Cheonggyecheon Berlin Square

By Shim Hyun-chul

With the winter chill in full swing, and the relations between North and South Korea entering a cold spell much like the frozen waters of Cheonggye Stream due to recent cross-border shelling, the Korean Peninsula is experiencing some of the highest tensions since the 1953 armistice.

Being one of the world’s only divided countries, Korea knows firsthand the pain of war and separation, and so the times call for peaceful, prudent solutions. It might help to search for possible solutions outside the peninsula.

Germany was able to stand back up on its own after a devastating world war, and South Korea was able to realize ``the miracle on the Han River,’’ becoming the only country in the world to become an aid-giving nation from an aid recipient.

In terms of reunification, unlike the fall of the Berlin Wall, the elimination of the demarcation line here seems an increasingly elusive one.

A part of the Berlin Wall can be found at the southern end of Cheonggye Stream’s Jangtong Bridge. These were installed in 2005 as a symbolic gesture wishing peace and reunification of the Koreas. The area, called Berlin Square, also features a traditional German-style street lamp that was fashioned over a century ago, as well as bear-shaped statues after the city’s representative animal.

The piece of wall, measuring 3.5 meters high and 3 meters wide, at first seems like a contemporary art installation. The West German side of the wall is covered with graffiti from the times praying for peace and reunification, while the East German part is empty, suggesting that access to the area had been restricted.