Chuseok Pt 4 – “I Still Have 13 Ships”

A little late, but here are more of our adventures from Chuseok. Deoksugung Palace, Itaewon, Seoul City Hall, and my favorite, Yi Sun-sin.

Yi Sun-sin (1545-1598) was probably the most badass admiral of all time. This guy was a naval genius, destroying Japanese ships left and right. But his many victories made members of the royal court jealous, and they influenced the Korean king to have Yi imprisoned and tortured. Unfortunately for Korea, they lost their best admiral, and most of the Korean fleet was destroyed when Japan planned a counterattack. The king, realizing his mistake, freed Yi and asked him to command the ground army. You know what he said?

“I still have 13 ships. “

And with those 13 ships, he annihilated the Japanese fleet, numbering 333 warships. Probably the greatest naval victory in world history. Plus, his statue is friggin’ awesome.

And with that, enjoy the pictures!

Seabolt in Itaewon.

Traditional and modern.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin reincarnated. (pictured: Pol)

More after the jump.

Chuseok Pt 2 – Gyeongbokgung Palace

Thursday, September 23. The day after Chuseok.

Where? Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁), Seoul. This place is the only palace in Korea designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s also massive – after four hours, we still hadn’t visited even half of the palace grounds and buildings. Even crazier, none of the buildings were built using nails – everything was precisely cut to fit like LEGO pieces. I’ll probably go back again when there are less people.

Since it was the day after Chuseok, lots of Koreans were dressed up in hanbok (한복) to celebrate. You also got free admission if you wore it, although tickets were only 3000 won ($3 US). Anyway, the bright colors made for some great pictures. 22 images. Enjoy!

Palace Guard.

The Throne Room. Biggest building in the palace compound.

More after the jump.