Inside world cup stadium

One of the many things Korea is proud of is it's 2002 world cup squad. These fellows are some of the first people you meet upon entering the stadium and there are many videos describing how Korea shocked the world.
Ok it maybe a bit geeky but I can't help but wonder how many famous players got really nervous and used these facilities just off the main dressing room before a match. This may not look like much and in truth it is just a green room but that is artificial turf and used as a practise room before games.

I couldn't help but be manager for a few minutes (did I mention this stadium hosted a world cup semi final?) I had to get up and run though as security was coming. The locker rooms. i have to be honest apart from the medical room behind me I thought they were quite modest...
... but I don't really know what else you would expect in a dressing room.
Enjoy some pictures of inside the stadium. I'm not a big fan of the grey but then claret and blue was always more colouful.

Last time I ran up these steps I was getting ready for the world cup semi final... no wait that was a dream.
As close to pitch side as I could get without being whistled at. I don't think the guards liked me very much.

Outside world cup stadium

This is the impressive stadium built for the world cup in 2002 and is now home to FC Seoul. It can hold about 69,000 people inside it but it is also surrounded by parks, fountains and modern art.
In fact it is so big it even has its own helipad. The mascots of 2002 still proudly surround the stadium in many different poses.
One of the amazing things about this stadium is that it is also a museum (pictured elsewhere), a 5 screen cinema, a massive supermarket, a swimming pool and a gymnasium. When you think that added to this you can also have guided tours of the stadium it is easy to see why it is completely self supporting with no government help. Now if only they had thought of that when they built Wembley.

Inside the war museum

There are many sections inside the war museum. It is possible to learn a great deal about korean history and why they appreciate the U.N. so much. they are very proud members and feel their help in recent conflicts is repaymetns for the help given to them last century.
You can see battle plans and tactics of many wars as well as a mention of the propaganda used
It is a living museum and you can see the hardship of what many citizens were forced to endure. I have seen many war museums in Britain they try to depict hardship but none have described living in recently dug holes and eating bark of the tree's.
The Japanese rule of korea lasted for nearly half a century and was only bought to an end after world war 2. Many of the astrological signs were used as a war cry to stop a native Korean uprising.
There are many great peices of art so I thought I would ruin them by getting my ugly mush in the picture. When the war started South Korea was completely unprepared and were outnumbered by nearly 5 to 1 in terms of men. The north also had 200 tanks compared to the south's...er... zero! Aerial attacks were also used with the north using 500 aeroplanes and helicoptors compared to the south's 10. It wasnt exactly a close war at first.
The capital, Seoul, was lost within 3 days (I imagined the French coming over to England through Dover and taking control of London in 3 days) and many of the infantry flags were taken and destroyed.
However the yanks came to the rescue and demanded North Korea retreat (it was partly America and Russia's fault the war started anyway) when they refused the U.N. combined and forced a retreat. This time the South Korean flags got to wave in the Northern capital Pyongyang. That was until the Chinese and Russian forces decided to help North Korea and eventually the opposing factions called a truce and drew up some land lines. Today there is still a demilitarized zone that South Koreans cannot cross and in the north, Americans are still used as a scapegoat for anything that goes wrong (I saw an unedited documentary where they were blamed for a powercut)
The rest of the museum focuses on the Japanese invasion. They also managed to take over Korea pretty quickly and nearly destroyed all of it s history. For the best part of 50 years in the early 20th century Hanguel (Korean) was abolished as a language and relics from the Joseon destroyed. Even in the olympics Korean athletes were forced to participate under the Japanese flag. If only those Japs hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour and annoyed the Americans they would probably have gotten away with it.

There are many other wars with the Mongols, Chinese and even an early British navy that the Koreans managed to repel. These are also well docmented.

Outside the war museum

This is a fascinating museum that is stupidly cheap as it takes about 5 hours to go around and costs about 2 pounds. It's main focus is on the Korean war but there are also sections on the invasions of the Japanese and Chinese. Outside there are many of the machines used in the war that you can go in and look around

And descriptions on how they were used and deployed. The South koreans were heavily outgunned and out numbered during the war.


There are also many statues documenting the struggle and commemorating the dead. It is a very moving experience with many personal tales.

You can read this by double clicking the photo to enlarge it. It makes you think twice about laughing at Team America. The whole area is a tribute to the honour and bravery of the soldiers.
This is the first statue you see. It shows two brothers, one who was fighting for the north and one for the south. They met on the battle field and sobbed in each others arms.
This mural is in the mound of the above statue and was dedicated by loved ones of the deceased.

Gyeongbokgung (Seoul)

This is the main temple in Seoul. Behind this first picture is also the national museum.
It was used just before the Japense invasion at the end of the 19th century. That was when the final empress of Korea was murdered as she slept.
This picture is a meeting hall inside the temple grounds. It is pictured on the majority of Korean notes and you are only allowed over the moat at certain times (I couldn't really understand why)
Inside the national museum is a guide to Korean history from pre-historic ages. It has been littered with as many as wars as us Brits and Korea has ceased to exist on more than one occasion. I am pictured here with a friend from Geochang called Rick.
You aren't allowed inside certain rooms but you can see the splendour that many kings lived in.
This is another resident of Geochang. I know them as they asked for extra English lessons before they move to Australia. They are very friendly and helpful and took me out on the night for some dinner while I was visiting Seoul.
Andy has the victory buzz. This picture is showing the settlers in the south of Korea.


The great wall surrounds Gyeongbokgung and is covered with guards but it is mainly a tourist site now. Inside it amazed me how settlers all over the world pretty much learnt how to hunt at around the same time yet there was no way of international communication. The basic history is very similar to that of Europe with the relics of arrows and caves still being found.
The guards in red stand perfectly still and are well disciplined. Much like the 'beefeaters' of London.

Daegu (eating and drinking)

We didnt get a lot done in Daegu except find some food and drink. The shops were plentiful but a lack of money and a lot of rain put us off.
This is another Steve. A New Yorker and proud of it. He is a clever man with many stories to tell. He has been in Korea just a month longer than me so I hope to get to know him a little better before I leave.
Ahh i found some meat. Some proper meat. This is one thing I really miss from England, I don't like being vegetarian all the time.
Check out the chilled beer we found. It was particulary nice because of my steak. It was iced to the top when it was served.
I don't know why but photo's of Martyn always amuse me.