Winter in South Korea

December 2017

After journeying through China, my next destination was Seoul, South Korea to see a friend who had settled there as a teacher. It was an opportunity to see old faces for the festive season and experience somewhere new, a country that was in the news cycles at the time for the decades old tensions with its northern neighbour being exacerbated by a certain toupée wearing American president. I arrived on a blistering cold evening during mid-December, off the bus from the airport and to a typical yet cosy looking bar across the street selling Korean fried chicken, full of drunken salarymen seemingly having the time of their lives - a humorous introduction to the country. The following morning I went on a fresh and icey walk around Seoul to soak in the city:

What followed were a few more weeks absorbing the streets, sights and sounds - in between meetings with my friend and his colleagues - and getting to understand the homogenous Korean cultural mindset and way of life, albeit in a very transient way and from the surface. It was all fuel for my street photography sessions, when I wasn't layered up indoors.

One particular day I stumbled upon a peace march through the center of Seoul, amidst previously mentioned tensions and the souring of diplomatic efforts between the US/S.Korea and North Korea. The threat of nuclear war, a lingering dark cloud over the Korean peninsula for most of the populations living memory, felt as tense as ever. The show of public objection to Trump's chaotic diplomacy at the time was widespread, with a call from various groups to deescalate the fight-talk and resume the difficult yet worthwhile peace negotiations. Many people I spoke with at the march mentioned their hopes of an eventual re-unification, for Korea to be whole once more in the future.

And now for some more select shots for my remaining time in the country, which I very much enjoyed in a photographic sense (and seeing old friends is always a bonus). The festive food markets were a particular highlight, as was wondering around Seouls many bustling nooks and crannies:

To round things off for my time in South Korea, new years fireworks from the Lotte World Tower. As I stood shivering beneath colourful explosions, raining confetti and the shadow of a cold war.