This afternoon after class my students dropped me off at the Namsan Cable Car station and I took a ride up to the top of Mount Namsan.

At the top of Mount Namsan is the N Seoul Tower, which is a large communication tower. There was a lot happening around the tower and there was also a great view of the surrounding area. However, there was something else that really caught my eye.

All along the fences on the terrace that surrounds the tower are padlock after padlock.

The padlocks are left by sweethearts to symbolize their love. They are often left in pairs and the keys are thrown away to symbolize eternal or unbreakable love.

There was a big problem with people throwing the keys off the terrace and endangering people below, so a key disposal site where you can drop of your keys was added. People will also leave other mementos such as cell phone cases, key rings, hearts, etc.. You can see them in the picture above. There is also graffiti everywhere. Almost any surface has writing on it. Not only at this site, but all over the park. Graffiti seems to be a big problem here.

This picture really intrigued me. It was taken in one of the older sections of the wall. Here we have padlocks that are starting to rust and really show their age. Hopefully the love of the couples is standing the test of time better. You can also see that different padlocks are faring better than others. Perhaps one of the padlock companies should fund a study to see which ones hold up to the elements the best :-).

There is also a row of trees where the love padlocks are used as leaves. They look very interesting, almost like Christmas trees and also an interesting contrast to the real trees that are behind them.

Perhaps someday I will have to come back and leave a padlock when I have someone to leave one with me.

I will leave you with one more picture from Namsun Park.

They had some really nice interpretive signs at the park, but they were highly reflective. This made it difficult to take pictures of them so that I could remember the details of what I had seen. I decided to take advantage of the reflectivity for a self portrait and also some great silhouettes of trees.

Steven