South Korea acknowledges Eff You's world domination

OK, OK, there are indications that South Korea actually first came by during the Instalanche, but I feel like they should get a full-fledged treatment that goes beyond the mere mention they got before. It's the Taiwan thing -- yeah, they've been here before, but I barely even noted it. I feel like each nation that visits Eff You should get some props, so here come the props for South Korea.

Officially known as the Republic of Korea, South Koreas' history is tangled up with Japan and what we now call North Korea:

The name Korea derives from Goryeo, itself referring to the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, the first Korean dynasty visited by Persian merchants who referred to Koryŏ (Goryeo; 고려) as Korea.[21] The term Koryŏ also widely became used to refer to Goguryeo, which renamed itself Koryŏ in the 5th century.[22] (The modern spelling, "Korea", first appeared in late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel.[22]). Despite the coexistence of the spellings Coreaand Korea in 19th century publications, some Koreans believe that Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardised the spelling on Korea, making Japan appear first alphabetically.[23]
After Goryeo fell in 1392, Joseon became the official name for the entire territory, though it was not universally accepted. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon (Old Joseon). In 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk (Korean Empire). The name Daehan, which means "great Han" literally, derives from Samhan (Three Hans). However, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted. There were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Daehan Minguk Imsi Jeongbu.
Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea (Daehan Minguk) was adopted as the legal name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, the informal term South Korea was coined, becoming increasingly common in the Western world. While South Koreans use Han (or Hanguk) to refer to the entire country, North Koreans use Joseon as the name of the country.

I've passed through South Korea several times, but only once have I spent any real time there. In December 1996, while I was an associate at a major D.C. law firm, I went to South Korea on business for a client. Thank God they let us bill for travel, or else I'd have had a really shitty week for billable hours. But I digress. As it turned out, the partner I travelled with and I had not all that much to do while we were there. We interviewed some of the client's employees, but we had a lot of down time. Because of who I was travelling with, that means that we went on the prowl for bars. We found them.

We found a good one in  Namdaemun market, which was established in the 1400s and provided me with pretty much all of the Christmas presents I gave in 1996:

Namdaemun Market is one of the oldest continually running markets in South Korea, and one of the largest retail markets in Seoul. The streets in which the market is located were built in a time when cars were not prevalent, so the market itself is not accessible by car. The main methods of transporting goods into and out of the market are by motorcycle and hand-drawn carts. It occupies many city blocks, which are blocked off from most car traffic due to the prevalence of parking congestion in the area.

I was there on business and did not bring a camera (yeah, kinda stupid in retrospect) but, fortunately, the internet often makes up for our mistakes of the past, at least when it comes to pictures. This is what Namdaemun (translated as Great Southern Gate) looked like then:

This was one of the original gates guarding Seoul. It was built in the late 1300s and served defense and ceremonial functions. About 6 years ago the temple on top burned. I don't know if they rebuilt it.

So we sat there by the window in a second-story bar, drinking beer and looking out over the marketplace, which looked kind of like this:

And this:

All in all, it was a good trip, and I would love to go back to Seoul. Perhaps in time. Until then, everybody give a warm Eff You welcome to South Korea. Could North Korea be far behind? Does anyone in North Korea have internet access?