[HN Gopher] Why Do Swallows Fly to the Korean DMZ?
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Why Do Swallows Fly to the Korean DMZ?
Author : gaws
Score : 89 points
Date : 2025-06-28 12:33 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.sapiens.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.sapiens.org)
| 1317 wrote:
| more accurate title (from the page <title> tag): Legacies of War
| and the Estuary Crossed by the Korean DMZ
| rkagerer wrote:
| Because they don't care about politics and borders?
| bravesoul2 wrote:
| Also maybe a DMZ makes a great nature reserve, untouched by
| human activity.
| dmoy wrote:
| For animals not heavy enough to set off land mones
| edgineer wrote:
| And as the article points out, both politics and human
| activity contribute. Displaced people who live in the DMZ
| islands build nests for them.
| DonHopkins wrote:
| I know an old lady She swallowed a fly But I don't
| know why She swallow the fly I guess she'll die
| dudeinjapan wrote:
| This is a beautiful example of a Hyangga. You, sir, know your
| classical Korean poetry. Bravo!
| DonHopkins wrote:
| He Wei Tun Ying Ying Yong Tong Yin Yi Hua
| Jing Chang Nei Wu Shuang Yi Xiao Kai Yan
| Gui Lu Ji Wu Ding Ying Yong Tong Yin Yi
| What is this "swallowing flies"? "Fly" and "shadow"
| share the same voice, always. In a flash it's startled
| -- inside it dances like starlight. The double pun
| draws us to smile. Homeward the light finds no single
| course. "Fly" and "shadow" -- one and the same sound.
| Yan Guo Fei Wu Zhuang Di Dai Tie Yun Ru Wang Ge Qing
| Chuan Bi Bo Zhao Ying Xun Jiu Yin Chang
| Kong Yi Dian Xie Gui Nian Liao Liao Bian Sheng
| Ren Wei Dao Wei You Fei Yu Su He Ping
| Barn swallows slip over the de-armed border. Iron-
| barbed clouds fence off jade riverbanks. Green waters
| cast their shapes -- seeking the homes of memory. A
| lone dot in endless blue writes our season of homecoming.
| At the silent frontier no footsteps fall. Yet wings
| alone carry the plea for peace.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| I just hope she doesn't swallow a spider to catch that fly.
| octaane wrote:
| You can tell who did and who did not read this article. In it,
| sparrows are a metaphor for Koreans and their descendants who
| were displaced by the Korean War.
| ainiriand wrote:
| It looks like it is too much to ask for some people to read the
| article before commenting. I wonder why they do this, are they
| being paid to comment? Are they bots?
| fragmede wrote:
| the linked site will be of varying quality. often the site's
| text will not be readable on $platform. complaining about
| that is gauche though, and the comments will often have
| something to reply to anyway.
| wizardforhire wrote:
| That and it's HACKER news. Basic infosec, never assume
| positive intent. Generally and by in large the site is
| incredibly well moderated and the current community is
| largely good about self policing... that said this site has
| bigger eyes on it than lets on...
|
| ...something something current affairs
| TeMPOraL wrote:
| Not to mention, half the time comment section here is much
| more informative than the original submission itself.
|
| Some submissions are really worth reading. Others are worth
| more as conversation starters. Of those, some are submitted
| (and upvoted) intentionally to be the latter.
| deadbabe wrote:
| The thrill of using Hackernews is commenting. If you spend
| your time reading articles, you have less time for articles
| you can comment on.
| dudeinjapan wrote:
| Swallows, not sparrows. (Or did you also not read the article?)
| SlowTao wrote:
| I came for the birds, stayed for the metaphor.
| DonHopkins wrote:
| I came for the flies, stayed for the swallows.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| You're for the birds?
| selimthegrim wrote:
| If they stay in the DMZ they might be if NK rolls in.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| Hehe I'm not sure what that expression means in the US
| but in Ireland it means "crazy"
| selimthegrim wrote:
| It means "worthless" in the US
| lloydatkinson wrote:
| Would have been more interesting than article #827492748283
| about Korea.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| Some comments can go either way. I only see one that really
| looks like they didn't read the article. Top level subtweeting
| seems like a bit much for that.
| DonHopkins wrote:
| >Top level subtweeting seems like a bit much for that.
|
| And there you go with the bird puns!
| ggm wrote:
| Migratory birds seek food and breeding. Nostalgic Koreans seek
| spirit of place and the road not taken.
|
| It's pleasing how many militarised zones are also oasis for
| wildlife. British SSI abound on tank practice areas, the
| fortified border with the FSU and neighbouring states has become
| a wildlife superhighway, the DMZ (such an odd name when the sole
| occupants are .. military) likewise.
|
| Wildlife as metaphor. Hope springs eternal.
| shellfishgene wrote:
| Kim asked me, "Do you know what the function of an estuary is?"
| [...] "This is where salt and freshwater meet and purifies the
| water so that it can flow as freshwater into the country," Kim
| explained. "Isn't that remarkable?"
|
| That would indeed be remarkable if it were true, do I just not
| understand what this is supposed to mean?
| wizardforhire wrote:
| Lol! Got it all backwards like the whole of nk.
|
| Let me fact check on my etch-a-sketch...
|
| Yep, water still flows downhill.
| TeMPOraL wrote:
| At face value, ignoring its role as a metaphor, it doesn't make
| sense - it's literally _the opposite_ of what 's happening.
|
| When you mix salt water and freshwater together, you don't get
| more freshwater - you turn freshwater _into_ salt water.
| Replace "fresh" with "clean" and "salt" with "dirty" to make
| it more obvious.
| skeezyboy wrote:
| estuaries are where freshwater leaves the country lol
| hinkley wrote:
| They're also where the tide comes in, and estuaries slow down
| water surges.
|
| So up to a point they keep salt water from fully encroaching.
| saretup wrote:
| What do you mean? An African or a European swallow?
| hinkley wrote:
| As it turns out, European.
| bux93 wrote:
| TIL there are people living inside the Korean DMZ. Or, at least,
| I think that's what the article implies. It raises a lot of
| questions, none of which are answered by the article. A quick
| chat says there's no permanent inhabitants in the Han estuary
| neutral zone, and that there's a South Korean village and a North
| Korean (Potemkin?) village in the DMZ somewhere else.
| roel_v wrote:
| Yeah there's an SK village inside the DMZ, I had lunch there
| last year on a tour. It's both wild and utterly unremarkable at
| the same time. There's a high fence around it, and you're
| warned not to go over that fence as there are land mines around
| it (as if someone would climb a, what, 2.5m fence while on a
| tourist tour?). The thing I found most remarkable is that house
| prices there are not much less than in Seoul proper (that's
| what I was told at least), which just seemed utterly absurd -
| what market forces could drive prices of a farmer village
| (because that's what it is, really - although the houses looked
| nice) surrounded by landmines and that is a pain in the ass to
| get in and out of to that of a first world metropolis? And
| although one after the other bus with tourists drove into the
| small parking lot, there was only a canteen for lunch (with
| canteen quality food) and a souvenir shop that is described at
| best as 'functional'.
| graemep wrote:
| > s if someone would climb a, what, 2.5m fence while on a
| tourist tour?
|
| You seriously underestimate human stupidity. People stand on
| cliff edges to take selfies, pose precariously next to works
| of art, walk into people's home to have a look,....
| ridgewell wrote:
| >The thing I found most remarkable is that house prices there
| are not much less than in Seoul proper (that's what I was
| told at least), which just seemed utterly absurd - what
| market forces could drive prices of a farmer village (because
| that's what it is, really - although the houses looked nice)
| surrounded by landmines and that is a pain in the ass to get
| in and out of to that of a first world metropolis?
|
| You are literally paid to live there and be a human flagpole
| through a tax-free salary of $82,000 USD for agriculture (as
| of 2013, likely higher now), as well as free education,
| agricultural incentives and preferential tax treatment. [1]
| On top of that, there's only a handful of homes, effectively
| amounting to an artificial housing scarcity.
|
| [1] https://modernfarmer.com/2013/11/guarded-growing-farm-
| centri...
| roel_v wrote:
| Oh that's interesting, my tour guide didn't tell me that :)
| OJFord wrote:
| > A quick chat says
|
| Does that mean like 'a quick search' but with ChatGPT or
| similar? Haven't come across that before and I don't think I
| like it...
| battle-racket wrote:
| "let me relay potentially made-up information because I'm too
| lazy and/or incompetent to read an article"
| salvage7111 wrote:
| how else would the coconuts end up there?
| sim7c00 wrote:
| what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow flying over
| the DMZ?
| analog31 wrote:
| Because Capistrano was booked?
| mullen wrote:
| It's too expensive and too crowded. DMZ is such a better deal.
| sim7c00 wrote:
| what a wonderfuly written article imho.
|
| i first thought it was about the birds only, not knowing any
| history of the region really, but its nearly tied into eachother
| via metaphors, weaving them together to describe a single thing
| (human experiences within this conflict zone, i think?).
|
| Likely i understand only half of it, knowing nothing about Korea
| or Koreans, but from what i taste in the article, i'd like to
| learn more.
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(page generated 2025-07-02 23:01 UTC)