Just in time with our arrival, unfortunately the current political situation between South and North Korea is getting very tense. It feels a bit awkward after Northkorea has declared ‘state of war’ today, but people here in Seoul are very calm and believe in pure verbal threats. Let’s hope. To understand the situation of Korea a bit better, we joined a tour to see the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) just outside of Seoul. It is basically a 4 km wide no-man’s land dividing Korea exactly at the 38. latitude. Despite its name, it is actually the most heavily militarized border worldwide. We also walked down a tunnel which North Korea had digged and only was discovered by chance in 1990. Three tunnels were found so far, many more are suspected. Korea reminds one a lot of our similar past history!

Seoul itself is a very lively and huge (10 mio) city with innumerous art galleries, very creative shops and cafes. Also it has a nice architectural mixture between ancient and modern. We did a lot of walking through the districts Gwanghwamum, Gahoe-dong (nice!), Insa-dong, Myeong-dong, Itaewon and yes, not to forget Gangnam- Seoul’s chic neighbourhood and title of the now world-famous song “Gangnam-style”…Also went up Seoul Tower for a stunning, but bitterly cold night time view. And- the Samsung Museum of Art is great! It consists of two buildings one designed by Mario Botta and one by Jean Nouvel.

On the day we arrived in Seoul, we really felt the different temper of Koreans. Unlike the humble, always smiling, silent Japanese, Korean people are really loud, pushy and I have to say, not very friendly. But food is very good and SPICY!!

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