By John Burton
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If you asked my wife, she would say she preferred to live in Washington. She enjoys the green suburban atmosphere of Arlington, Virginia, which lies just across the Potomac River from the nation's capital.
Arlington is becoming to Washington what Gangnam has become to Seoul ― an area of rising prosperity. It is a trend that will accelerate now that Amazon has announced that it will put one of its second headquarters operations in the Crystal City area of the town.
We live in a four-room townhouse that is much more spacious than our previous, rather cramped apartment in Seoul, although the rent is not much more. Commuting into D.C. is a quick six stops away on the metro.
Moreover, my wife still has all comforts of home close by. She can buy Korean food products, from ramen and kimchi to snacks and Maxim instant coffee, at one of the Korean-owned H Mart grocery stores, named after the phrase "han areum" (one armful of groceries), that have spread across the U.S. and Canada.
Northern Virginia is also home to the largest Korean community in the D.C. area. My wife has made new Korean friends through church and community groups and they often gather at one of the numerous Korean restaurants in the area.
One sign of the increased Korean influence in Arlington is that the Republican congressional candidate in the recent midterm elections was a young Korean-American, although he lost in the heavily Democrat district.
I share some of my wife's favorable attitudes toward Washington. After all, I have lived here longer than any other place except for Seoul. I attended George Washington University and began my career as a journalist on Capitol Hill before leaving in the early 1980s to spend more than 30 years abroad, mainly in Asia.
So returning was a bit of a homecoming. In some ways, the city hasn't changed much. It retains its appealing European feel with its low-rise city landscape and greenery, while hosting some of the best museums in the U.S.
But it has become much more gentrified ― and thus more expensive ― since I left and in the process has lost some of its urban buzz. Washington has always been a rather conservative city in manner due to the predominance of government, but I feel it has become even more so over the years.
I was reminded of this when I recently made a brief return visit to Seoul, the first since I left two years ago. What immediately struck me was the vibrancy of the city, which I miss. Of course being home to 25 million people ― compared to the 6 million or so in the greater Washington metro area ― gives the Seoul region more scope in terms of activity, whether it is business, government or culture.
But Seoul also feels more alive and creative, thanks largely to the dynamic character of the Koreans themselves. I have watched the spectacular transformation of the city ― another miracle on the Han ― over the last 30 or so years.
When I first arrived in 1992, Seoul was rather a grey city that reminded me of Communist-era East European capitals, such as Warsaw. But it is now one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia ― and indeed the world. It boasts a full range of cultural events and a bewildering multitude of innovative restaurants and bars that put those in Washington to shame. It is little wonder that almost anything Korean ― whether it is food, TV dramas, pop music, fashion or cinema ― has become trendy around the world.
What also makes Seoul so appealing ― at least to foreigners like me ― is the hospitality of Koreans, who treat guests, whether long-term or short-term, with respect. I contrast this with what I experienced when I returned from Seoul to the U.S., where I and other passengers were interrogated by surly immigration officials and then my luggage was roughly fought over by taxi drivers competing for my business. Welcome to America!
I realize that I have enjoyed in Seoul what amounts to a form of "white privilege" in the sense that a Westerner is granted an exemption from some of the stifling social rules that Koreans apply to themselves. It is for the same reason that my wife enjoys living in the U.S. since she can escape some of the conservative social conventions, including the status of women, that she had to live with in Korea. We prefer each other's country because we enjoy a greater sense of freedom in living outside our respective homelands.
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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