[KS] Photographs of Cheongyecheon in 1965, and other Seoul scenes

[Jonathan Kramer]

Hey Don.  Best thing I ever ate was a sweet potato roasted in an outdoor
rolling furnace on an incredibly bitter cold January morning in Seoul in
1996.  One of my dominant memories from my 6-month Fulbright in Kwangju
was the smell of roasting silkworm chrysalises outside the Haitai Tigers
Baseball Stadium.  Fish-shaped pancakes filled with beanpaste, fish
balls accompanied by a dipperfull of the broth served  in a communal
plastic cup, roasted chestnuts and peanuts...all delicious (except, of
course, the pontaegi.  I suspect the large central market in Kwangju had
not changed too much since the 70's.  Now there is a subway in Kwangju. 
I have not been back to ride it.  Thanks for the memories.  jk

Jonathan C. Kramer, Ph.D.
Dept. of Music
Box 7311, NCSU
Raleigh, NC  27695
919-515-7952
919-515-4204 (fax)
>>> don kirk <kirkdon at yahoo.com> 03/06/10 3:21 PM >>>
It's not clear whether the writer is still in Korea or has been here
lately, but people still sell corn and chestnuts from braziers on
sidewalk stands. And much else of all sorts gets sold on sidewalks,
including, yes, adhesive tape. That's not to question the view that
"things were changing rapidly," and are still changing, but just to note
that certain traditions endure -- and by the way those ears of corn and
chestnuts and yams and a lot of other goodies are quite delicious.
Thankfully, some of the old ways survive.
Don Kirk

--- On Fri, 3/5/10, Dr. Edward D. Rockstein <ed4linda at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Dr. Edward D. Rockstein <ed4linda at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [KS] Photographs of Cheongyecheon in 1965, and other Seoul
scenes
To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 9:26 PM

By the time I got to Seoul in 1967 Cheongyecheon was a road and I didn't
realize it had only recently been covered over.  There were still many
hovels, folks sleeping under bridges, "illegal" shacks constantly being
pulled down by the police, young beggars on the streets who also sold
cheap umbrellas whenever it rained for 70/80 weon. There were  hapseungs
as well as cabs and buses. There were many street hawkers selling such
things as adhesive tape and in winter things like hot chestnuts or
roasted corn from small braziers.  There were still large buildings with
bullet scars. But things were changing rapidly. Ed R.

Dr. Edward D. Rockstein 

ed4linda at yahoo.com  

”  Politics is the womb in which war develops. ” — Karl von Clausewitz


--- On Fri, 3/5/10, don kirk <kirkdon at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: don kirk <kirkdon at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [KS] Photographs of Cheongyecheon in 1965, and other Seoul
scenes
To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 1:12 PM

Thanks for these -- really interesting. Hard to believe Cheongyecheon
was like that. Looks like sights I've seen in Manila.
Best,
Don

--- On Fri, 3/5/10, Afostercarter at aol.com <Afostercarter at aol.com> wrote:

From: Afostercarter at aol.com <Afostercarter at aol.com>
Subject: [KS] Photographs of Cheongyecheon in 1965, and other Seoul
scenes
To: Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 7:57 AM



 

Apologies to those on the ASCK and BAKS lists for 
cross-posting. 
 
Dear friends and colleagues,

 
Sorry if this is old hat. But some 
remarkable photographs of 

an impoverished Cheongyecheon in 1965 - and a wealth of
other images of Seoul in the 1950s-70s - can be found here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=611726&page=4
 

Many thanks to Tom Coyner and Alan 
Timblick for the link.
 
Already by 1982, when I first visited, there were 
no
scenes remotely resembling this. The 
extraordinary
pace of change in modern South Korea may be a cliché ,
but so stark a visual reminder can still make you 
gasp.
 
Belated Samil greetings to one and all,
 
Aidan
 

Aidan Foster-Carter 
Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology 
& Modern Korea, Leeds University, UK 
 
  
Flat 1, 40 Magdalen Road, 
Exeter, Devon, EX2 Aidan.Foster.CarterE: afostercarter at aol.com,     afostercarter at yahoo.com
           W: www.aidanfc.net