태종대 (Taejongdae)

The name, Taejongdae, comes from Shilla Kingdom's 29th King Taejongmuyeol-wang (태종무열왕), 654-661. He came here often to practice his archery.

Big fat friendly cats are everywhere. I guess that goes with territory. People around here are much friendlier too compared to people in other parts of Korea. I think it has to do nice climates and its natural beauty have some effects on people.

My wife started calling me, Gomsol and Haesong. I kind of like these names very much.

This temple has some foreign aspects to its architecture. Sri Lankan may be because there is supposed to be the Buddha's sari that was gifted by Sri Lanka.

We should never forget our history. If these patriots were not there fighting North Communists, there is probably no Republic of Korea. And don't forget all those US Marines along with the UN armed forces and ROK forces who helped repel North Korea and the Chinese winter counterattacks and their sacrifices with their young lives. As a former US Marine, I learned in boot camp about Chosin Reservoir. In the battle, US Marines, 1st Marine Division, were forced to withdrew all the way from Chosin Reservoir near the Chinese border to all the way to Wonsan by foot and to Busan by ship. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese Red Army and US Marines and US Army were killed by not bullets but frostbite and freezing. 

If we didn't have these people's sacrifice, then we probably would not have the peace, prosperity, and freedom we enjoy here today in South Korea. This is why learning one's history is so important. Those who forget their histories will pay dearly for a repeat of the same history. There was a Korean Special Forces training camp here that was made up of young men from North Korea who had missions to infiltrate into the North Korean enemy's lines and carry out attacks within the enemy's territory, effectively tying down two North Korean Army Divisions during the Korean War. These Korean Special Forces were made up of about 460 fighters. Only 30 members managed to survive after the war.

my favorite bird - 까치