Yudalsan, or Yudal Mountain, is located here in Mokpo. On November 29, 2008 I climbed to the top and took these photos.

Mokpo and Mokpo Harbor

A cannon brought to Korea during the Japanese occupation.

On October 3, 2008 I visited Naejangsan National Park, near Jeongeup, South Korea. I captured these photos:

The entrance to the park.

The Buddhist cemetery.

Entrance to the Naejangsa Temple.

Buddha.

That’s what some are saying. The backlash has already begun. I, for one, hope Bredesen gets the nod. He’s the Democrat least likely to take us down the road to socialized medicine.

The May 18 Memorial, located in Gwangju, South Korea, is a monument to those killed in the 1980 pro-democracy uprising against the authoritarian regime. These photos were taken on September 13, 2008.
The pro-democracy movement began across Korea following the 1979 Coup d’état of December Twelfth. When the new semester began in March 1980, professors and students who had been expelled for pro-democracy activities returned to their universities. One major event occurred at Seoul Station on May 15, 1980, when about 100,000 Koreans protested against martial law.

The government responded by placing the entire country under martial law. In Gwangju, students protested the closing of their university, leading to violent suppression by government officials. This efforts added fuel to the fire, and by May 20 more than 100,000 Koreans were protesting in Gwangju.

The situation quickly deteriorated into pandemonium, and soldiers violently assaulted and killed protesters, and protesters burned down a local television station which had misreported the situation.

Eventually the protesters were in control of Gwangju, but they would not remain so for long. On May 27, troops entered the city, defeating the protesters in 90 minutes.

No one knows the exact death toll and estimates vary. Most likely, the number falls between 166 and 207, with a large number of missing people.

Entrance to the May 18 Memorial

The graves of those killed.

Those lost.