Sajik Park and Soldiers

From what I understand, this park is important to Korea because together, Sajikdan and Jongmyo form Jongsa, which symbolizes the nation. To say "Sajik is at peace" is to imply that the country is doing well, while to say "Sajik is in danger" means conditions are poor. An important national figure is referred to as a "Vassal of Sajik."

There was an enclosed courtyard and in the middle of the area was Sajikdan, where sacrifices or incenses or something were (are??) burned. There were a couple of statues, but otherwise the park is a shady place to rest or for recreation. In this park the remains of the legendary figure Dangun are enshrined. Dangun is referred to as the father of Korea; he is said to be descended from god and a bear. The shrine was being painted so I couldn't go inside, but I looked in through the side gate.

Next on my list was to try to find the Fortress Wall. The booklet put out by the Seoul government that showed the wall as an attraction neglected to say that there's also a military base on that mountain. From the back of the Dangun Shrine I walked up some stairs to the road. From there I walked about 15 minutes up a somewhat steep road. About 10 cars passed, some military and some civilian. At a fork in the road a policeman stood guard in a roofed pavilion. I approached him and asked about the wall. He didn't seem too receptive to me; perhaps he's not supposed to talk to people while on guard duty??

The booklet didn't include any Korean, so I pointed to the wall behind the policeman and said "Choseon" because that was the only word I could think of to portray the "really old" concept. (Choseon was a Korean dynasty, perhaps the last one.) He still didn't get it. I saw an information sign 50 meters ahead so I asked if it was OK to go a little farther up the road; he said OK. As I started to walk off he said that I couldn't go to the top of the mountain today, but I could go tomorrow. ??? As I passed the guard house that I had thought was deserted, it came to life.

At this point, remember that I hadn't gone through any gates or climbed any fences or passed any menacing signs. I had simply walked through a public park, up some stairs, and then up a road.

Inside the tiny guard house two soldiers rose from their chairs clutching their machine guns and one shouted out at me. The policeman said I could come this way?? {weak excuse in my mind} I couldn't think of anything to say in any language, {MACHINE GUNS!!!!} so I tried to look as innocent and harmless as possible as I kept my hands visible.

When they saw that it was just a foreign woman, they relaxed. I pointed at the sign, and through gestures we determined that it was OK for me to go and read it. I was in such a state that I don't remember too much of what it said. Basically that the mountain had a couple of important cultural treasures: the Dangun Shrine and the Fortress Wall. It didn't say if or how people could see the wall, though. I turned and walked back down the mountain and back to the subway while thinking about how the military is present in Korean everyday life.