Part of the lifeless and dull complex between North and South Korea
We did not actually spend much time in South Korea. I have
found when we take long trips, it is best to break them up. In this case, we left
Washington, DC, flew and overnighted in San Francisco, then flew the next leg
into South Korea before continuing onward to China and Japan. We used South Korea
as a stopover for a day and a half.
No effort was made to speak with us, no effort was made to give us any sense of welcome- even if we were paying for it.
I don’t want to jump to conclusions, and I remind readers
this was the experience of just two Americans, and a number of years ago at that.
But in the brief time we were in country, the reverberating feeling from the populace
was one of anger and hostility- at least towards the two of us. Where we
are usually accepted everywhere we go with great warmth by those around us, the
Koreans seem to avoid, even shun us.
All I know is that I came away wondering what more we could
have done, as a nation, than to have given American lives, fighting for the Koreans’
freedom. I certainly did not expect ingratitude. Obviously they saw it differently.
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