War Memorial Museum
Does a visit to a war museum sound like something you’d like to do on your international vacation? No, me neither. It was my husband’s idea, but I have to say, I found it to be both beautiful and fascinating.
Koreans use sculpture and other visual arts to convey meaning quite a lot. We saw it at most significant destinations. The War Memorial Museum was no exception.
As we approached, we passed through an outdoor domed structure which housed a magnificent mosaic.
Click any image for a larger view
Other LARGE statues marked the primary entrance.
The two groupings above formed a large semi-circle.
Once inside, we found that most of the space was dedicated to the Korean War. The information was very well presented and it was quite interesting. I was especially intrigued by the devastation caused to the country and the rebuilding process. Some statistics:
– 1.5 million South Koreans died
– Over 40% of industrial facilities and power plants were destroyed.
– 50% of all mining facilities were destroyed.
– 1/3 of all residential homes were unusable.
– Many roads, public buildings, bridges, and ports were unusable.
– The total property damage was estimated at 1.7 times the national income.
Can you imagine such devastation? Needless to say, people were struggling just to find food to eat. One of the statues in the museum showed a refugee family fleeing.
The United States provided a lot of aid, mostly construction materials and basic consumer goods.
Of course, other wars were also featured in the museum. Andrew was excited to see a small replica of “the turtle ship.” This is a famous iron-clad ship that he knew about.
The dragon’s mouth spewed fire!
Learning about the wars of a country certainly helps you to understand it better.
Enjoying the experience,
Ellen Lindner
P.S. Find my other posts about Korea by searching for that word in the search box at top right.
