Why Do Swallows Fly to the Korean DMZ?
28 comments
·June 28, 2025octaane
SlowTao
I came for the birds, stayed for the metaphor.
DonHopkins
I came for the flies, stayed for the swallows.
Dylan16807
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
>Top level subtweeting seems like a bit much for that.
And there you go with the bird puns!
dudeinjapan
Swallows, not sparrows. (Or did you also not read the article?)
ainiriand
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
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.
TeMPOraL
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.
wizardforhire
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
shellfishgene
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?
TeMPOraL
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.
wizardforhire
Lol! Got it all backwards like the whole of nk.
Let me fact check on my etch-a-sketch…
Yep, water still flows downhill.
bux93
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
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
> 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,....
1317
more accurate title (from the page <title> tag): Legacies of War and the Estuary Crossed by the Korean DMZ
ggm
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.
DonHopkins
I know an old lady
She swallowed a fly
But I don't know why
She swallow the fly
I guess she'll diehnlmorg
I just hope she doesn’t swallow a spider to catch that fly.
dudeinjapan
This is a beautiful example of a Hyangga. You, sir, know your classical Korean poetry. Bravo!
DonHopkins
何為吞蠅
蠅永同音一
化驚腸內舞
雙義笑開顏
歸路際無定
蠅永同音一
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.
燕過非武裝地帶
鐵雲如網隔青川
碧波照影尋舊隱
長空一點寫歸年
寥寥邊聲人未到
惟有飛羽訴和平
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.null
saretup
What do you mean? An African or a European swallow?
rkagerer
Because they don't care about politics and borders?
bravesoul2
Also maybe a DMZ makes a great nature reserve, untouched by human activity.
edgineer
And as the article points out, both politics and human activity contribute. Displaced people who live in the DMZ islands build nests for them.
dmoy
For animals not heavy enough to set off land mones
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.