It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

Strolled by the U.S. embassy. I wanted to take some pictures of the building as part of a larger project of taking pictures of Kwanghwa-mun, the gate that leads to Kyôngbokgung, the main palace complex of the late Chosôn period (more here). The Japanese built their Governor-General Administration building right in front of Kyôngbokgung in a conscious effort to establish that they were the new power in town. Given that the United States set up its main military headquarters at Yongsan, the site of the former Japanese military headquarters (now slated to be moved elsewhere, a long overdue move), and given that the U.S. embassy is just down the street from Kwanghwa-mun it isn’t hard to see why some South Koreans might see the American diplomatic and military presence in the ROK as continuing neo-colonial rule. Alas, my attempts to take photos of the American embassy were stymied by South Korean riot police/guards clad in black uniforms and armed with long truncheons. “For security reasons.” Says a lot about contemporary U.S.-ROK relations and South Korean sentiment.