Chuseok isn’t a holiday in Australia, of course, so I spent the day working, listening to Korean music or semi-watching Korean hiking videos for most of the time. Youtube suggested two videos of old photos of Seoul, dating from 1884 and 1984 respectively. (A lot happened in between!)
The first is on the 대한여지도 Korean Geographic channel, and has photos taken by Percival Lowell. (There are other similar videos – follow the links.)
If you can’t see a video above, try here, or search for eg ‘youtube korean geographic seoul 1884 percival lowell’.
The second is the 복원왕 Restoration King channel, and has colourised photos. (There are other similar videos – follow the links.)
If you can’t see a video above, try here, or search for eg ‘youtube restoration king life in seoul 1984’.
The next video I watched was from 1979, and the Yeouido 63 Building was conspicuously absent (it was started in 1980). While I was watching it, I had the sudden thought that it would be interesting to compare then and now (if possible). The screenshot for the second video above should be relatively easy, but the screenshot for the first video is probably under an apartment building or department store.
I also remembered seeing a video at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza of the view from Namsan, with the buildings risings up animatedly over time.
Never Pure and Rarely Simple 