My First Visit to Moscow
During the Cold War era, going to Moscow was like going to the moon. In
1990, I was able to go to Moscow in order to attend a conference there.
The country was still the Soviet Union. Here are some of the photos I took
while in Moscow.
- Red Square (1990). Soviet Union's Address No.1.
- St. Basil's Basilica at the Red Square.
This Cathedral was built on the order of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) during the
period 1555-1560. He was very happy to be able to expand the Russian territory
to the Volga River by conquering the city of Kazan.
- Red Square quards after their
duty at the Lenin Mausoleum.
- Lenin's Statue at the Red Square
park.
- Bolshoi Theater
near the Red Square.
Czar's Seat in
the Theater.
- Moscow Subway (1990). Russians are
very proud of Moscow's subway system. It was indeed great and it still is.
- Pepsi Cola. In 1990, the Cold War was beginning
to melt down. Moscowvites started wearing blue jeans and drinking Pepsi Cola.
This photo was taken at Moscow's Arbat Street as the street sign shows.
- Soviet Army Uniforms (1990). Alas, I spotted
Soviet soldiers. The Soviet soldiers who came to Korea in 1945 were wearing the
uniforms looking exactly like these. During this 45-year period, Americans changed
their uniforms several times, but Soviets did not. I was indeed happy to see
those uniforms again.
- Kitaisky Restaurant. Chinese Restaurant
in Moscow. I went there with my Russian friend. It was his first time to
go to a Chinese restaurant. The Soviet communist system had a strict
control of restaurants. In 1990, there was only one Chinese restaurant
in Moscow with eight million people.
Koreans I met in Moscow
When I went to Moscow for the first time, I was intensely interested in seeing
fellow Koreans. First of all, there would be Koreans from North Korea where
I spent my childhood years. I was also interested in seeing Koreans who were
born in Kazakhstan and Uzbeckistan. I knew many Koreans were forced to go
there by Joseph Stalin in 1936 from the Vladivostok area in the Far East.
- Koreans from the North. I met many Koreans
from the North earing Kim Il-Sung bottons, but most of them refused to talk to me.
They thought I was a CIA agent from the South. Yet, I was able to find a group
of very friendly Koreans from the North. They did not mind having a photo with me.
- Pyongyang Restaurant
- Dmitriy Pak
- Victor Kim
- Iraida Kim
-
Korean Refugees from the North
