South Korea in 1976
Photographs by Todd Smith
South Korea in 1976
Photographs by Todd Smith
In the spring of 1976, my best friend Jim and I decided to take advantage of a unique opportunity to travel to Korea and Japan for a period of a little over two months. Jim’s brother, Mike, a friend from high school, had been living in Seoul for the past several years on a Fulbright grant to study Korean history and culture. And so we had the advantage of a free place to stay as well as a simpatico tour guide who spoke fluent Korean. Also, Mike’s buddy Joe was friends with the US ambassador’s attache, a connection which allowed us the added benefit of diplomatic immunity from curfews and checkpoint searches from armed guards. At the time, Korea was going through the genesis of massive industrial and urban growth, much like Japan did during the 50s. Tourism was virtually non-existent, and in fact the only other Americans we saw were military personnel. We therefore were an unfamiliar sight to the local population, who for the most part, were friendly, open-hearted and to my great delight, more than willing to be photographed.
Please pardon the lack of captions on these photos. Practically all of the urban images were taken in Seoul but unfortunately the names of small rural villages are absent from my memory. I hope you enjoy this compact visual time capsule of an ancient yet modern culture.
Todd Smith Asheville, 2024
