TITLE: In Donghae

Donghae is a city located in Gangwon Province, South Korea. Two or three times a year, I board a train and head there. Initially, my reason was simple: it was the farthest destination accessible by train from Ulsan, the city where I live. I just wanted to escape—to a place where I knew no one. Without the presence of others to mirror me, I become, in a sense, pure. I see what I wish to see; I feel what I wish to feel. Illusions, trash, ruins, stray cats—whatever it may be, in that exact moment, it confronts me with absolute truth. And when I leave Donghae, I always return empty-handed.

AUTHOR: NamHo Kim (Korea, Republic of)