Pauls Korea Photos

Korea : FIFA World Cup 2002

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Korea is not the first place one thinks of when deciding on a holiday destination. I could find no travel brochures and even the normally ubiquitous travel guidebooks were hard to find. But with Korea co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan, we were to get a first hand look at how this country has progressed.

Korea

Korea is a country still coming to terms with its difficult and unsettled past, both ancient and modern. Japan, Russia and China have used the peninsula that is Korea for all manner of disagreements, trashing the place many times over. The surrender of the occupying Japan at the end of World War II saw the country divided for safe-keeping by Uncle Sam in the south and the Russian Bear in the north. Unlike Cold War tensions in the similarly-split Germany, in Korea the disagreements quickly escalated into a war that lasted 3 years. Since then manufacturing and exports have helped drive an economic recovery, best exemplified by the global success of companies such as Daewoo, Hyundai, LG (Lucky Goldstar?!) and Samsung.

Suwon : Ireland v Spain

Suwon is only 50km south of Seoul. Suwon prides itself on its famous walled fortress, galbi (barbequed beef ribs) and excellent toilets. Yes, you read right - toilets! If you don't believe me read this article on the value of restrooms in society.

The Ireland v Spain game was one of the matches of the tournament, somewhat redeeming our decision to arrive in the city 8 hours early. Spain scored early but led by the irrepressible Niall Quinn Ireland scored a penalty equaliser in the 92nd minute. The ensuing penalty kick-off sent the Irish supporters home full of woe, Spain 3 Ireland 2.

Jeonju : USA v Mexico

Our visit to Jeonju lastest little more than the match itself. The stadium was spectacular, surrounded on two sides by rice paddy fields but unfortunately the game did not live up to expectations. More notable were the hordes of Christian missionaries who appeared outside the stadium post-game preaching the second coming of an Asian Jesus.
USA 2 Mexico 0

Daejeon : Korea v Italy

Daejeon is geographically in the middle of the country and is otherwise un-notable. This was most notable on the tourist guide-map which noted 'Administration Offices' as a place of interest. Well show me the rubber stamps! We visited a small market in the city centre and somehow resisted the urge to purchase goldfish by the bucket load or any of a variety of extra-extra-small T-shirts.

Guus Hiddink took over ailing Korean national squad in April 2001. In just over 12 months he had turned the rabble into a fighting, disciplined team that had achieved its goal of making the Final 16 teams of the World Cup. With nothing to lose Korea came up against a confident Italy side led by the technician Francesco Totti and the hulking Christian Vieri. As the Japanese man beside me chewed on dried cuttlefish, Korea and Italy fought out one of the all time great World Cup matches. After missing a penalty then going a goal down, Korea levelled in the 91st minute and sent the country into raptures with a golden goal in the 116th minute. Italy 1 Korea 2.

Seoul

11 million people live in Seoul and the surrounding districts making it the 5th largest city in the world. At the heart of the hundreds of skyscrapers some elements of the ancient town still remain, however it should be noted that the city has been completely destroyed numerous times during periods of warfare. Markets such as the Namdaemun Market, pictured below, have survived and the modern nation has sought to re-establish its cultural heritage through rebuilding the destroyed monuments.

Ulsan : Germany v USA

Ulsan is the major manufacturing hub for Korea - Hyundai and Daewoo are just 2 of the local plants. As a consequence there is little to see other than shipping containers but 40min north of Ulsan is the town of Bulguska, home to an Ancient Buddhist temple. In Korea temples are decorated with an ancient symbol that resembles a reversed Nazi swastika.

The Germany v USA game was a battle between 2 teams that had proceeded further into the tournament than most pundits expected. A rather dour affair, besides some spectacular goalkeeping from Oliver Kahn, resulted in Germany 1 USA 0. Ho-hum...

Gwangju : Korea v Spain

After the shock win over Italy, Gwangju became the focus of the Korean world as the southern city hosted the quarter-final match against Spain. Again the fervour was evident as our bus made its way through the city centre, red T-shirts being worn to the person. Again we donned our 'Be the Reds' T-shirts to dissolve ourselves into the throng. Thankfully this motto was chosen over other candidates such as 'Korea Team Fighting' (aren't they playing) and my personal favourite 'Cheer Up Korea Team!' which sounds like the squad is depressed en masse. Thousands of people turned up without tickets and simply hung around outside looking through the fence like monkeys in a zoo. The match, played in oppressive heat, was another controversy-laden melodrama - Korea 5 Spain 3 on penalties.

These photos were taken with a FujiFilm F601Z digital camera.

Please ask for permission before using any of these photos. Larger formats are available - Paul Moody

paulnmoody@yahoo.com