Sunday, Mar 31st, Busan, South Korea

Greetings!

Busan is the only area to escape the ravages of the Korean War.  Escape is the right word for it, as the city became the home of refugees both domestic and international.  The U.S. retreat ended here, just about the last place it could end - as it fronts on the southern beaches of the country.  United Nations forces fought back from here, and the locals provided a safe shelter for us.

The current city is the most international in the country, and the second largest.  And you can see it in the Jagalchi Fish Market.  Everything found in the sea is here, and everyone with an interest in good food is here to buy it.  And you needed not go too far to enjoy it, as the market's third floor contains food servers who will cook and prepare what you buy at first floor stalls.

After another cornucopia of seafood choices for lunch, our travels took us to the Gamcheon Cultural Village. an urban regeneration project employing unemployed artists to create a hillside of color and imagination.

During the Korean War, allied soldiers died throughout battlefields all over Korea.  Generally, temporary graveyards were developed and maintained where possible nearby.  When access and logistics made it possible, the remains were repatriated out of the country, or moved to more secure locations.

Gradually, the bodies moved south.  And the last location to hold un-repatriated remains was a site in Busan.

In 1951, work began on the UN Memorial Cemetery at Tanggok, Busan.  Between 1950 and 1954, 11,000 casualties were interred there before being transferred to their final destination.  Currently, the Cemetery holds 2,300 servicemembers in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of those buried there.  A sculpture park and twenty-nine memorials have been added.  A wall containing the names of all of the 40,681 allied servicemembers has been placed on the site.  Some of us found what we believe to be the names of relatives on it.

Our hotel (Haeundae Grand Hotel) looks out on the stretch of the East China Sea in the direction of Japan in the great distance, and Jeju Island in the nearer distance (we're flying there tomorrow).  Jeju is a sister city to our hometown, Santa Rosa, and we're looking forward our stay there.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Sunday, Mar 31st, Busan, South Korea.