Underground Bunker

During the Korean War, when North Korea occupied about 70 percent of South Korea, my late grandfather, who lived in a small city Kumi, had to hide himself in an underground bunker not to be caught. He stayed there for a while and was able to avoid being a bullet bait for the North Korean army.

That’s how I understand of an underground bunker. You hide yourself or your loved ones from enemies. Or a bunker can be a place where you make top secret strategies in urgent circumstances such as war-time as the name suggests. Usually you don’t have a lot of communication here with outside people, especially with regular people. You command and they have to follow.

War Room or Show Room?

So, I heard about the President Lee’s underground bunker first time a couple of weeks ago around Jan. 8, 2009, I just figured Lee Myung-bak couldn’t get settled with “Castle MB”, or better known “Myungbak Barricade” or “Myungbak Sansung”. He needed a more secure place where he could hide himself and come up with commands with which he could protect his friends, the haves and fight against his enemies, the have-nots.

They call the bunker the “War-Room” because they want to take “pre-emptive” actions against this global economic “war”. Well, should I try to understand his intention? Maybe it’s good in the sense that at least he has realized the economic crisis is real, unlike last year when he was still in denial.

I mean, the place isn’t a matter here. You can call it a war-room or an emergency economy situation room, and you can locate it underground or on the rooftop of Blue House, Chung Wa Dae, wherever, as long as they come up with vital, efficient, and “legitimate” plans through “legitimate procedures” that will create jobs, stimulate economy, and benefit all Koreans, not only the riches.

But sadly, I have a serious doubt on their war-room. I can’t help it but it looks like a “Show Room” to me. He used to dig the land to build buildings in his previous job, why not now go underground?*

* Lee Myung-bak ran Hyundai Contruction for years.

Anyway, still I wasn’t that upset at the president’s eccentric idea about the bunker at the beginning. My worst comment was: oh, it was time for another joke, nothing surprising there.

So what strategies have they come up with?

Soon after they went into the bunker, they started to strangle Koreans, I mean, ordinary Koreans, such as Minerva who merely expressed his idea and opinions about the country’s economy on the Internet or teachers who wanted their students to have real education, not test-is-everything-type education. And now, it includes people who are forced to leave their lifelong business or grounds because of the city’s fancy development plans.

No wonder they don’t allow any outsiders including reporters to come inside the bunker.

Highly Trained Commandos against Protesters in Yongsan, Seoul

Jan.20, 2009, about 1500 special commandos on 40 citizens, a shipping container, freezing water from firetruck hoses, dark night, yet no ambulance…

Six people, including one police person, were killed and twenty three injured after Seoul special police commandos moved in to quell protest against the city’s re-development project.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 under Disgrace To Korea.