Han River

A civilian crossed the MDL on the Central Western Front in July 2025.

Another was rescued from the Han River neutral zone.

The Han

River one is interesting because it's a water route through the DMZ itself.

Let's get into it.

So we're going to talk about today cat walking on the frozen Han River, a.k.a. Kong Kong.

Okay.

So, Maureen, this is Kong Kong.

Oh, beautiful.

And that is her walking on the frozen Han River.

So back in 2021, there was a cold snap in Seoul, Korea in December.

And it froze the Han River, like the whole river frozen solid.

And a lot of foreigners do come to Korea to enjoy the many mountains around the country, many of which are actually very close to Seoul.

And so in just a couple of hours, you're standing on a granite peak overlooking the entire city and the Han River that cuts through the heart of Seoul.

I am, or I was, a massive fan of Squid Game, which was on Netflix for three series and was just absolutely fascinating.

I believe BTS are like the biggest pop band in the world, a K-pop band.

So fried chicken, one of the most iconic foods in K-dramas.

Another one is ramen, especially by the Han River.

Instant ramen, it's cheap, quick.

noodle dish and a lot of times it is eaten out of outdoors beside the han river they have a whole setup where you can go and pick out your noodles and cook them right there and eat them by the river so this was showed up as like a casual date night in a recent drama my rural nemesis Another iconic thing you see in K-dramas is soju.

It's a clear, distilled spirit, and it's served in green bottles.

And it happens a lot that you see this in dramas where work colleagues go out to eat a meal after work, or sometimes romantic pairings, friends, they'll meet up.

This is how...

The, now Wikipedia buries the lead on what the actual impetus for this thing is, but, uh, the way that they put it is a food stand vendor, Park Gang-du, whose daughter, Hyun-seo, is kidnapped by a creature dwelling around the Han River in Seoul.

So the lead's buried a little bit 'cause this movie begins with a bit of corporate nonsense.

Some corporate shill from America, of course, dumps out a bunch of toxic waste into the Han River, which creates this wonderful creature.

[laughs]

Yes, he did the classic, uh, white guy in power move, right?

She's out digging bodies out of marshes, okay? You need to not be here.

Oh, was it these episodes that she takes a body out of probably the Han River? And then leaves a glove behind and is like,

probably wasn't me that did it, though, guys.

Girl, that's so sloppy.

fancy 12-course meals that are specialty made for their every whim.

And it's like, you knew that and you still were like, do you want to go hang? Taco Bell? Taco Bell? Right.

Do you want ramen by the Han River? We could go do that.

It's like, did you think they would want that? Why are you proposing this at all? Why do you feel you have to be friends with them at all? I just maybe it's like a broken part of me that thinks that some relationships are transactional.

At least they've got hatching covered.

Otters reclaim Han River after decades.

Five families spotted frolicking.

While humans debate climate policy, otters just move back in, proving nature's resilience is farser than bureaucratic paperwork.