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00:00South Korea by rail these trains are capable of more than 200 MPH the
00:09opportunity to explore one of the world's most successful countries amidst
00:14towering skyscrapers in gleaming mega cities an architectural statement I'll
00:22ride the wave of Korean culture sweeping the West it's got this very
00:27spicy song and encounter ancient civilizations and traditions on a
00:33peninsula divided by war along a border between capitalism and communism the
00:39sense of tension here is powerful I'll see how out of destruction and partition
00:45South Koreans have forged an impressive new identity
01:18I am exhilarated to be in South Korea a country that is compared to a shrimp
01:24between two whales those being China and Japan and which nonetheless has
01:30brought about an economic miracle I've traveled 6,000 miles from home to the
01:36Korean Peninsula in East Asia roughly the size of Great Britain it was officially
01:41divided in 1948 following the Second World War and has evolved into two starkly
01:48contrasting states the Communist Democratic People's Republic of North Korea home to
01:55around 25 million and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the south with over 50
02:01million which I'll be exploring
02:08beginning near the dividing line I'll travel to the capital Seoul heading south
02:13my route will take me via Daejeon to the ancient city of Gyeongju and on to the
02:18vast international port of Busan turning west I'll visit Gwangju that's become a
02:24symbol of the country's struggle for democracy before finishing on the
02:28subtropical island of Jeju
02:45my journey today begins at one of the most heavily fortified strips of land on the
02:51planet as I traced the old tracks of a long redundant railway I've come to the
02:57frontier which divides the Korean people I am at one of the most
03:03potentially dangerous zones of conflict between communism and capitalism in the
03:09world across that river lies North Korea and the area known as the DMZ the
03:17demilitarized zone because when the war between North and South Korea ended in 1953
03:23hostility ceased but no peace was declared so still on that side are 1.2
03:30million men under arms and on this side 630,000 South Koreans ready to defend
03:36backed by nearly 30,000 Americans and an American built anti-missile system and the
03:43sense of tension here is palpable
03:48the DMZ extends two kilometers each side of the ceasefire line and is forbidden territory
03:58but just below it on the southern side is the civilian control zone a
04:03restricted area where with your passport you can take a gondola to ride above the
04:09Indian River thank you and view this extraordinary zone
04:21how many people might wish to risk their lives to swim this river to freedom only a
04:30handful of individuals is thought to have defected across the DMZ which is under
04:36constant surveillance and littered with landmines
04:44my last visit to the demilitarized zone was less touristy I was here as the
04:49United Kingdom secretary of state for defense and I went to Pan Man John which
04:53is where the armistice was signed in 1953 there is there a wooden hut with
05:00windows that crosses the ceasefire line and it's possible inside the hut to walk
05:05into North Korea and I did so at each of the windows there was the face of a
05:09North Korean soldier scowling at me expressing the hatred and contempt he felt
05:16for me as a representative of the West
05:23Reminders of the conflict between North and South are everywhere at what's left of
05:29Jiangdan station on the old Zhonggui railway now severed by the ceasefire line is a rusted
05:35locomotive that once carried tanks and ammunition to the front riddled with over a thousand bullet holes
05:43it's a striking reminder of a war in which two and a half million people died here too are monuments
05:51and memorials to the suffering of the past which also symbolize hopes for peace and reunification
05:59visitors are invited to ring this 21 ton peace bell made in traditional Korean style and I'm very happy to
06:09do
06:10so may it sound out across the world and make all of us feel its reverberations
06:24from close to the DMZ I'm taking a train south to the capital I'm beginning at Moonsan station to take
06:33a commuter
06:33service along the Gyeonggi to Gyeonggang line
06:58this railway like much of the network in South Korea is operated by CoRail a government-owned corporation
07:13in just an hour this train will take me to the heart of Seoul where I hope to get under
07:19the skin of the Republic of Korea
07:30when I was born at the end of the Korean War this was a land of ruins and refugees
07:36of widows and orphans of poor peasants toiling the land
07:41but its per capita wealth has grown to exceed Japan's and that of several Western European countries
07:49its televisions household appliances and vehicles are bought across the world
07:55and its culture is exported in the form of brilliant movies and irresistible K-pop
08:01using its excellent modern railway system I will discover how gleaming glass skyscrapers have risen from the ashes
08:12the city of Seoul sits on the river Han and is home to 10 million people
08:18covering 234 square miles it and its neighboring cities form a conurbation
08:25which is one of the most densely populated areas on earth
08:40which is one of the most densely populated areas on earth
08:44which is a land of
09:03Seoul station this is a good start to my journey
09:06an architectural statement made in glass and steel,
09:10the meeting point of national and city lines.
09:26This dynamic 21st-century metropolis has been transformed
09:31since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
09:34But in amongst the towering office blocks and shiny shopping malls,
09:40there are reminders of Korea's past and unique culture.
09:53The huge Cheongbukyong Palace was started around the time
09:59that this city was first the capital of Korea in 1394.
10:03And it is decorated in these many colours in a style that's known as Tancheong,
10:09which actually dates back many centuries more.
10:13This is a recreation.
10:15The palace was destroyed twice by the Japanese,
10:18once in 1592 and for a second time in the 20th century.
10:22But the fact that so many people flock here now,
10:26many of them in their traditional costume,
10:29suggests that in this buzzing, vibrant, modern city,
10:33there's still a longing for history.
10:37It also serves as a place for visitors to connect with their Korean heritage.
10:42Hello, Maya. I congratulate you on your beautiful costume.
10:46Thank you so much.
10:47Tell me why you're wearing it, please.
10:49Um, this is like the traditional king costume.
10:52And we're here at Gyeongbokgung, which is a staple piece of Korea's history.
10:57So I thought it would be like a good memory.
10:59Is this the first time you've dressed like this?
11:01Yeah, actually. And I really like it. It feels special.
11:04Well, you look special.
11:06Does this palace mean something to you?
11:07Is this an important part of your heritage?
11:09Of course, like, not just me, but, like, just every Korean,
11:13like, my parents, my grandparents.
11:14It's nice to have a palace like this,
11:16where, like, there's a lot of foreigners
11:17and they come and visit to see our history.
11:20Huge pleasure to talk to you. Thank you, thank you.
11:22Your Majesty.
11:43Seoul is South Korea's political and economic centre,
11:47where daily life moves at a relentless pace.
11:51But in the heart of the downtown area
11:53is a wonderful oasis of calm.
12:00The seven-mile-long Chonggichon stream,
12:03with walking paths, waterfalls and bridges,
12:07is part of an ambitious urban regeneration project
12:10conceived to improve the quality of life,
12:13and is hailed as a symbol of the city's renewal.
12:17Helping me to explore it
12:19is expat British journalist Raphael Rashid.
12:23Raphael, here in the heart of Seoul,
12:25we've got this fast-flowing stream
12:28with apparently very clean water.
12:30It's got fish in it.
12:31How long has this been like this?
12:33It's actually been here for only just over 20 years.
12:37Mm-hm.
12:37This place actually used to be an elevated highway,
12:41believe it or not,
12:42but eventually it was kind of falling to pieces
12:45and needed to either be repaired or removed,
12:50and it was decided in the early 2000s
12:54to basically get rid of it
12:56and restore the stream that once was underneath.
13:01What do we know about the history of this waterway?
13:03So the Chongachon stream in the late 19th century
13:08became quite putrid.
13:11It earned the nickname the city's cancer.
13:14After the devastation of the Korean War,
13:16you had thousands of refugees
13:19from what is now known as North Korea
13:21and created a kind of slum or shanty town.
13:24What a transformation.
13:26Why, at the moment,
13:27do we have lanterns and gongs hanging over the water?
13:30Soon it's going to be Buddha's birthday,
13:32so we have all these lanterns.
13:36This is, I would say, a kind of cultural corridor,
13:38and it's become a landmark of Seoul.
13:42This is such a cosmopolitan place
13:44with burger bars and Italian restaurants
13:46and you hear English spoken everywhere.
13:48But I have seen people in traditional costume.
13:52Is there a bit of a hankering for something
13:54which is authentically Korean, do you think?
13:56Yeah, absolutely.
13:57I think South Korea developed so rapidly,
14:01didn't really necessarily think about cultural identity.
14:03The likes of Samsung or LG,
14:06people assumed that they were Japanese companies.
14:09Now that South Korea has become such a global superpower,
14:13young people especially are rediscovering their past traditions
14:16and being proud of being Korean.
14:27Here in the capital,
14:29the extraordinary transformation of South Korea is unmistakable.
14:34Left devastated by the war of the 1950s,
14:38in under 80 years it has risen to become
14:41one of the world's most advanced industrialised nations
14:44and Asia's fourth largest economy.
14:47Seoul, with its brash advertising and its shopping malls,
14:52is a temple to capitalism and consumerism.
14:56And it's hard to remember that just 30 miles away
15:00there is a different system,
15:02a hard-line communist regime
15:05where living standards have not changed
15:07since the end of the Korean War
15:09and where the population is indoctrinated
15:12to hate Western values.
15:16With no independent media allowed inside North Korea,
15:20the BBC World Service, based in Seoul,
15:23broadcasts Korean-language radio programmes
15:25which, despite being banned by the regime,
15:28can be secretly received north of the border.
15:32Wung-bi Lee is the news editor.
15:34Wung-bi, what a pleasure, I'm Michael.
15:36Hello, Michael, great to meet you.
15:40Wung-bi, when did the BBC start to broadcast to North Korea
15:44and with what purpose?
15:45So, in 2017, BBC Korean service was launched
15:49and the purpose was simple, to provide balanced news
15:52because North Korean audience, obviously,
15:54they don't have access to outside information.
15:56Our programme is 15 minutes daily going late night
16:01and then repeats several times throughout the night.
16:04And given that they are so restricted and isolated,
16:07I assume that actually you have to explain quite a few things.
16:11That is correct because there are many international stories
16:15that North Korean audience have no idea about.
16:18Is it unlawful in their country for them to listen to the BBC?
16:21Not only the BBC, it is unlawful for North Koreans
16:25to listen to the outside foreign media.
16:28Interestingly, radio is probably one of the safest devices for them
16:32because, unlike USB or cell phones,
16:36radio is a real-time information and it doesn't leave any trace.
16:41Despite the comfortable lifestyle of Koreans here in the South,
16:45the plight of relatives and friends across the border
16:48is never far from their thoughts.
16:50Attempting to flee North Korea is punishable by death
16:53and many have died trying.
16:57However, since the partition,
16:58around 33,000 North Koreans have successfully escaped
17:02and settled in South Korea.
17:05In this downtown food hotspot,
17:08known as Dongdimun Grilled Fish Street,
17:10I am meeting one of these extraordinary escapees,
17:14Il-hyeok Kim, who fled North Korea in 2011.
17:17Il-hyeok Kim, a huge pleasure to meet you.
17:20Nice to meet you.
17:25Thank you very much indeed.
17:29How's Korean food?
17:31It's very good.
17:33Tell me, why did you leave North Korea?
17:36My father was arrested by North Korean regime
17:40because he used a phone to send my father's friends in South Korea.
17:48And that is a crime in North Korea.
17:51So he was arrested for four years in prison.
18:00He was arrested for four years in the South Korea.
18:02He was arrested for five years in the South Korea.
18:04And he said,
18:05He said,
18:06He said,
18:07He said,
18:08He said,
18:19He said,
18:23How old were you then?
18:26I was 16.
18:28This must have been very dangerous.
18:30He said,
18:31He said,
18:34He said,
18:36He said,
18:37He said,
18:39When you got to South Korea,
18:41were you surprised by what you saw here?
18:44He said,
18:45He said,
19:06Do you value your freedom now?
19:31What kind of work do you do today?
19:35I am an activist for North Korean human rights.
19:40I think that this will be one of the best.
19:49You are a very brave man.
19:51And it's a privilege to meet you.
20:02I am so lucky.
20:04I was born in a country where I was educated.
20:06I had the chance to make money.
20:08And I was free.
20:09And of those three,
20:11the most important is freedom.
20:29This afternoon,
20:30I am travelling around five miles south of the city centre
20:33to the district of Gangnam.
20:36Work began on Seoul's metro system in the 1970s,
20:40and it's now amongst the largest in the world.
20:44Seoul seems to me absolutely enormous,
20:48a never-ending line of high-rise buildings.
20:52In fact, there are a number of cities joined together
20:56with a combined population of 25 million.
21:00This, the Shinbundang metro line,
21:03has been built to relieve congestion between conurbations.
21:07It is the first line to have been designed,
21:10financed and constructed by the private sector.
21:14It's only the fifth subway line in the world
21:18to have been designed to be driverless.
21:23It's trains have a top speed of 110 kilometres per hour,
21:28and they've rushed between 16 widely spaced stations.
21:45I'm alighting at Gangnam Station.
21:46I'm alighting at Gangnam Station.
21:48I'm alighting at Gangnam Station.
22:05It's also the home of a Korean sport that has exploded around the world.
22:15During the 1940s and 50s,
22:17there emerged a distinctively Korean martial art,
22:21which has pretty quickly gained recognition.
22:24In 2000, it became an Olympic sport.
22:28In 2018, it was declared Korea's National Martial Art.
22:33Its name derives from Korean words for
22:36the foot, the fist and discipline.
22:40Taekwondo.
22:44Here at the Kukiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters,
22:47I'm meeting director of the demonstration team, Taeho Kim.
22:53Director Kim, hello.
22:55Hello. Nice to meet you.
22:57All these flags,
22:58are all these countries involved in Taekwondo?
23:08What is distinctively Korean about Taekwondo?
23:12Taekwondo is a full-time training.
23:16It's a difference between people and their heart
23:18and other martial artists.
23:21What are the virtues or qualities that it teaches?
23:25It's a sense of pride,
23:26patience, courage,
23:28courage,
23:30and courage.
23:31It's based on the mind of the world.
23:32If the world is the right way,
23:34it's the right way to use the right way,
23:35and it's the right way to achieve the right way.
23:39It's the purpose of doing the right way.
23:41Shall we go inside and maybe I can see some Taekwondo?
23:45Yes.
23:50In the dojang, or training hall,
23:54Derek Kim's black belt team is practising for the next event.
23:59Oh!
24:00Yeah!
24:10Yeah!
24:13Yeah!
24:15Yeah!
24:17Yeah!
24:17Yeah!
24:17Wow.
24:18Absolute self-control,
24:20absolute perfection, coordination,
24:21and terrifying yells.
24:29Oh!
24:31Kicks the board to pieces.
24:33Unreal.
24:43I don't want to meet that guy in a fight.
24:49With some trepidation,
24:51I've agreed to try out a few of the basics.
24:57Rarely have I felt such a fraud as now.
25:01Director Kim.
25:05Ladies and gentlemen, that was absolutely wonderful.
25:07Thank you so much.
25:18Please, try me.
25:20One.
25:21One.
25:22Two.
25:23Three.
25:24Three.
25:25Good.
25:25Okay, good.
25:31Ready?
25:32One, two, three.
25:37Left hand.
25:49Double punch.
25:51Double punch.
25:52Take one.
25:53Take one.
25:55Good.
25:56Left hand.
25:56Three punch.
25:57Take one, two, three.
26:00Take one, two, three.
26:05Take one, two, three.
26:09This is where I do a somersault and kick one of these in the air.
26:18One, two, ah!
26:22You can do it.
26:26One.
26:27One.
26:28Two.
26:30One.
26:32One.
26:33Two.
26:37One.
26:38ZD, no more.
26:39Three?
26:40Yeah, no more.
26:43One.
26:44Two.
26:45Two.
26:46One.
26:48Two.
26:49Two.
26:54Michael, you've succeeded in your victory,
26:56and I will be a member of the U.S.
27:00Now, I am a member of the U.S.
27:30The Republic of Korea has had to emerge from the ruins of the Korean War, and even more
27:37remarkably, it's had to endure 70 years of the constant threat of invasion by its northern
27:44neighbour. Given the fragility of the ceasefire, and how close the demilitarised zone is to
27:51Seoul, I find the calm normality of everyday life in the South remarkable. But it's not
27:59surprising that a popular pastime, and one that is distinctively Korean, is Taekwondo,
28:06a martial art.
28:09Next time, I love this old railway station, but I'm surprised to find this in Seoul. It
28:16doesn't look Asian.
28:19One step, two step, three step, four, five, six, seven, eight.
28:30So you don't have to worry about how much water you need to add to this recipe. It will automatically
28:34do it for you.
28:35That is insane.
29:07Transcription by CastingWords
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