The area I usually walk around is Seochon, Bukchon, Gwanghwamun and Seoul City Hall at the farthest. Seoul that I missed for a long time in the U.S., come to think of it, was that area.
I came back from the U.S. to find that many of my neighbors had moved to Gangnam, and my mother was shivering with cold in the large 300-year-old hanok traditional house. My friends who had moved away, sometimes came to the Gwanghwamun area in consideration of me, at a monthly get-together.
I usually try not to go to Gangnam if possible. On the rare occasions I do, on the way back amid the forest of apartment buildings, I let out a sigh of relief when Seoul City Hall shows itself from afar.
I pass Seoul City Hall and look at Gwanghwamun at the end of the open road of Sejong-no, and dense, green Mt. Bugaksan and Mt. Bukhansan on a straight line, and feel my heart well up as if I am just coming back to Korea from Washington.
I tell this to the taxi driver who I drove with for about an hour from Gangnam. And he replies “That’s right. This is where people live” And I am relieved at his response.
There is Cheonggyecheon that I used to walk along a lot. And next to it is Press Center building. There is the ‘Korea Broadcasting Commission’ in the Press Center building, where I worked for over two years. The government persuaded me persistently for 3 years when I was in Washington. I was the head of International Cooperation division, and my office was on the fourteenth floor, which overlooked the great view of Deoksugung Palace. I was in charge of international cooperation and international cooperation division of major broadcasting stations like KBS and MBC. What is most memorable to me was a large-scale international conference where we invited important people from Germany broadcasting which was as a catalyst in the unification of Germany.
Before I started my post, our German counterpart was offended by something during a meeting and went back to their country. I thought it impossible to make it work again. Everyone pressured me to make it happen, and after several calls, I made it possible in the nick of time; the head of the commission said in a high-pitched voice, “We managed to employ you due to the nine o-clock anchor and Sunshine Lee talk show schedule; I see that you should be the foreign minister.” This is one of the several scenes that comes to me whenever I pass there.
In front of the Press Center Building is the old building of Seoul City Hall. It feels familiar as the building has been standing there since I was young. But as to the new building, which seems to symbolize the World Cup as it is surrounding the back of the old building, I never grew fond of it no matter how much I saw it.
Standing in front of it, I think of Park Wonsoon, Mayor of Seoul, who passed away last summer unexpectedly. He liked Seochon village and he was one of the rare people who met my mother in person who wanted to connect Son Hoyun Tanka Institute and the Beautiful Foundation after my mother passed away. I thought it strange that he went into politics, as he used to say that he would never go into politics even though he was considered a presidential candidate by both sides and now he’s passed away, just like that.
If you stand facing Seoul City Hall, on your right side stands a poetry monument of Kim Jong-gil, whose poem “Christmas” is well-known. He was moved by my mother’s poems and visited me many times and wrote for my poetry collection, he is also gone.
And on the right side from there stands 10-story-building of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.
The building used to be the headquarters of Samsung and tallest in the neighborhood, but now the buildings on both sides are taller and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance building looks smaller by comparison. A long time ago when Gangnam area had not been developed yet, the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance building was one of the most prominent buildings in Seoul and used to be where Samsung Electronics was originally located. The look in the eyes of the founder Lee Byungchulwhom I would encounter from time to time in the elevator or lobby, comes to my mind whenever I look at that building.
On the 2nd floor of that building was Chase Manhattan Bank which had opened not long ago in Seoul. I had just graduated from university and got an interview with them just because the bank was thought to be very difficult to get in with competition of 300:1 at that time^^.
Young men working at Samsung Electronics on the 6th floor sometimes came to the 2nd floor to look askance. I got to know later that the average salary of CMBwas more than 3 times that of Samsung. Even though I went to study in the U.S. before I worked a full 9 months, those I meet in OB gathering these days have worked as Presidents of Korean banks and are at the top in their fields.
After I went through back surgery some months ago and walked down to the neighborhood of Seoul City Hall, something I hadn’t done for many momths. The green grass was exceptionally dazzling and I felt a flood of emotion.
On the left side and behind Deoksugung Palace was my old school, Deoksu Elementary School and in front of me was Seoul City Hall. Behind that was the building that I worked after coming back from the U.S., and on the right side was the place that I took my first step after my graduation. The past played like a movie and I was deeply touched.
I went down there in evening this winte ragain. Christmas tree of 2020, the rough year in this rough world and ‘Merry Christmas’ message as shining like a star.
And yet, a huge construction from Gwanghwamun, was on the way.
I am sorry to see the dear leafy ginkgo trees go 11 years ago in there and I am afraid of what might happen now.
I heard that tens of old plane trees, lining up Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway are to be cut down.
I remember the leafy 500 year old tree in Sajik Park near my home being cut down.
I felt bad enough that my dear Hanok place was demolished to make way for a road. I felt heartbroken at the living creature being cut down.
Not only this area is the center of Korea where the citizens feel proud but it is my dear hometown.
There is no majestic scene with a big mountain in any capital city – including Washington D.C. New York Paris Tokyo where I have lived. I ardently hope that they would never cut out the dear sight from our heart like old towns in advanced countries.
