Seoul: War Memorial of Korea

After failing to see the olympics, we heard about "Team USA Winterfest" held at the army base, Yongsan in Seoul.  We decided to make a staycation out of the weekend and stay at the Dragon Hill Lodge at Yongsan.  We left right after church and checked into the hotel.  We had a few hours of daylight left, so we decided to check out the War Memorial of Korea, which is right outside Yongsan.

As you walk onto the grounds, you are immediately greeted by huge old military planes!  The kids loved seeing the planes, especially little Monster, who kept pointing and yelling, "plane, plane, look mommy, plane!"  Some of the planes had stairs so you could walk up and look into the cockpit.

After seeing the planes, we then went to the main walkway and were surrounded by huge statues of military men in bronze. The statues depicted the difference faces of war.  It was a humbling and special experience to see the statues and to think about the many wars that this little peninsula has undergone.

In the center of the bronze statues was the Korean War Monument.  This one looks almost like a spearhead cut in half.

There were so many more outdoor exhibits!  Next we saw a huge battle ship!  Kevin took the girls up to the ship and were able to explore, go into the different rooms, and walk around the deck.

We then continued along the grounds and saw many other exhibits which included tanks, missiles, boats, trucks, and cannons.

After spending more then an hour seeing all the neat exhibits outside, we found our way into the museum.  You walk into the museum by walking through the Galleries of the Enshrine Monument.  This is a really neat hallway that has plaques all over the walls with names of fallen soldiers and airmen.

The inside of the War Memorial of Korea is huge!  There must be four or five stories!  Each floor has so much to see.  I don't think we even saw half of what the Museum had to offer!  The best part, is that the museum is free and we can go back any time we are in Seoul.

There were huge Korean Drums decorated with amazingly beautifully bright art work.

We also saw models of war ships.

There were many bronze sculptures of the past Empires.

The kids really loved the outdoor exhibits, they did OK with the inside exhibits. There is so much to see and so much Korean War history.  I would like to go back, without kids, so I can take the time to read the plaques and learn more about Korea history, rather then just rush through and see all the cool boats and statues.  The kids asked if we can go back when its warmer so they can spend more time seeing all the stuff outside, so I'm pretty sure we will be making a second trip to the War Memorial of Korea!