My Namdaemun Story (I need thinner for the paint in my jacket, why did the arsonist use it to burn down this place?)

February 2008. As I was taking a break in the office comfort room, I saw a disturbing image of a historic landmark in Korea in the newspaper. Was it a bombing? I did not hear people talk about it. They are probably just restoring the structure. Went back to my workstation and did a quick news search: Namdaemun was burned! I felt sad knowing that this magnificent building was wasted just like that. According to this news, Korea's National Treasure No. 1 will remain its top status.

The big question now is: CAN KOREA PROTECT ITS HISTORICAL SITES?

Christmas 2005 is my first ever away from home. That year, I went up to Seoul to do night photography of the city. King Kong was my Christmas movie before doing my photoshoot. That would be my first photo encounter with this historic gate in Seoul: I even wrongly named it as Dongdaemun in this early blog entry.

June 2007, a pregnant Christina Aguilera who was not yet telling, toured Asia for a great visual concert. With friends Ka Berto & Yun Ju, I enjoyed this concert. Before going back to our work island, Ka Berto & I dropped by the gates of Nangdaemun.

It is sad that Namdaemun succumbed to the very thing it was designed to fight off, according to Korean legend: fire. Korean kings chose the site in the belief that the gate would protect the capital from the fiery spirit of a mountain south of Seoul, historians say.