Disappearing towns
Every so often, the Korea Times publishes an article about the destruction of one historic neighborhood or another, usually in a poor district of Seoul. Each piece brings for me a nostalgic pang for the Korea of yesteryear. The intricate alleys and passageways of the city’s older districts are a relic of one of the most important and transformative stages in the country’s history - a time of rapid post-war growth when a people united in the face of a common threat, rebuilding a nation and forging a future together. That future has now arrived in the form of sparkling buildings looming into...