Korea for the Curious Seoul

On my second trip, I got a real sense of the country and understood a little of what this very complex society is like.

I FIRST WENT to Korea over a decade ago at the invitation of the Korean government. It was one way to see the country: state guest, guide, interpreter, limo with driver, meetings with senior officials and formal dinners in fancy restaurants. Though I went back a few years later for a conference, it was the first trip that stayed imprinted in my mind. I had been to Japan just before I went to Korea and some of the similarities between the two countries struck me as interesting.

Then, a year or so ago, my friend Vikram Doraswami became India’s Ambassador to Korea and insisted I visit Seoul again. Vikram gave my name to the indefatigable Choi Jung Hwa who runs Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), which holds an annual summit at which around 30 people from around the world are invited to gather in Seoul, see the sights, eat the food and discuss Korea’s place in the world.

The delegates are always a mixed bunch and while some countries send interesting people, the representation from others is well, not terribly high-level or interesting. Vikram behat it was time for India to up its game and suggested to hat they invite me. (Though on what grounds he believed was qualified to represent India remains a mystery.)

But I am glad he did so. This was the first trip where I got real sense of Korea and understood a little of what this very complex society is like. That’s also due to Choi Jung Hwa who organised a wonderful, if somewhat exhausting, programme for delegates and to my old pal Tony Spaeth, who I know from his time in India for The Wall Street Journal and Time and who now edits a newspaper in Seoul. Tony is a witty and incisive observer of Korean society. And of course to Vikram and his wife Sangeeta who were kind enough to spend hours showing me sides of Seoul that a casual visitor may not always see.