"Passion For Korea" Tour
Day 15 (April 19, 2006)
The National Folk Museum of Korea www.nfm.go.kr
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The National Folk Museum of Korea (left) is on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace.
The museum's exhibits show the life of Koreans through the years. In the Bronze Age, Koreans
lived in teepees, just like American Indians.
The Gyeongbokgung Palace was originally built in 1592 by King Taejo, the first King of the
Joseon Dynasty, a year after Seoul became the capital. It was rebuilt in 1865, but later
destroyed during the Japanese occupation. The government is now slowly rebuilding the
palace. The King's throne (above left) is shown in all its spendor. Looking out beyond the
front gate of the palace (above right), you can see the high-rise buildings of Seoul.
Each year in April, yellow dust from the Gobi Desert in China blows across the Yellow Sea
to Seoul. This year, Seoul experienced the worst yellow dust storm in recent history. We
missed the worst part of the storm, but residual yellow dust in the air still caused problems for
some of us. We wore blue cloth masks to filter out the dust.