Residents of Daegu’s Woobang Purin Town in Sinchon-dong collectively shut their lights off for 5 minutes the other night, to commemorate the city’s Energy Day. Looks like some didn’t get the memo or the creepy sound of the security guard announcing on apartment intercom’s about the energy-conserving move, but a small step in the right direction for all, nevertheless.

Source: Imaeil

For decades, Lee Tae-joon has wondered what became of his cousin, his childhood companion, who disappeared without trace at the start of the Korean War.

Now he thinks he knows the answer.

At an abandoned cobalt mine near the South Korean city of Daegu, evidence of a massacre is being slowly uncovered.

With brushes and trowels, working ankle-deep in water, a team of archaeologists is sweeping away the top-soil to reveal a mass of human bones.

It is thought that this cold tomb contains the bodies of up to 3,000 people who were executed and then thrown into a vertical mine shaft.

Mr Lee believes his cousin was one of them.

“My heart really breaks when I think that all this killing took place without any judicial process, and by our own forces,” he said.

‘Hostility and hatred’

At the outbreak of the Korean War, his cousin, like many thousands of suspected Communist sympathisers, was rounded up by the South Korean police.

That large numbers of these political prisoners were shot to stop them joining troops advancing from the north is the grim truth now being pulled from the country’s soil.

It has taken this long to unearth because, for much of the post-war period, South Korea’s military dictatorships made this kind of investigation impossible.

The families of those who disappeared suffered in silence.

“It was very difficult,” Mr Lee said. “After the war, even the slightest suggestion that your family had leftist sympathies would leave you open to hostility and hatred.”

In 2005, South Korea finally established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Its 240 staff have interviewed hundreds of witnesses and relatives of the victims.

Last year, they started digging. Just a handful of 160 suspected mass-grave sites have been uncovered so far.

In total, they are estimated to contain the remains of more than 100,000 civilian prisoners and suspected leftists.

And there is strong evidence to suggest that the 1950 summer of slaughter took place in the full view of South Korea’s American allies.

‘Internal matter’

Photos of the executions, taken by US soldiers, were stamped “secret” and filed away in Washington for years.

Their eyewitness accounts were passed to the top of the chain of command.

“There is proof that it was reported to the very top,” said Kim Dong-choon, of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “US soldiers took pictures and reported back to their superiors.”

News reports have suggested that the Americans saw it as an “internal matter”.

The British, though, did take some action, seizing “Execution Hill”, outside Seoul, to prevent further killings.

But 82-year-old Kim Man-sik, one of the few South Koreans left alive who admits to having taken part in the executions, pleads for a fuller understanding of the circumstances of war.

In the midst of a civil conflict, with the front line just a few miles away, he says the military policemen under his command felt they had little choice but to follow orders.

“On two occasions my unit was told to collect suspected leftists from the police, and we conducted group executions,” he said.

“But you have to understand the situation at the time, our forces were in a very disadvantaged situation and cornered.”

Weak mandate

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has until 2010 to complete its task.

An uncomfortable truth has been airbrushed from the history of the Korean War, which has long attributed almost all atrocities to the communists in the North.

More than half a century on, it is a new generation in the South that are coming to terms with the thought that in war terrible deeds are not only the preserve of the enemy.

But the commission cannot compel witnesses to give evidence, nor can it impose any sanctions on the perpetrators.

There is concern amongst its supporters that its mandate is too short, and its powers too weak, to do justice to its cause.

By John Sudworth
BBC News, Daegu, South Korea

Source: BBC

I just recently went to Xin Chao Steamboat. The restaurant is downtown, just down the street from the regular Xin Chao and Gallery Zone. For 15,000 won, you can choose one of three sets. The set I chose had no seafood as I was dining with someone with an aversion. It came with a huge plate of veggies, another plate of pork and beef. These were for boiling in the hot pot and then dipping into one of the four sauces available. The sauces were delicious, they were a Korean sesame garlic, Thai Fish sauce, Lebanese cream sauce and a Chinese chili sauce. We also received a green papaya salad as our appetizer. The salad was wonderful; spicy and tangy. We then received Vietnamese wraps. Rice paper and veggies which you wrapped yourself and which you could add the boiled meat into if you wished. Lastly we got rice noodles to put into the water to make a warm-hearted soup. Along with all of that we also got a glass of dry red wine. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Published by Michelle Van Balkom-Nicholson

Construction is underway, now that the vendors have been forced out. The city is revitalizing the street to include a street museum, a traditional-style stage, and revamped fountain, in addition to tiling of the street. Developments are expected to last until January.

Source:Imaeil

Last week, Koreana Wind Orchestra performed at the outdoor music hall at Duryu Park. Here is some footage of the performance and some familiar melodies:

2nd (pronounced ‘two-N-D’) is a great addition to the ever-changing Samdeok nightlife scene. Billing themselves as an ‘ethnic-style’ restaurant and bar, their Mediterranean-esque interior certainly sets that kind of vibe. The menu has a range of influences, such as Spanish, Italian, Mexican, and Western.

Some other notable menu features:

Calzone

Chicken and sausage burrito

Teriyaki chicken kebab

Ribeye steak and veggies, with balsamic vinegar

Jumbo shrimp in hot chili sauce

The sudden torrential rains were too much for some parts of the city to withstand, such as this underpass near Daegu Airport.

Source:Imaeil

Sun breaks through the rainclouds over Banwoldang Intersection. However, the unstable weather is still expected to be the norm for awhile yet.

Source:Imaeil

Into is a very small, European restaurant located in downtown Daegu. Into has been around for 10 years, yet still only has 4 tables and has an open kitchen right in the room, giving it a cozy feeling like you’re eating in someone’s villa in Italy. They have a very small menu with a pasta and soup that changes every week, and also has 3 kinds of baguette sandwiches to choose from (smoked salmon, curried chicken, and tuna salad).

The owner/chef is a former chef at an Italian restaurant in Seoul’s Hilton Hotel, and also happens to operate the restaurant, Dijon, located next door.

Source:psycholjy’s blog

As we mentioned earlier this summer, the popular Korean BBQ franchise, Bulgogi Brothers, has continued its aggressive expansion outside of Seoul and has finally opened up in Dong-A Department Store in Suseong-gu. Great place for wine-lovers to get their drink on while gorging on the succulent Australian beef grilled at your table.