Incheon

     Incheon is an important port and Korea's third most populous city behind Seoul and Busan respectively. It is home of the country's main international airport and ferry terminal. I ventured there this past Sunday and went to three different places- Jayu Park, China Town, and Wolmi Park.

     Jayu Park was the first Western style park built in Korea. Jayu(Freedom) Park borders the older areas of the city. It was originally called Manguk (All Nations) Park but its name was changed after General Douglas Macarthur's statue was erected here in 1957. Located here in Mount Eubong this is where he led the Incheon Amphibious Land Operation during the Korean War. The two pictures above are of the Macarthur statue.

     Also in Jayu Park there is another interesting statue known as the Centenary of Korean-American Friendship Memorial Tower. A commercial treaty was concluded between the United States and the Joseon Dynasty 1882 which was the first international treaty signed by Korea and a Western country.The memorial tower was built to look back on the historical meaning and to continue the bilateral ties between Korea and the United States. The triangular-shaped tower looks up to the sky and at its center is a sculpture in the shape of two men standing shoulder to shoulder symbolizing friendship. Personally I don't actually see that in the sculpture but I'm not an artist! The above pictures are of the Memorial Tower. The rest of the pictures from Jayu Park can be found on Facebook.

     Just below Jayu Park is China Town. The China Town has a long history dating back to 1884 symbolizing the multicultural aspect on Incheon. At first it was formed for the purpose of equipping the Chinese vessels shuttling to Incheon and selling of imported merchandise and later expanded into building stores and restaurants. Today it is home to more than 500 immigrants. The three pictures above are of Euisendong. It is unknown when it was built but it was a temple used to educate the Chinese. The Chinese characters in the name mean "uphold justice and practice virtue". It was also used for the purpose of martial arts training. The rest of the pictures of China Town can be found on Facebook.

     The above two pictures are of the Centenary of Korean Christianity Memorial Tower which was built in 1985 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the arrival of a Methodist priest and a Presbyterian priest who landed in Incheon on April 5, 1885 and helped spread Christianity. The tower is 17 meters high and located a short distance from China Town.

     The last place I visited on Sunday was Wolmi Park located on Wolmi island. Wolmi Park is a well preserved ecological park open to the public in 2001. It had been closed off to the public for 50 years due to it being located near a military camp.The park is also historically important because it was where the Incheon Landing Operation began during the Korean War. The top picture above is of Wolmi Observatory which is a 23 meter long three stories high which was built in 2005. The next two pictures are taken from the top of the Observatory overlooking Incheon and the bottom picture is of one of the two monstrous staircases I had to climb to reach the Observatory. It's supposed to be below 0 degrees Celsius all of next weekend so there might not be any new pictures next week. The rest of the pictures of Wolmi Park can be found on Facebook.


CHOENAN DUDE