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WELCOME TO KUNSAN!
Mascots of Kunsan City
Map of Korea
Opening of Kunsan Port (1899):
Originally a poor fishing village, Kunsan underwent rapid development when the
modern port was opened on May 1, 1899. As a "treaty" port, it was opened with
international approval and became part of the cat-and-mouse games being played
by the colonial powers in Korea. If any colonial power thought of seizing any
of the "treaty" ports by force, the capture might involve grave political
difficulties.
The Fuji Co. started to reclaim the tidal lands and the lands were segregated
with the best lands for the Japanese -- as it was a Japanese project -- and the
remainder left to the Koreans. The Japanese resided in an area laid out in a
grid pattern, while the Koreans lived in sections with haphazard lanes or on
the sides of the hills in mud-wattle houses. Koreans slowly lost control of
their lands. Korea's and Kunsan's fate was sealed by the Japanese victory in
the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
Russo-Japanese War Battleground (Colliers Magazine: February 20, 1904)
(CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE)
Note: Notice that Chejudo is called "Quilpaert Island" and "Port Hamilton" is
shown below Masan.
Also notice that the "Uncomplete Railroad" stretching from Fusan (Pusan) to
Seoul.
Kunsan is one of the opened "treaty" ports on the west coast.
Excerpt from the Colliers' article (Feb 20, 1904)
The Theatre of War
by Cyrus C. Adams. The article gives some insight into the physical
conditions and almost complete lack of infrastructure in Korea. It also shows
how Korea's fate was being determined by outside nations...not Korea. It also
shows that the Japanese immigration was in full-swing with the harbor of
Won-san (Gen-san) "practically a Japanese town as its inhabitants are primarily
Japanese immigrants."
Warfare Difficult in Korea
-- Northern Japan is thinly settled, most of the millions of inhabitants
living in the provinces of the southern two-thirds of the empire. The result
is that a vital blow could not be inflicted upon the empire in the north.
Anyhow, an invasion by Russia seems unlikely to occur.
It is repeatedly predicted that Korea will be the chief land base of the war.
The penisula is plainly in view from the large Japanese island of Tsu-shima in
the Korean Strait. A more unpromising field for military operations could be
imagined. The penisula is covered with mountains and difficult of penetration.
There are no made roads, except in the neighborhood of two or three major
towns. The tracks are mere bridle paths, and sometimes only the rocky bed of a
mountain torrent.
Steamboats attempt to ply only on two of the navigable rivers. Occasionally
small steamers ascend the Naktong River from Fusan to Miriang, fifty miles, and
small vessels ply on the Han River to within three miles of Seoul, the capital,
from its port, Chemulpo. The distressing lack of internal communication should
stimulate the building of railroads, but the progress in that direction has
been very slow. The road from Fusan to Seoul, a Japanese enterprise, is only
in operation a few miles out of Seoul and twenty-five miles out of Fusan. The
Japanese regret their dilatoriness, and are now bending every energy to
complete the connection between the two towns. The French have a concession to
connect Seoul with Wi-ju by rail, but the work has scarcely begun. The only
completed railroad, built by the Americans, but now owned by Japanese, unites
Seoul with Chemulpo.
Korea has only a handful of troops and no fortification worthy of mention.
Every considerable port is a treaty port, and thus its capture might involve
political difficulties. It is fortunate for Japan that Russia did not succeed
in her strenuous efforts to secure Masanpo on the south coast for a naval
station in Korea waters, though Great Britain occupied Port Hamilton in 1885 to
anticipate a Russian seizure.
The east and west coast ports differ greatly in character. On the east coast,
the mountains extending in many places to the sea, are pierced at several
points by fine harbors, with only a weak tide and open year round. They are
suitable for the entrance of large warships. The west coast ports, on the
other hand, are nothing but shallow and tortuous inlets shielded by small
islands and alternately filled or emptied by tides that rises twenty-five to
forty feet. They are not suitable for naval operations. The largest steamers
can not enter Chemulpo harbor, and small vessels caught in the outgoing tides
are propped on the mud flats till the tide comes in again. The harbors of
Fusan and Won-san (Gen-san) -- practically a Japanese town as its inhabitants
are primarily Japanese immigrants -- occupying deep and sheltered bays, could
provide anchorage for immense armadas, and so could the still undeveloped
harbor of Masanpo. But their hinterland would afford very difficult traveling
for armies and the poverty-stricken farmers provide little more than enough to
supply their own needs.
The map shows the position of Chinese territory between Korea Bay and the Gulf
of Liaotung, which is leased to Russia for twenty-five years, and is dominated
at the south end by the naval station of Port Arthur, in the harbor in which
the first battle of this war was fought. All facilities for the coaling and
repair of ships are provided here. The Japanese captured Port Arthur in the
war with China, but the successful pressure the powers exerted to compel the
restoration of this strategical postion to China, had the final result of
delivering it into the hands of Russia.
(For the full text, go
Collier's 1904 article
.)
After Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). China declared
Korea as "independent" instead of being one of its "vassal" states. The
rivalry between Japan and Russia grew culminating in the Russo-Japanese War
(1904-1905). Russia's loss opened the door for Japan to exert more and more
control over Korea as a Protectorate. As Japanese control increased, the
Korean people held over 2,000 small uprisings between 1907-1909. Over 17,000
Koreans died in these uprisings.
The Americans and Great Britain gave Japan a free hand at annexing Korea. A
secret treaty was signed where Russia acquiesced to Japan's annexation of
Korea. On August 16, 1910, General Terauchi presented the draft treaty of
annexation to the Korean ministers. Following this, he mobilized troops,
surounded the palace, and forced Emperor Sunjong to approve the Treaty of
Annexation dated August 22, 1910, which was already signed by Prime Minister Yi
Wan-yong and Terauchi. This document is openly disputed as a forgery today.
Regardless, this brought about an end to the Yi dynasty and the demise of
Korean independence.
Click here to view
Japanese Protectorate Treaty of 1904;
Agreement of 1905; & Annexation Treaty of 1910
Kunsan became a Japanese city. Under the Japanese system, the eight provinces
were changed into 23 prefectures (bu). The city was referred to as "Kunsan Bu"
starting in April 1, 1914 under Japanese colonial rule until it was renamed
"Kunsan City" on August 15, 1948. It was also referred to as "Gunzan".
After 1910, Japanese immigrants were flooding into the area with the
encouragement of the Japanese government -- and gaining control of all the
choicest arable lands. Whether there was coercion in gaining control of the
Koreans' land in Kunsan is only conjecture, but the documented cases of
Japanese extortion and strong-arm methods in other areas of Korea would
probably indicate it happened in Kunsan as well.
After Korea was annexed a rail link for freight was established by a branch
line to Iri (Iksan) which in turn was linked to Taejon -- at that time Korea's
third most important railroad junction (after Seoul and Pusan). The original
dock area with warehouses was built up in Kunsan harbor.
On the map below, the title is "Plan for the General Foreign Settlement at
Kunsan". It was signed by M. Hayashi, Japanese Minister; Horace Allen, Minister
for the United States of America; Collin de Plancy, Charge d'Affaires for
France; J.N. Jordan, Charge d'Affaires for Chinese interests; and E. Stein,
Charge d'Affaires for Russia; F. Reinsdorf, Minister for Germany on 10 October
1899. This indicates the concurrence of all major nations to the opening of
Kunsan as a port. In 1899, everything was a balancing act as the world powers
struggled for dominance in Korea.
Map of Kunsan City (1899)
(Click on map to enlarge)
(From the
Kunsan City Government
)
From the map, one can see the original rough plan to lay out a city. Though
the map is a rough draft, one can get the idea of how the Japanese intended to
exploit the city...and where the center of the city would be located. The old
City Hall built by the Japanese (which was just leveled in 1999) was located in
the center of this area. Though the map is rough, it is obvious that much of
the area was tidal flats. The area marked as the Customs Grounds was the first
area to be developed around 1906. On the map, the marked-off area are indicated
as "low lying lots" to be reclaimed totalling 310,000 cubic meters -- along
with 21,000 cubic meters for "hill lots" with 70,000 cubic meters for
"foreshore lots." Toward the east near the creek were two small fishing
villages not shown on this map. (Slide 1 "Kunsan 1900s" below is one of these
village)
Constructing the Harbor (1906):
Around 1906, the initial wharf structures were built around the Customs
grounds. Maps indicate two piers extended out into the harbor (one 33.25m and
the other 35.5 m). The Kunsan Customs House built in 1906 has been designated
by the Chollabuk-do Province as "Memorial No. 87."
By 1920, another pier had been added extending out 49 meters into the harbor.
By 1925, the water front had been extended to include three pontoon docks that
extended out into the harbor and were connected to the wharf by ramps. The
pontoons were 21m long. Each of these pontoon docks had an adjoining warehouse
on the foreshore.
Photos of the 1930s warehouses show rice bags stacked in piles in two enormous warehouses and outside stacked along the docks awaiting loading.
Kunsan City in the 1900s
(Photos from
Kunsan City Hall
)
Kunsan City in the 1900s
(Photos from Kunsan City Hall)
The land around Wolmyong Park was reclaimed by the Fuji Company and became the
Japanese center of the town. German geographer, Hermann Lautensach in in his
1936 book,
Korea: A Geography Based on the Author's Travels and Literature
, states, "
The town nestles against a red shale hill that was once an island and is now a
park. The very well-kept and tidy town is a completely new one with a
rectangular pattern, which was created after the opening of the treaty port in
1899, and makes a predominantly Japanese impression. Two old Korean farming
villages are connected to it purely superficially.
"
The statement that Kunsan was "once an island" is a bit confusing. It is more
likely the land for the Japanese section of Kunsan around the base of Wolmyong
Mountain was originally mudflats and was reclaimed after 1899. The hills at the
base of Wolmyong Mountain would have been "islands" at high tide. The Fuji
Company's method was to build dikes and anchor them to smaller islands.
Examples of these "polders" are the rice fields adjacent to the Waehang area
and farming areas to the south-east of Kunsan Air Base. They anchored to the
end of one "island" near the present day Customs House and then extended it to
the base of Wolmyong mountain. Within this area they built up the wharf areas.
The wharf area was started in 1906 and completed around 1911. In 1930, the
wharf area around the present day Customs House was extended out into the
harbor again.
Though the harbor was being expanded and land reclaimed from the mudflats,
very little direct benefit was made to the Korean people of Kunsan. The best
lands were reserved for the Japanese. Homer B. Hulbert in his book
The Passing of Korea
written in 1906 commented on Korea's future (p463). "Japanese statesmen who
are supposed to represent the real feelings of the Japan government announce
that Korea has not been annexed but is still a separate state. There is one
fact which belies this statement, and shows conclusively that Korea can never
become an autonomous power except through some great international cataclysm
which is not at present contemplated. This fact is that Japan manifestly
intends to allow Korea to be filled with Japanese subjects, and so rapidly,
that within a decade they shall form a body strong enough to hold Korea in
event of an armed protest on the part of the Korean people. This enormous
inrush of Japanese is not the result of a glut of labour or a lack of
opportunity in Japan, for, as has been recently shown in a most illuminating
book (
The New Far East
, by Thomas F. Millard), the arable land in Japan is but half utilised. The
present deplorable famine in that country, which has called forth the laudable
sympathy of Americans, was doubtless greatly aggravated, if it was not actually
caused, by the rush of able-bodied workmen to Korea, where, partially freed
from the restraints of their strict police surveillance, they could reap golden
harvests by taking advantage of the helplessness of the Koreans. This is the
darkest cloud which overhangs Korea, and it is one that has no silver lining."
Hulbert also made a note that foretold the future of the Korean people as a
whole at the hands of the Japanese. He said (p464), "Baron Kaneko, in his
campaign of education in America, told us that Japan intended to colonise
largely in Korea, but that she would discourage intimate relations between the
two peoples, --- that she would consider the Koreans a "lower race." In Korea,
the Japanese did not allow into Koreans significant positions in government.
All key managerial level positions were reserved for Japanese. Laws dealing
with land ownership, government employment and education favored those of
Japanese descent. The police and upper-level government officials were all
Japanese. As a general rule, Koreans were treated as simply "pick and shovel"
laborers -- a little above the Chinese coolies who were to be enslaved.
The fate of Korea becoming annexed by Japan was sealed when America recognized Japan's claims to Korea in exchange for Japan recognizing America's claims to the Philippines, Guam, American Samoa and Hawaii after World War I. Though the Philippines, Guam, American Samoa were spoils of the Spanish-American War and American Samoa was taken over as a trust territory from Germany's loss in WWI, Hawaii was a ticklish matter. Hawaii's last Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown by American annexationists. It was done with the help of the U.S. Minister John Stevens -- acting on his own -- who directed the U.S. Marines to land and warships to train their guns on Honolulu. The Queen stepped down from her thrown under protest to the U.S. The U.S. sent an investigator Senator Blount whose report declared the annexation was illegal. Upon receiving Senator Blount's report, American President Grover Cleveland declared the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii as illegal and requested Congress take actions to return the Kingdom to the Hawaiian people. However, the Spanish-American War intervened in 1898 and the port of Honolulu gained strategic importance. Promises and treaties with the Kingdom forgotten, America decided to annex Hawaii.
Filed as a subnote to history for many years, this festering fact was resurfaced during the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1970s. It resulted in the U.S. apology to the Hawaiian people for the annexation. For Korea, there will never be an apology.
Kunsan in the 1920s
:
The 1920 map below shows the road running around the end of Wolmyong mountain,
but there is no indication of the Kaibo (Kaebong) Tunnel. However, another map of the old city area in the Kunsan Youth Hall museum has the tunnel indicated, but no date is given on the map. The tunnel was built in the 1930s when there were blasting the floodgates in the area. Its original
function appears to have been a drainage tunnel to remove the water from the
reclaimed areas. The general layout of the roads shown on this map is basically
the same as it is today. The Japanese area at the base of Wolmyong mountain appears to have been named "Meijimachi" while the Korean area appears to have been named "Sakaemachi".
Map of Kunsan City (1920)
(Click on map to enlarge)
(From the
Kunsan City Government
)
On the 1920 map there are the outlines of the walls used to retain the
landfill. The stone walls are at a higher elevation than some portions of the
city behind it. Portions of the street drainage system that exists today are
probably remnants of the old Japanese drainage system. The street drains ran
down to the harbor and water is dumped out through outlets in the harbor walls.
During seasonal high tide conditions when the harbor water level rises above
the street drain outlets, the water pours out of the drains in some sections of
the old Japanese city area.
The method used for reclaiming the tidal flats is still used today. Go to
An International Port
to see how they are doing the same thing today by extending out to Oshik-do
(Island) on the Kunsan side and out to Kaeya-do (Island) on the Changhang side.
On the
Map of Kunsan City
, Wolmyong Mountain is next to the artificial island that is being built up in
the harbor. The road between the island and the mountain (running towards the
northeast) is the old road. Kaibo Tunnel's location (though blocked to
vehicular traffic today) is at the second yellow road in from the harbor
(running to the southeast). This was the old main road of Kunsan that led from
Kaibo Tunnel through the Japanese center of town, over the railroad tracks
and on to Iri (Iksan). )
Kaibo Tunnel is not shown on this map. The tunnel was blasted in the 1930s
when all the rest of the major construction was going on in the area. Wolmyong
Mountain is at the far left. To the right are three small hills. The northern
hill is the Customs area. At the southern base of the middle hill, the "KCC"
Building (now across from the Wolmyong Fire Station) is marked.
Following the road to the east, you'll run into the boys primary/middle school
with its wide open playground. Across the street, is where the old City Hall
would be constructed at a later date (around 1930) taking up two blocks. The street between these two points would become Taehak-ro (University Road) running north-south
and then continuing on to the south-east. This is the same route that the road
takes today.
The railroad yard was located where the current Kunsan Train Station is. Also
note that the road to Iri (Iksan) followed the railroad tracks from the wharf
to the rail yard. This road would connect to Beonyung-ro Road that follows the
tracks to Iksan even today. Most of the city streets still follow the routes
marked on this map, though some streets on the west side were rerouted in the
1970s as part of the city's expansion.
Kunsan City in the 1930s
:
Kunsan Harbor in the 1930s
(Photos from
Kunsan City Hall
)
Kunsan City in the 1930s
(Photos from Kunsan City Hall)
Japan's master plan was to make Korea the "rice bowl" of Japan -- while
enslaving China. As such, Koreans were "encouraged" to become Japanese by
changing their names and learning Japanese in lieu of Hangul (Korean). But the
fact remained that pure-Japanese citizens were favored in laws dealing with
land ownership, government employment and education. The police and upper-level
government officials were all Japanese.
In
A History of the Far East
(G. Nye Steiger, 1936) it mentions the situation in Korea just prior to the
March 1, 1919 declaration of independence and revolt. It says, "During the nine
years following the annexation of their country to the Japanese Empire the
Korean people were unwilling recipients of the blessings of progress as
administered by alien rulers. To what extent they actually benefited from the
change effected by Japan it would be difficult to say.
Apologists for Japan point to great improvements in transportation, production,
and commerce; but the Koreans complain that the profits from these
improvements, together with all the most fertile portions of their land, were
monopolized by the Japanese themselves. At all events, the Koreans looked upon
Japanese dominations as oppression; ..."
This condition was no less true in Kunsan. In the years before World War II,
Japanese families slowly gained control of most of the arable land in the
Kunsan area. Though the Japanese Fuji Company reclaimed the lands from the
tidal flats around Kunsan, the best lands were given to the Japanese immigrants
and a Japanese section of town was created. By the end of World War II, over
30,000 Japanese farmers and their families resided in the area. The port
facilities were primarily for the shipment of rice to Japan.
In Homer B. Hubert's
The Passing of Korea
written in 1906, he gives a fair description of the conditions endured by the
Koreans at the hands of the Japanese. He describes the lower class Japanese as
"ruffians" (p213). "When, therefore, the heavy influx of low-class Japanese
began and they, on the strength of the prowess of Japanese arms, began to treat
the Koreans as the very scum of the earth and to perpetrate all sorts of
outrages, it was inevitable that a mighty reaction should take place. The court
system for redress had turned into a shame (p214). "The Japanese look upon the
Koreans as lawful game, and the latter, having no proper tribunals where they
can obtain redress, do not dare to retaliate. If they complain at Korean
courts, the magistrate lifts hands of horror and asks how in the world he is to
get anything out of the Japanese, and if he applies to a Japanese court he is
usually turned away without a hearing."
Hulbert continued (p215), "The Koreans have suffered especially in the matter
of real estate. On the strength of Korea's promise to supply all the land
necessary for the Japanese military operations, the latter have gone in and
seized the most valuable property in the vicinity of the largest towns in
Korea." The Japanese using the legal system, intimidation and persecution,
forced Koreans to sell their property at half to a quarter of their face value.
Other concessions were made (p219) as the Japanese kept at work gathering the
material resources of the country. "Fishing rights along the whole coast were
demanded and given. No one knows what Japanese fishermen are like will doubt
for a moment that the Koreans will be driven from the fishing grounds. Then the
coast-trading and riparian rights were seized, looking toward a complete
absorption of the large coastwise and river traffic. Korean methods are slower
and more cumbersome, and herein lies Japan's excuse for driving Koreans from
the business."
However, on the opposite of the coin, the Japanese did bring about modern
improvement to Korea as seen by Hulbert in 1906. He wrote (p457), "Japanese
energy and capital have transformed Fusan (Pusan) from an insignificant fishing
village into a thriving city with water works, electric lights, commodious
hotels, banks, museums, and imposing municipal structures. The same may be said
in lesser degree of Wonsan, Mokpo, and Kunsan." But here we can see that the
Japanese segregated themselves and retained the best to their own. The Japanese
built "foreign towns" for the Japanese immigrant population and Koreans seeking
employment flocked to these areas. Even today, you will see traces of the
well-laid out Japanese section of Kunsan near Wolmyong Mountain, while the
Korean section spreads out helter-skelter to the east with crooked streets and
blind-alleys. These areas were filled with Korean-style homes with mudbrick
walls and thatched roofs. Robert Grenig (Lt. Col, USA, Ret) noted in 1946 when
the occupation forces came to Kunsan that, "Korean cities are a mixture of old
Korean and modern Japanese. The typical ancient Korean towns or sections
consist of narrow, crooked streets and irregular blocks, densely covered with
small houses and courtyards, whereas the more modern Japanese residential
sections are more nearly 'Stateside'."
Agricultural production, particularly of rice, was to a large extent to
exported to Japan. Kunsan had become the most important port for exporting rice
to Japan.
German geographer, Hermann Lautensach in his book,
Korea: A Geography Based on the Author's Travels and Literature
, recounts visiting Kunsan in the mid 1930's. He provides a map of the Kunsan
Peninsula showing that the land where Kunsan Air Base currently sits was
originally an island. The land between it and the city is a reclaimed mudflat,
diked off and pumped by the Fuji Corporation beginning in 1923. The idea was to
provide more arable land for rice to be shipped to Japan. Japanese farmers were
imported to work some of the new paddies. This corroborates the information in
Fred Ottoboni's book,
Between the Wars -- A Soldier's Story
. Local laborers in 1947 told him that the land where Kunsan Air Base sits was
filled in by hand.
Overland transportation followed the same two groups of roads from ancient
times. One route was along the East Coast to Seoul and the other led to Iri
(Iksan) and then to Taejon. All traffic to Iksan was by Beonyung-ro road --
which still exists today. Though Kunsan did have a railway connection to Iri
(Iksan), this was for freight only -- not passenger traffic. The rail line from
Kunsan connected to Iri and then to Taejon, the trunk link for railway traffic.
The Taejon-to-Mokpo link (Honam line) was completed in 1914. In 1930, the rail
link from Changhang-to-Chonan had just been completed and the town was just
beginning to develop.
The Japanese section of Kunsan was located near Wolmyong Park and examples of
these Japanese-style houses with tiled roofs were still seen in the area as
late as 1990. This was the central administrative and business area for the
city. Japanese buildings were constructed using small red bricks. The old "KCC"
building (Korea Commerce Committee) located across from the Wolmyong Fire
Station is an example of one of these Japanese administrative buildings. (Go to
How It Was (1947-1948)
.) Another example was the
old City Hall
that was just torn down in 1999. However, Koreans are very sensitive about the
reminders including buildings. Just as the National Museum in Seoul was torn
down simply because it was Japanese-built, so have most of the Japanese-style
homes in the downtown area been demolished. Most Japanese stone pagodas have
also been torn down as well as the Koreans mindlessly seek to cleanse their
city of Japanese influences.
In Kunsan, there was much discussion amongst Korean officials in the mid-1990s
over preserving these homes as historic markers, but the voice of commercialism
prevailed. Almost all Japanese-style homes are gone. There are still a few
administrative type buildings from the Japanese period, such as the old "KCC"
building and the Customs House. They are easily recognizable by their red-brick
construction (1920s) or by their art-deco appearance (1930s).
The following photos and commentary is by Robert Kohler on the blog Marmot's Hole in Sep 2006. The two-part article with photos described his visit to Kunsan and his exploring Japanese structures in the city.
 
 
Photo of Dongguksa Buddha(1953) (Travis Hughlett) (NOTE: Compare the photo with the photo to the right above. Look at the leftside of the altar area and compare the support beams. The same table for the buddha is still in use after more 50 years.)
 
Dongguk-sa (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
The temple, built in the Edo-period style, used to cater to the spiritual needs of the once large Japanese commercial community of Gunsan. Amazingly, little about the place has changed. The temple's buildings are almost exactly as they were when they were first built (although the rock garden is no more). The Buddha statue and hanging paintings in the Main Hall are of recent Korean make, but the altar, scripture table and just about everything else about the temple is Japanese, including the uncompromisingly straight lines and right angles of the decidedly non-Korean woodwork and the spartan white and brown interiors. Unlike Korean temple, the roof eaves are not decorated. The temple bell hanging in the Japanese-style bell pavilion was crafted in Kyoto.
The temple has been designated a cultural property by the Korean Cultural Properties Administration. The head monk, BTW, is very knowledgeable about his temple and has even gone to Japan to collect material and data on its history. He was kind enough, in fact, to rip me a CD full of info he collected on the place and give me a copy of a thesis he contributed to an academic journal published by one of Korea's Buddhist universities.
The neighborhood around the temple, and Sinheung-dong in particular, used to be home to Gunsan's once sizable Japanese expat community. Gunsan, like most of Korea's other ports, is essentially a product of Japanese colonial planning. After it was opened to international trade in 1899, the town became especially important as a port of exit for Korean rice exports to Japan. Japanese traders, merchants and plantation owners settled in the area, and as you'd imagine, many of their homes still stand, although the original occupants have long returned to Japan
 
 
 
 
Hirotsu House (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
The most notable of Sinheung-dong’s old Japanese homes is the Hirotsu House (photo above), a palatial residence that was once home to a very well-off drygoods merchant by the name of Hirotsu. Designated a cultural property, the home is being targeted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for a 1 billion won restoration. Normally, you can’t enter, but I got lucky and was given a tour of the residence by the elderly gentleman who lives next door. Frankly, the place has seen better days (that government restoration is badly needed), but you can still see how beautiful—and luxurious—a place it must have been in its prime. According to the neighbor, the home is the subject of interest from both Korean and Japanese architecture scholars, with the latter noting that few examples of such residential architecture exist nowadays even in Japan. The Japanese garden in the home’s courtyard is still beautiful, although it will be even nicer once the koi fish pond is refilled.
 
Balsani Elementary (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
In back of Balsan-ni Elementary School is a garden with, among other things, a five-story pagoda and stone lantern taken from Bongnim-sa in Wanju. Also back there is a three-story storage house–with heavy American-made steel doors—that was recently designated a cultural property. The farm, and much of the surrounding farmland, used to be the property of another bigtime Japanese landlord by the name of Shimatani. Mr. Shimatani founded his plantation in 1907. A brewer back in Japan, he came to Korea in search of the rice he needed to brew sake. A Gunsan City tourism official noted that when Shimatani came to Korea, not only was land 10 percent cheaper than in Japan, but yields were fourfold. Many Japanese apparently followed suit—some 31.6 percent of all land owned by the Japanese in colonial Korea was in the Gunsan area, and 93.4 percent of that was farmland.
Well, anyway, our Mr. Shimatani—gentleman farmer that he was—apparently developed a fondness of Korean art. So great was his love of Korean art, in fact, that he collected—or plundered—a great deal of pottery, calligraphy, paintings and masonry, which he stored in his obscenely large storage house (which, according to the information sign, was used during the Korean War by the North Korean army as a prison while they were in town. One might imagine it continued to be used as a prison once the North Koreans were kicked out, however). The stone pagoda and lantern, both of which have been designated “treasures,” were moved to his farm as garden ornaments.
 
Old Bank of Chosen Building (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
The old Gunsan branch of the Bank of Chosen, completed in 1923, once boasted of being one of the largest buildings in Korea outside of Seoul. After Liberation, the imposing red-brick structure was used as the Gunsan branch of Hanil Bank and later a nightclub before a fire gutted the building. Restoration work is supposedly underway, but it certainly doesn’t appear so, and if you look at the interior it seems the building could collapse at any moment. A sad state of affairs for a once proud landmark.
The story behind the building is quite interesting. Like the Customs House, it was designed by the Germans. Unlike the architect behind the Customs House, however, these Germans were brought to Korea as prisoners of war during WW I, presumably after the Japanese took Qingdao. The actual construction work was done by Chinese laborers.
Customs House (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
The old Customs House is Gunsan’s best known—and best preserved—building from the treaty port/colonial era. Completed in 1908, the charming European-style building was designed by a German architect and built of red bricks imported from Belgium. OK, as far as colonial customs houses go, it ain’t Dublin, but it’s still nice. After Liberation, the building continued to be used as the customs house for Gunsan port until a new building was built nearby. It now serves as a museum. When I visited, on display were a ton of terrific photographs of colonial-era Gunsan, a real treat for history geeks like me.
 
Bank of Nagasaki and annex (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
The former Nagasaki 18 Bank (top) and its annex (bottom) were more fortunate in that their current owners, furniture and kitchen supply sellers, have maintained them much better. Built in 1907 (the first bank in Gunsan), the Nagasaki 18 Bank was established to facilitate Japanese trading operations and land transactions in the region (to put it politely).
 
Kumamoto Rihei Villa (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
Just outside of Gunsan’s “downtown,” in very rural Gaejeong-dong, is the former villa of Kumamoto Rihei, one of the largest Japanese landowners in the Gunsan region. He spent most of his time in Seoul, while his vast holding were worked by some 20,000 tenant farmers. His countryside villa was designed by a French architect and built by Japanese, with the floorwork done by Chinese. The architecture itself is just as international, a mixture of European, Japanese and Korean concepts—the door way and parlor are Western, the interior passageways and tatami living room is Japanese, and some of the rooms have Korean-style heated floors. It’s a very funky design.
In 1935, Dr. Yi Yeong-chun, the president of Gyejeong Hospital (which is right next door), was entrusted with care of the villa. After Liberation, Yi took possession of the residence, which has since been used for TV and film shoots.
Japanese Redlight District (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
Now, this building is a bit different. The area currently occupied by the Myeongsan Market was apparently the old Japanese red-light district—the largest such entertainment district in Jeollabuk-do at the time. The site where the ethnic Chinese school now stands used to be the finest geisha house in Gunsan, the girls brought over from Japan. The store/home in the picture above used to be a brothel as well.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Japanese Houses (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
Haemang-dong and Wolmyeong-dong are full of old Japanese administrative buildings and private residences. Some are obviously in better repair than others. Wolmyeong-dong is considered a particularly auspicious neighborhood in terms of feng sui, so it was a favored spot for Japanese settlers and wealthy Korean landowners. The city authorities offer tax breaks to owners of older Japanese homes, according to one local, but in the end, the homes are private property, so there is little the authorities can do to protect them should the owners decide to do away with them, which many have. There is a growing awareness on the part of national and local authorities that the legacy of Korea’s early modern history needs to be protected for both cultural and historical reasons, so we may see more resources devoted to protecting and maintaining historic homes in the Gunsan area, such as the 1 billion won restoration of the Hirotsu House.
Haemanggul Tunnel (Robert Kohler) (Sep 2006)
Built in 1926 to link Gunsan port with the downtown area, this tunnel has been designated a cultural property by the Gunsan authorities.
Areas outside of Kunsan City (1920-1930s):
Special thanks to
Bruce Verhaaren
, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago, for providing materials I
could not otherwise have accessed.
Though rice was the primary industry, fishing was important too. In the
1920s-1930s, Korean fishing was done from the small harbors lying at the tips
of the mud flats on tidal channels such as the Man-gyong. At low tide, the
sailboats generally lay aground on the mud in the tidal channels. Japanese
fishery, which was done with small steamships, was concentrated in Kunsan. Even
today the "Tae-ha Landing" (at the mouth of the Man-gyong) is filled with small
fishing boats.
Hermann Lautensach in his book,
Korea: A Geography Based on the Author's Travels and Literature
states, "Kunsan lies on the southern bank of the funnel-shaped estuary of the
Kumgang, i.e., on the side on which the brown river water flows and the estuary
has its greatest depth. The town nestles against a red shale hill that was once
an island and is now a park. The very well-kept and tidy town is a completely
new one with a rectangular pattern, which was created after the opening of the
treaty port in 1899, and makes a predominantly Japanese impression. Two old
Korean farming villages are connected to it purely superficially. The town,
which is still growing rapidly today, had 44,284 inhabitants in 1938, 24% of
them Japanese. The difficult problem of supplying drinking water was solved by
pumping it through a filter plant before use. Kunsan's industry has the above
described character, but manufactures metal and rubber products in addition.
The harbor is a very modern, spacious installation. Three tremendous warehouses
stand along the quays. Since the mean spring range rises as high as 7.5 m,
large pontoons lie in front of the quays. They are connected to the land by
loading equipment and a pair of hinged bridges each. In this way they can get
along without a dock. Laborers are continuously busy loading cotton bales and
especially rice sacks from the warehouses into the lighters mooring at the
pontoons. In 1929 rice exports already amounted to 34 million yen. In addition
to rice and cotton, soybeans, leather and straw sacks are important export
articles. Among the much less important imports, textiles, coal, fertilizer,
wheat flour, and agricultural implements are foremost. With 74.4 million yen
maritime trade volume (1934) Kunsan is the country's fourth most important port.
On the opposite side of the Kumgang, which is 1200 m wide and is still the
provincial boundary for the time being, the harbor of
Changhang
is beginning to develop, since the railroad through the western part of
Chungchongnam-do was extended this far in 1930."
"On the foreside of the peninsula where Kunsan lies the rice polders
(reclaimed tidal flats) of the Fuji Company have spread out since 1923.
Basically they are set up the same as the Yong-ampo polders. Previously there
were silty mud flats here as well, with a few pine-covered islands sticking
out, some of them connected by (sand)bars (913, 914)
By means of mighty dikes, completely covered with stones outside and therefore
very steep, which run straight for miles and use the islands as supports, two
large polders have been wrested from the tidal flats. They are separated from
each other by the largest island and a reservoir. Three floodgates, one of
which was blasted into the solid rock at the base of an old gneiss (stone)
island, allow the mainland water to drain off. Each of the polders contains
1000 chongbo (992 ha) of paddy land and an additional total of 500 chongbo are
occupied by buildings, roads and dry land. The fields of the south polder form
one single block. The latter are leased to Korean farmers, those of the north
polder to Japanese farmers.
In 1937 1708 Japanese were settled in the north polder, including family
members. Each farmer has six fields, that is 3 ha in lease. The soil is so
fertile that rice yields as high as 6 sok/tanbo (109 hl/ha) are attained. In
the Japanese polder there were 276 hamlets and 10 family homesteads distributed
across the entire area in 1933. Each three families own a draft ox together.
The rice must be irrigated very intensively, because the ground under polders
is salty. In places where nothing is growing on the ridges, particularly near
the dikes, one can see the salt crystallizing out of the silt in the form of a
white film. One of the tremendous canals flowing through the adjoining plain of
Iri east of here leads up to the polders. From autumn to spring its waters is
pumped into the reservoir constructed between the polders, which has a very
high dams and an accordingly large volume. The surface measures 319 ha. From
June on its water is used for irrigating the fields. A system of main and side
canals crossing at right angles with irrigation ditches again branching off at
right angles brings the water to the fields. The drainage ditches flow from the
fields underneath the irrigation canals and meet at the floodgates."
On the island portion of tidal lands reclaimed by the Fuji Company, Kunsan
Aerodrome was constructed. It's primary purpose was to aid the Japanese in its
war in Manchuria -- but also as a defense force for Korea's fourth most
important port. There appeared to be between 240-500 personnel at the base
based upon the fact that there were ten 24-bunk barracks at the southern "toe"
of what is now called "Gunsmoke Hill" on Kunsan Air Base. In addition, there
was one 500-man structure and three hangars close to the present Enlisted
barracks. The runway was made of sod. For more details, go to
How It Was (1938-1951)
.
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Kalani O'Sullivan
.
NOTICE/DISCLAIMER:
The content of this page is unofficial and the views and opinions expressed do
not necessarily reflect those of me or any of those linked from this site.
Information presented is intended for entertainment purposes only. Links to
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24 December 2001
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