KOREA STANDARD TIME

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Evening visit to 조계사.

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Playing 장기 near Tapgol Park.

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The sleek, futuristic exterior of Seoul’s stunning Dongdaemun Design Plaza, designed by famed British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, is best appreciated at night.

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Lucky timing: the ceremonial changing of the guard at Gyeongbok Palace had just begun when we arrived for a visit.

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Idol merch in Myeongdong.

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Huge crowds turned out for this evening's Moonlight Night Market in Banpo.

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All trains board over here.

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This evening in Haeundae.

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First time back in Seoul in nine years (and first time back on Tumblr in seven). This was the scene at Gwangjang Market tonight.

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I really dig the mellow early ’70s vibe of Baek A Yeon’s “이럴거면 그러지말지.” What a lovely song.

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After 43 hours of talks that extended into early Tuesday, the two Koreas hammered out a joint agreement that momentarily sets aside their mutual grievances over land mines and propaganda broadcasts in the DMZ. Not only are Seoul and Pyongyang not going to war, they’ve somehow managed to lay the groundwork for renewed diplomatic contacts, family reunions and non-governmental (presumably educational and cultural) exchanges.

Here’s an English-language translation of the agreement that was provided by the Blue House:

1. The South and North agreed to hold talks between the two authorities at an early date in Seoul or Pyongyang to improve inter-Korean relations and agreed to continue dialogue and negotiations in a variety of areas in the future.

2. The North expressed regret over the landmine explosions that recently took place on the southern side of the Military Demarcation Line in the Demilitarized Zone, wounding soldiers from the South. 

3. The South agreed to stop all loudspeaker broadcasts along the Military Demarcation Line starting at 12:00 noon on August 25 as long as no abnormal incident occurs. That is to say, if the South 

4. The North agreed to lift its state of semi-war.

5. The South and North agreed to arrange reunions of separated families on the occasion of Chuseok (the Harvest Moon Festival) this year, continuing such reunions in the future, and to hold a working-level Red Cross meeting in early September to that end.

6. The South and North agreed to boost non-governmental exchanges in a wide range of fields.

As Yonsei University professor John Delury told Reuters, “South Korea did not get an apology [about the land mines], they got a statement of regret about the injury, which they can spin as an apology.” Still, it was a surprising concession by the North, given its previous denial of involvement in the explosions.

The negotiated settlement between Seoul and Pyongyang is the most significant development in inter-Korean relations since the two sides reopened the shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex in 2013. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

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The two Koreas are holding a third day of high-level talks to defuse tensions over the North’s alleged planting of land mines in the southern half of the Demilitarized Zone and the South’s resumption of propaganda broadcasts along the DMZ. The marathon talks are dragging on with little sign of progress. 

But despite the heated rhetoric and provocative military maneuvers of the past few days, the peninsula is hardly on the brink of an all-out war. In an op-ed for Al Jazeera, Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov, author of “The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia,” predicts what’s likely to happen instead:

If the experience of earlier confrontations is any indication, we cannot rule out another round or two of violence, accompanied by outbursts of bellicose rhetoric and mutual accusations, followed by the slow defusion of tensions.

Alternatively, and more likely, the violent phase of the usual diplomatic ballet is already over, so the defusion will start in the next few days. Of course, the defusion stage will be accompanied by mutual accusations and face-saving threats, but this is how such games have been played in the past and are likely to be played again and again in the foreseeable future.

The participants in the current round of North-South talks provide an added layer of intrigue. They include South Korean National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin, South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, North Korean Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so and Kim Yang-gon, North Korea’s top official for inter-Korean affairs. Hwang and Kim Yang-gon were part of a delegation from the North that traveled to Seoul last October to attend the closing ceremonies of the Asian Games. During that surprise visit, they held talks with Kim Kwan-jin and other security officials from the South. 

That doesn’t exactly make the South Korean national security adviser and his North Korean negotiating counterparts golfing buddies. But it probably does mean that the men have developed a level of rapport that’s been rare in inter-Korean relations since Kim Jong-un emerged as North Korea’s paramount leader and began purging and executing senior officials in his regime. What’s all the more interesting is that Kim Kwan-jin had been a frequent target of attacks by North Korean state-run media, having previously served as South Korea’s defense minister and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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Here are a couple of historical relics for 광복절. The top photo shows the flag used in 1923 by the legislative assembly of the provisional Republic of Korea government-in-exile in Shanghai. The bottom photo shows a sign posted at the 38th parallel to mark the dividing line between the U.S. and Soviet occupation zones after liberation. Both items are on display at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul.

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe read a statement Friday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. Here are two key passages from his remarks (emphases mine):

Japan has repeatedly expressed the feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for its actions during the war. In order to manifest such feelings through concrete actions, we have engraved in our hearts the histories of suffering of the people in Asia as our neighbors: those in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and China, among others; and we have consistently devoted ourselves to the peace and prosperity of the region since the end of the war. Such a position articulated by previous cabinets will remain unshakable into the future...

In Japan, postwar generations now exceed 80% of its population. We must not let our children, grandchildren, and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologize. Still, even so, we Japanese, across generations, must squarely face the history of the past. We have the responsibility to inherit the past, in all humbleness, and pass it on to the future.

Not surprisingly, Abe’s remarks annoyed Japan’s neighbors. South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that, “the prime minister’s statement … left much to be desired.” An editorial in China’s Global Times opined that, “Apparently, Abe had no intent to make a heartfelt apology.” And the Korean Central News Agency carried a statement by a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman who said that Abe’s remarks were an “unpardonable mockery of the Korean people and an act of deceiving the international community."

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Yes, this tweet is real. It was part of an unhinged tweetstorm that Tinder launched Tuesday in response to a Vanity Fair article titled, “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse.’“

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The South Korean Defense Ministry is accusing North Korea of planting land mines that exploded last week in the Demilitarized Zone near Paju, maiming two South Korean soldiers. How did they get there? According to Yonhap, South Korean Brig. Gen. Ahn Young-ho said that North Korean soldiers may have crossed into the southern half of the DMZ between July 26 and Aug. 1 to bury the mines by a gate guarded by the South Korean army.

What’s curious about this official explanation is that in the immediate wake of the Aug. 4 explosions, Yonhap quoted an anonymous South Korean “military official” as saying there was no possibility of North Korean involvement.

Also, while Ahn made it clear that Seoul believes the mines were targeting South Korean soldiers, the blasts come about two months after Yonhap reported that Pyongyang was believed to be laying land mines in the DMZ in an effort to prevent North Korean soldiers from fleeing to the South. The very next day, a North Korean soldier defected by walking into South Korea via the DMZ.

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North Korea suddenly announced Friday that it will be moving its clocks back half an hour to establish its own time zone. The change will take effect Aug. 15, the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Why? To symbolically undo Japan’s “unpardonable crime” of moving clocks in Korea half an hour ahead in 1912 to place the peninsula in the same time zone as its colonial rulers. As the New York Times explains, this was back when standard time zones were just being established around the world. An interesting factoid I hadn’t been aware of: South Korea itself had also briefly shifted back to its pre-colonial time zone in 1954, only to reverse itself in 1961.