half a month

We’ve already been in Korea for half a month.  Can you believe it?  It doesn’t seem so long until you realize that it’s 1/48th of our 24-month tour here in Korea.  I wish I could say that we’ve had a good taste of Korea, but for the most part we’ve either stayed home or gone to work.  That will hopefully change during our next 15 days here.  It was a beautiful day today, and the temperatures are supposed to creep up into the 40’s (Fahrenheit) next week.  I hope the weather will stay nice for a few weeks before the Yellow Sands (황사) start blowing in from the Gobi Desert.  We can finally get out and do some outdoor activities such as visiting outdoor markets like Namdaemun.  Until I get better though I won’t be going anyway.  This cold/flu has been nagging, and I plan to take the day off tomorrow to rest and recuperate.

Well, yet another Seattle sport team disappointed again.  The Husky men’s college basketball team lost their final game of the season to Stanford 77-67, and the Arizona Wildcats clinched the Pac-10 Conference championship with a 70-68 win over Arizona State.  Maybe next year.  I think many of their best players will graduate, so who knows how the Huskies will be next year.  They can still redeem themselves during the NCAA Tournament, but who can blame a perpetually disappointed Seattle fan for being pessimistic?  Illinois looks unstoppable this year.

Yahoo! recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.  They offered customers a free ice cream cone to be redeemed on their birthday, March 2nd.  I downloaded the online coupon hoping to use it at a local Baskin Robbins, but then I noticed it was only good for one day.  One day?!  There was no way I was going to break away from what I was doing for a free single-scoop ice cream cone in early March.  If you ask me, that’s a gimmicky birthday stunt.  At least Yahoo! could have extend the validity period for the coupon over one- to two weeks, even one month.  How many people actually dropped everything on March 2nd to go to BR for a free 3.5 oz. ice cream cone?  I bet that on Google’s 10th anniversary they will offer a much more practical birthday present to customers.  Google is awesome.