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Description

War Memorial of Korea (Seoul).

In the Joseon Dynasty, the fastest communication system in Korea was a wide network of beacons, which could project smoke in the daytime or fire at night to inform the capital city Hanseong (now Seoul) of the military situation in distant provinces.

1 signal: normal situation

2 signals: enemy spotted

3 signals: enemy approaching border

4 signals: enemy crossing border

5 signals: army fighting enemy

As someone familiar with both The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and also as railfan who knows about whistles and other signals, I enjoyed learning about a country outside the West using such a well-developed communication system. The scale runs in the opposite direction from the American DEFCON system, where 1 is the most severe situation and 5 the least severe.

Description

War Memorial of Korea (Seoul).

In the Joseon Dynasty, the fastest communication system in Korea was a wide network of beacons, which could project smoke in the daytime or fire at night to inform the capital city Hanseong (now Seoul) of the military situation in distant provinces.

1 signal: normal situation

2 signals: enemy spotted

3 signals: enemy approaching border

4 signals: enemy crossing border

5 signals: army fighting enemy

As someone familiar with both The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and also as railfan who knows about whistles and other signals, I enjoyed learning about a country outside the West using such a well-developed communication system. The scale runs in the opposite direction from the American DEFCON system, where 1 is the most severe situation and 5 the least severe.