Nationalism

I think I first encountered nationalism in Mexico. I am intrigued by it for many reasons.

One interesting thing about it, I suppose, is that I found it somewhere else and not really within myself. I guess with Canada being a wealthy nation (not necessarily wealthy people) but a highly developed nation aware of the plight of others, feeling proud of ourselves might seem like a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Another thing about nationalism is that it seems to burn hottest in the hearts of those who would appear to have benefited the least from belonging to their “nation”.

Nowadays, it comes out in the soccer games. Soccer has a way of doing this the world over.

Koreans are intensely patriotic.

Which brings me to another aspect of nationalism – how it’s perceived by foreigners. It seems to me that nationalism rubs foreigners the wrong way here.

Ironically, it's the culture shock we've asked for by travelling half way across the globe. The exclusion is part and parcel of the experience. Traveling shouldn't be easy.

I’ve noticed this elsewhere as well. English teachers in Japan have similar gripes about how they will never be accepted or included, which is a fair argument for those who've settled and are seeking citizenship.

In this part of the world, it’s about race, not nationality. There is a sense of us and them. Those who immigrate permanently have a sense that they will never truly be Korean - and I guess they won't be. But they'll find a way to belong.

I guess there are many causes for patriotic passion and probably none stronger than a foreign occupation. That would do it.

And here in Korea, I would be referring to the Japanese Occupation – which began in 1908 at the end of the Daehan Empire and lasted until the Japanese surrender in 1945.

In the Seoul of today, it might be hard for a foreigner to understand the suffering of the Occupation. The country has developed into a mammoth industrial power. It seems like everyone has money and they’re out every night of the week spending it.

If there is such a place, it would have to be Seodaemoon Prison. The name has changed many times but most of it still stands – now as a museum and educational centre for visitors, and Koreans themselves, to learn about the Japanese Occupation and the freedom fighters who suffered there.

The prisons that were established during the Japanese occupation dot the map of Korea like towns and cities. But this one, in the heart of Seoul, seems to be the most famous.

Seodaemoon Prison

This prison was constructed in 1908 by the Japanese to house inmates who joined the Anti-Japanese Independence Movement.

The front gate and watchtower.

The techniques used by the Japanese to torture the “patriots”, as they were called, are all described in great detail and re-enacted by mannequins in graphic underground scenes.

The point obviously being that young Koreans get some grasp of how their ancestors suffered for the comfortable life they have today. No punches are pulled.

I've only included one example. They're pretty morbid scenes.

The back watchtower, now growing over.

A depiction of forced confessions - where patriots pledged allegiance to the Japanese and renounced their rebel past as a mistake.

The Occupying forces then published these confessions in local papers and used the media as a propaganda campaign to discourage the independence movement.

The Korean National Flower

Bushes of these grow in the courtyard area between the cellblocks and the prison walls.

The old. The new. And the Ancient.

The remains of the original Seodaemoon prison gate, as seen from the inside. Beyond that are new apartment blocks – expanding like a lego set all over the country. And in the backdrop is one of the many peaks of Bukhan san – the mountain of Seoul. It’s essentially the natural barrier protecting Seoul to the north.



Ryu Kwan Sun

Arguably the most famous patriotic rebel in Korean history,
At Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, she was a leader of public demonstration.

She was arrested by the Japanese and ended up eventually at Seodaemoon Prison in 1919, in the separate building for the women.

The underground solitary confinement cells were dubbed “Ryu Kwan Sun Caves” in memory of her and the time she spent in confinement.

She was transferred to an underground cell and tortured for leading a prison revolt on the anniversary of the March Independence Demonstration.

She died that year, in 1920, in prison as a result of torture and malnutrition. She was 19 years old.