This page is graphically intense with long load times due to photos. However, the photos and narratives by the men who served at Osan Air Base makes the wait well worthwhile. The opinions expressed are those of the author and in no way represents any official statement of Osan AB or the USAF.

OSAN AIR BASE AND THE SONGTAN AREA SHORT VERSION OF LOCAL AREA HISTORY UP TO 1945

Mangi-sa Temple (Pyeongtaek City)

Mangi-sa Iron Sakyamuni Buddha (National Treasure #567) (Pyeongtaek City)

Jinwi: Mangi-sa Temple (Dongcheon-ri, Jinwi-myeon): Iron Sakyamuni of Mangisa (Treasure No.567) We visited the Mangi-sa Temple in Jinwi-myeon in June 2005. The expanded meeting hall was still being constructed (left of stairs on upper level). The temple buildings were newly constructed with the same traditional motiff -- including the toilets. The parking lot is on the lowest tier with spring water -- which people come to fill jugs. The bell tower is on this level. The next level has the living quarters protected by two large friendly white dogs and a fish pond with koi (carp). Then the next level has the temple, meeting hall and other buildings. Old women were praying while others were polishing the brass candlesticks. Outside men were setting up a tent in preparation for some event. Inside the temple was the buddha. The Iron Sakyamuni of Mangi-sa is cast in iron, but now it has been gold plated with its right arm reconstructed in the 1960s. The display has changed from the picture above. Set before an altar with a background of other Buddhist dieties in gold and highlighted by a spotlight, it is quite striking. Along the ceiling are lanterns with the names of people and their wishes suspended. Along the walls are buddhas, lit by tiny lights instead of the traditional candles. The temple exterior is the traditional form with paintings of phoenix, dragon and storks. Along the exterior, we were intrigued by two other large statues of a multi-armed buddhist figure along with a "hotai" buddha which we had never seen at Korean temples before. The temple is about a 15 minute drive from Osan AB next to the Youth Hall and hiking trails to the mountains.



Revisited the site in Sep 2005 and there were some improvements with the teaching hall almost complete. Still very impressed with the renovations making this modern structure one of the best in Korea. Interestingly, as I approached the site, the white dogs started barking at me. A Korean Buddhist nun approached my daughter and sister-in-law -- and in Korean -- explained that the dogs bark at -- and bite ---anyone with wearing a hat, vest or with their hands in their pockets. My daughter and sister-in-law doubled over in laughter as I was standing there on the steps extending my hand to the dogs with a hat on my head, wearing a vest and had my hand in my pocket. No problem -- the dogs licked my hand. A visit is highly recommended.

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In an attempt to distance themselves from the former Koryō court and rejuvenate the country, the rulers of the new Chosōn dynasty (1392–1910) severely curtail the practice of Buddhism and embrace Neo-Confucianism as the official state ideology. The systematic repression of Buddhist institutions, which were associated with the fall of the Koryō dynasty, and the withdrawal of official patronage of the religion leads to a decline in the number of Buddhist adherents and the production of Buddhist sculpture and painting. The commitment to Neo-Confucian educational and governmental policies, based on the influential school of Confucian philosophy and statecraft in China established by the Southern Song scholar Zhu Xi (1130–1200), is especially widespread among the newly influential yangban, or literati class, who come to dominate both the civil and military branches of government.

Suwon, Jinwi-han and Pyeongtaek: In 757 (in the Shilla Dynasty), the Pyeongtaek area was named "Jinwihyeon." In 1431-1433, the records indicate the name of "Jinwi" is being resurrected for the area.


Jinwi-myeon (1402) (Source: Pyeongtaek History, Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

In 1413 (Taejung 13th year), Yangwando-hae became part of Chungcheongdo.

In 1424 (Sejong 6th Year) Suwon was known as "Sunjungbu-gak." Jinwihan-myeon and Chikchan-myeon were under Sunjungbu-gak. By combining other administrative units, the area of Jinwihyeon became larger. Another combined was Yangseong-hyeon (Anseong-gun Yangseong-myeon). In June 1424 during King Sejong's reign, records state that there were few people in the area and numbers of divisions were few. There was a meeting between government inspectors to decide on the divisions.

Yangseong-hyeong Shi-do (Anseong-gun) (1423) (Source: Pyeongtaek History, Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

In Nov 1430, records indicate a judge in Suwon settled a dispute between two parties. There was a call for additional judges for the area.

In 1433 (Sejong 15th year) Jinwihan was next Suwon. Parts of Pyeongtaek were administratively moved to Chunchongdo. (Source: Pyeongtaek History, Pyeongtaek Si Sa.)

In 1445, the government created the "Suwon-jinwi" area. (Source: Pyeongtaek History, Pyeongtaek Si Sa.)

In 1446, the reign of King Sejong (r. 1418–50) marks the cultural high point of the early Chosōn dynasty. One of Sejong's most notable achievements—motivated largely by the intent to further the education of the entire Korean populace—is the introduction in 1446 of the indigenous Korean writing system hunmin chōngūm (proper sounds to instruct the people), known today as han'gūl. This simple phonetic alphabet is perfectly designed for the writing of spoken Korean and, as such, is an ideal medium for the many who, unlike the yangban males, have neither the opportunity nor reason to become proficient in the more difficult Chinese writing system, initially adopted by the Koreans between the first century B.C. and the second century A.D. (Source: Met Time Line)

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Songtan: Chae Yu-Lim Shrine We visited the shrine in August 2005. It is located in Ojwa-gaol (hamlet), Ojwa-dong hidden away in the old village area behind the apartments across from the Songbuk Elementary School. On the hillside, there is a monument and shrine erected in 2001 to Chae Yu-Lim (1426-1471). The shrine is in good repair but to get to it, one must walk through an unmarked space between two houses and then through some high weeds while balancing on some stones to keep from walking in the mud. Outside the shrine is a stele. The plaque at the gate is in hangul with no English, so this does not appear to be a tourist attraction. The marker shows it was dedicated in 2001. The plaque gives the details of Chae Yu-Lim's life. Though interesting as a sidenote, it is not worth a special trip as the front gate is locked and you can only peek over the wall.

Chae was born in 1926 and passed the government examinations in 1450. He became the Uijongbu governor in 1455. In 1464, he was selected to represent the King to the court of China to study the military situation and report to the King dealing with its vassal relationship with China. Chae recommended sending of Korean troops to China. In 1465, he returned to Korea. Due to intrigues within the court, attempts were made on his life, but he was saved by benefactors. He died in 1471 at the age of 45.

Chae Yu-lim Shrine, Ojwa-dong (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)	Marker Plaque in Hangul, Ojwa-dong (Chae Yu-lim Life Story) (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Marker at Chae Yu-lim Shrine, Ojwa-dong (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)	Shrine Gate, Chae Yu-lim Shrine, Ojwa-dong (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: Looking over the wall beside the gate.)

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Suwon-Jinwi-Yangseong area (mid-1400s)
(Araetbubunae Suwon-Jinwi-Yangseong Dungi Boinda) (Pyeongtaek City)

In 1505 (Yeonsan-gun 11th year), Pyeongtaek was moved administratively under Kyonggido along with other changes.

After the establishment of the Chosōn dynasty, the Korean ceramics industry is reinvigorated, and white porcelain as well as punch'ōng wares are produced. While porcelain will continue to be manufactured throughout the dynasty, the production of punch'ōng ceases at the end of the sixteenth century, due in part to the devastating invasions of the peninsula led by the Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598). (Source: Met Time Line)

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Imjin Invasions

Between 1592–1598, the greater prestige accorded civil over military officials in the early Chosōn period, attributable in part to the Chosōn rulers' promotion of Neo-Confucian values, engenders a chronic decline in the government's ability to protect itself against aggression from without or insurrection from within. By the end of the sixteenth century, after many years of neglect, the strength and preparedness of Korea's military forces have seriously deteriorated. It is at this juncture that in Japan the military leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598) brings centuries of internecine war to an end and assumes overall command of the Japanese archipelago's battle-hardened armed forces.

Faced by the potential peril posed by a vast and idle military, Hideyoshi conceives the notion of conquering Ming China and therefore requests that the Chosōn court allow his armies free passage through the Korean peninsula. Both common sense and Neo-Confucian loyalty to the Ming argue against Korean acquiescence, with the result that, in 1592 and again in 1597, desolating Japanese attacks are loosed against the peninsula. Striking from the south, the first attack sweeps north as far as P’yōng’yang (in present-day North Korea), but the second is stopped before advancing half that distance.

The first invasion

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who established his hegemony in Japan in the latter part of the 16th century, had hoped but failed to receive cooperation from the Ming Dynasty in his attempt to make himself the new Shogun. Motivated in part also by a need to satisfy the perpetual land hunger of his vassals and find employment for restive samurai, he began making plans for the conquest of China. He first made his intentions to conquer China known to Mori Terumoto in 1586, then set about trying to realize it after he defeated the clans of Shimazu and Hojo. As the first step he intended to secure the Korean peninsula as an invasion route for his forces. After King Seonjo refused his offer of an alliance against China and military access for the Japanese troops, Hideyoshi launched a war against Korea in 1592 to secure passage to China.

The Japanese invasion of 1592 with 160,000 troops had great initial success mainly due to the element of surprise and its use of firearms. Two armies, under Konishi Yukinage and Kato Kiyomasa, landed on the 25th and 26th of May and marched north. Konishi reached the Han River south of Seoul and entered the city on June 12, just 18 days after landing at Busan. King Seonjo and his court withdrew first to Songdo, then Pyongyang and finally to Uiju , on the Yalu River.

Japanese troops ravaged many key towns in the southern part of Korea, took Pyongyang and advanced as far north as the Yalu and Tumen rivers. Korean marines and irregulars harassed the Japanese rear so no attempt was made by the Japanese to exploit their initial advantage.

In May and June, a small Korean fleet commanded by Yi Sun-sin destroyed several Japanese flotillas and wrought havoc on Japanese logistics. The Korean iron-roofed Geobukseon, or "turtle ships" were technologically superior in almost every way. In all perhaps 72 Japanese vessels were sunk by the end of June.


Imjin War Naval Battles

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Sea Battle with Japanese with Adm Yi Dae Hwan in command. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Adm Yi Dae Hwan Grave (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Adm Yi Dae Hwan Memorial Shrine. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

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Admiral Won Kyun (Hwan Gun) (1540-1597) was from Pyeongtaek. History relates that he was fired and Admiral Yi Sun-shin reinstated to save the day against the Japanese during the 1592 Invasion. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa) Along with Gen Kwon Yul and Admiral Yi Sun-shin, he was granted posthumous honors by King Seonjo in 1603. (Source: Historic Marker at Admiral Won Kyun's Tomb) However, some state that Won Kyun's (Hwan Gun) reputation was sacrificed in order to perpetuate the Yi Su Shin myth and elevate Yi Su Shin to almost mythic proportions. With the current penchant of historical revisionism -- and the elevation of Yi Su-shin to hero status with a statue of him on every elementary school playground, there may be some truth in this statement. His being granted posthumous honors by King Seonjo shows that there is a distinct possibility of another side of the story. However, most modern histories continue to paint Won Kyun as an incompetent commander who led the naval forces to ruin until Yi Su-shin saved the day. Won Kyun (Hwan Gun) served as the magistrate of Puryong and other posts before being appointed to the position of Commander of Naval forces for Kyongsang-do Province. (Source: Historical Marker at Admiral Won Kyun's Tomb.) (NOTE: Bunroku: Korea states, "In the morning of April 12th, 1592, when a Japanese fleet was sighted, Won Kyun, the Right Naval Commander of Kyongsang, took it for a convoy on a trade mission. Towards the evening, a further report came of a great fleet and Won Kyun at last realized that something very serious was happening. His colleague, the Lef Naval Commander of Kyongsang, fled after scuttling his fleet and destroying all the armaments and provisions. Won Kyun in his turn sought saftey with only four ships. Thus the Japanese armada successfully disembarked its army on the Korean Peninsula without resistance.") According to the historical marker at his tomb states that he won the Battle of Okpo where he destroyed some thirty Japanese ships "with the help of Admiral Yi Sun-shin." (Source: Historical Marker at Admiral Won Kyun's Tomb) (NOTE: Current histories credit Admiral Shin with the victory with 28 battleships versus the 50 ships of Todo Takatora. This was the first victory of Chosun with Shin destroying 26 out of 50 Japanese ships leaving thousands of Japanese dead. TKDtutor.com states, "In the fifth month of 1592, assisted by the admiral of the Left Division of Chulla Province, Won Kyun, Admiral Yi Sun-Sin engaged the Japanese at Okpa. In his first battle, Admiral Yi Sun-Sin commanded 80 ships compared to the Japanese naval force of 800 ships. The Japanese were trying to re-supply their northern bases from their port at Pusan. By the end of the day Admiral Yi Sun-Sin had set fire to 26 Japanese ships and the rest had turned to flee. Giving chase, he sank many more, scattering the entire Japanese fleet. Several major engagements followed in which Admiral Yi Sun-Sin annihilated every Japanese squadron he encountered.") Won Kyun (Hwan Gun) won the Battle of Dangpo by "recruiting the dispersed Army inspite of the unfavorable situation in the early phase of the war." He scored victories at Happo, Chokchinpo, and other skirmishes. (Source: Historical Marker at Admiral Won Kyun's Tomb) (NOTE: Taekwondo Schools states, "The famous battle at Hansando is covered in Yi Pun’s biography of his uncle, Yi Sun-shin. "On the eights of Seventh Moon, hearing of the enemy’s departure from Yangsan toward Cholla province, Ch’ungmu-kong [posthumous title of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin], Yi Ok-ki [Commander of Cholla Right Naval Station], and Won Kyun [Commander of Kyongsang Right Naval Station] sailed to Kyonnaeryang (in Kosong), where they saw seven enemy vanguard vessels advancing in their direction, followed by many other crafts spread out all over the sea. Ch’ungmu-kong said, “Here the sea is narrow and the shallow harbour unfit for battle, so we must lure them out to the open sea to destroy them in a single blow.” He ordered his warships to pull back with feigned defeat till the jubilant enemy vessels pursued our fleet as far as the sea off Hansando, where they concentrated their total strength. Ch’ungmu-kong waved his flag, beat his drum and shouted the order to attack. In an instant, our warships spread their sails, turned round in a ‘Crane-Wing’ formation and darted forward, pouring down cannon balls and fire arrows on the enemy vessels like hail and thunder. Bursting into flame with blinding smoke, 73 enemy vessels were soon burning in a red sea of blood. This is called “The Great Victory of Hansando.’” However, he was defeated in the Battle of Chilcheonryang as he launched an attack in place of Admiral Yi Sun-shin who had been thrown in prison due to his disobedience to the orders of the Royal Court. In the Battle of Chilcheonryang in 1597, he was killed in action. (Source: Historical Marker at Admiral Won Kyun's Tomb) In current histories, Won Kyun, replaced Yi Sun-shin as Supreme Commander and within only months after taking command lost all but 12 ships (out of hundreds) to the Japanese. (NOTE: Other stories relate that he was beheaded for his defeat by the court, but other accounts state the Japanese beheaded him after he beached his fleet and fled. According to Wikipedia: Yi Sun-Shin, "The spy Yoshira continued to urge General Kim to send the Korean Navy to intercept a fleet of Japanese ships. When ordered to do so, Won Kyun gathered his 80 ships together and reluctantly set sail. This fleet was hardly recognizable as Yi Soon Shin’s former one. Won Kyun had eliminated all of the rules and regulations set up by Yi when he took command as well as purging the ranks of all who had been close to Admiral Yi. His inept manoeuvres almost destroyed the entire Korean fleet and alienated all his men. Also, through the spy Yoshira, the Japanese fleet had the necessary information about the Korean fleet. Consequently, this battle ended in a complete defeat for the Korean Navy, while Yi Soon Shin was being detained as a foot soldier. The Korean fleet scattered in a night storm and the main portion blundered upon the Japanese fleet the next day. On seeing the Japanese fleet, Won Kyun panicked and retreated. He beached his boats and took to the land but the Japanese overtook and beheaded him. The Korean fleet scattered and was mostly destroyed.".) At the time when Yi Sun-shin lived, the Chosun Dynasty had to achieve political reforms and stabilize the livelihood of the people, while defending the country against the Yojin (Nu Zhen) Tribe and Japanese pirate raiders. Yi Sun-shin was regarded sometimes with jealousy in the process of protecting grass-roots people and sticking to the principles of reforms and lost some battles. He was removed from his duties three times and reinstated to the military service two times as a rank-and-filer. But for all this disgrace, Yi Sun-shin was reborn as a true hero who led the Chosun Navy to a myth of invincibility during the Hideyoshi Invasion (1592-1598 A.D.). Popular history states that Yi Sun-shin had a staff of many talented officers under his command. Some of them include Kwon Jun, a strategist, Na Dae-yong, a scientist, and many nameless people who assisted Na in building the turtle ships and making armory. According to Admiral Yi Sun-shin, "1592: Japanese forces, under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, invade Korea. Yi tries to rally all the southern naval commanders, and so begins his troubles with Won Kyun, Commander of Kyongsang Right Naval Station. Yi finds nearly all of Won Gun's fleet destroyed, but brings the Admiral along with him and his combined fleet against the Japanese invaders. Yi has several naval victories, triggering Won Gun's jealousy of his compatriot. Yi leads several victorious attacks against the Japanese forces this year, and in one action is shot through the left shoulder, with the bullet lodging in his back. True to form, Yi refuses to acknowledge the wound until after the battle. Yi leads several more successful actions against the Japanese fleets, including his famous battle at Hansando. "1595: After putting up with continual criticism from Won Kyun, Yi requests a transfer, but is refused. In this year, a Japanese double agent hatches a plot to get rid of Yi Sun Shin. He convinces the local military commanders that he knows when and on what ship a key Japanese commander will be sailing. The trap for Yi is set into motion two years later." "1597: Yi finds himself caught in a difficult position. He is ordered to go out to sea to catch the returning Japanese official, whom the spy says is returning soon. Yet Yi knows it is a trap, but doesn't tell his superiors because he doesn't want to offend them, as they have believed the spy. At the same time, over the previous two years, Won Kyun had false messages defaming Yi's character to the court, and there is a growing suspicion that he is not loyal. Yi obviously fails to catch the returning Japanese commander, and is dismissed from his position by the King, handing over command to Won Kyun. Yi is taken to Seoul as a prisoner in a cage on an ox cart, and people line the streets to lament his detention, as he and his naval forces had struck fear in the Japanese military's hearts. Yi is released and placed as a regular soldier, and shortly thereafter his mother dies. "Meanwhile, Won Kyun is defeated, much of his fleet destroyed and he is beheaded. Yi is returned to his post as Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces, but finds only 12 vessels and 120 sailors remaining in tact from his previously victorious navy. Nonetheless, even outnumbered, Yi leads his fleet to a victory in Uldolmok (Myongnyand). That same year his third son, Myon, is killed while fighting the Japanese in Asan. (Bibliographic Source: NANJUNG ILJI: The War Diary of Admiral Yi Sun Shin. Translated by Ha Tae Hung, Edited by Sohn Pow Key. Published by Yonsei University Press, 1977; IMJIN CHANGCH'O: Admiral Yi Sun Shinļæ½s Memorials to the Court. Translated by Ha Tae Hung, Edited by Lee Chong Young. Published by Yonsei University Press, 1981.)

Admiral Won Kyun's (Hwan Gun) Grave (Gyeonggi-do Memorial No. 57) (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Gen Won Kyun's (Hwan Gun) Study at entrance. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Visit to Tomb: In Sep 2005, I picked up a tourist map that showed its general location and went out there to see the site. The tomb of Admiral Won Kyun is located in the vicinity of the and easy to find -- if you know where to look. Besides the one sign that was half-hidden by a tree, there was no other marker in English. From the base, go straight past the Songbuk Elementary School and continue on until you pass the Korean National College for Rehabilitation and Welfare on your right. At the next four-way intersection, turn left. Go until you see a church on the left and large restaurant on the right. Turn left at the stop light BEFORE the church. Follow it back until a parking lot on the right. The building is the Admiral Won's study. There is a fishing pond on the left with a dirt road next to it. Follow the dirt road till the tree lined park at the base of the hill with the Admiral's tomb at the top.

My first impression was somewhat of a surprise as I was expecting the tomb and study to cover a much smaller area. It is well cared for and the setting would be a pleasant place to picnic -- and if you're a Korean-style fisherman, it might be a nice place to fish as well.

Kalani with Statue of Soldier. (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)	Statue of Scholar (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Top of hill with pond at base (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)	Hill with grave at top (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)

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In July, the Wanli Emperor, responding to King Seonjo's request for aid, sent a small force of 5,000, which was not enough to fend off the Japanese. The Chosōn court's loyalty to the Ming is rewarded by the dispatch of Chinese armies to Korea, where they live off the land and frequently join in the fight against the Japanese.

Imjin War Naval Battles

Having seen the token forces they had sent to Korea wiped out, China sent a much large force in January 1593 under Song Yingchang and Li Rusong (Yi Yosong). The expeditionary army had a prescribed strength of 100,000, made up of 42,000 from five northern military districts, a contingent of 3000 soldiers proficient in the use of firearms from South China, and far more from Siam and the Ryukyus. Seaports in China were closed for fear that the Wokou invasions of the 1550s would be repreated. In February 1593 a large combined force of Chinese and Korean soldiers attacked Pyongyang and drove the Japanese into southward retreat. Li Rusong personally led a pursuit with a force of 1000 cavalry. He was checked by a large Japanese formation outside Seoul and thoroughly routed at Byokje, Koyang-myeon.

Sosa Pyongi (Japanese Map): Japanese move through Pyongtaek area (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Japanese Advance on Seoul: Japanese advanced through Ansan and split it forces to take Cheonan. The main force continued to the Pyeongtaek area where they were met by the Korean forces. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Imjin War Routes Pusan-Seoul

Osan-ni: Doksan Castle and Semadaeji are cultural assets of Osan City. This is the location where Captain Kwon Yeul, a governor of Chunra province, and 20,000 of his soldiers battled against a Japanese army lead by Gato Kiyomasa in July 1593 during the Yimjin war. The Japanese army laid seige to the castle, believing that there was little water available. Captian Kwon Yeul deceived the Japanese army into retreat by washing white horses with white rice on a hill to make them believe that there was plenty of water in the castle. (Source: Osan City.)

(NOTE: It should be noted that the method of the time was for the common people to flee the low-lying areas and hold up in mountain fortresses until the invaders had passed. As such whole cities were pillaged and ravaged as there was no one there to defend it. Rebuilding of the areas took a long time as the areas were completely razed. Even after the king returned to Seoul after the Japanese withdrew, he ordered the mountain fortresses rebuilt. This method of "defense" was continued until the construction of Hwaseong Castle in Suwon as the first "flat-land" castle in Korea.)

Chungeong-do -Pyeongtaek (1596) (Pyeongtaek City)

Chungeong-do -Pyeongtaek (1596) (Pyeongtaek City)

These engagements ended the first phase of the war, and peace negotiations followed. The Japanese evacuated Seoul in May and retreated to fortifications around Busan. Some Japanese soldiers left the army and settled down in Korea, even marrying Korean women. The ensuing truce was to last for close to four years.

Imjin War Routes Pusan-Seoul

Between the initial onslaught of Japanese troops in 1592 and their final withdrawal in 1598, the invaders maintain themselves within massive fortifications erected along the peninsula's southern coast while they live off the backs of the Korean peasantry. At this juncture Hideyoshi, after suffering numerous setbacks, including logistical problems caused by Korean saboteurs and major naval defeats at the hands of the Korean navy, proposed to China the division of Korea - the north as a self-governing Chinese satellite, and the south to remain in Japanese hands. The peace talks were mostly carried out by Konishi Yukinaga, who did most of the fighting against the Chinese. The offer was promptly rejected.

The interlude

In the summer of 1593 a Chinese delegation visited Japan and stayed at the court of Hideyoshi for more than a month. The Ming government withdrew most of its expeditionary force, but kept 16,000 men on the Korean peninsula to guard the truce. An envoy from Hideyoshi reached Beijing in 1594. Satisfied with Japanese overtures, the imperial court in Beijing dispatched an embassy to invest Hideyoshi with the title of "King of Japan" on condition of complete withdrawal of Japanese forces from Korea. Most of the Japanese army had left Korea by autumn 1596; a small garrison was nevertheless left in Busan. The Ming embassy was granted an audience with Hideyoshi in October 1596 but there was a great deal of misunderstanding about the context of the meeting. Hideyoshi considered himself the victor in the war, and was enraged to find out that he was to be installed as a tribute-bearing vassal. He demand among other things, a royal marriage with the Wanli Emperor's daughter, the delivery of a Korean prince as hostage, and four of Korea's southern provinces. Peace negotiations soon ceased and the war entered its second phase. Early in 1597 both sides resumed hostilities.

The second invasion

Soon after the Chinese embassy was given safe conduct home, 200 Japanese ships carrying a force of 140,000 were sent to Korea. The court in Beijing appointed Yan Hao as supreme commander of an initial mobilisation of 38,000 troops from as far away as Sichuan, Zhejiang, Huguang, Fujian, and Guangdong. These were assisted by a naval force of 21,000 men. Ray Huang has estimated the combined strength of the Ming army and navy at the height of the second campaign at 75,000 men.

The second invasion differed from the first in that the Japanese met with stronger resistance. They pushed to just south of Seoul in August 1597 but were turned back by a large Korean and Ming force that winter. As the Japanese retreated south through Gyeongsang-do they burned Gyeongju and destroyed and stole much of the historic and artistic legacy of Shilla.

Thereafter they were on the defensive. Naval operations, already deemed important in the first campaign, had a decisive influence on the outcome of the second. Following the loss of Hansan Island , Yi Sun-sin, who had been sent to jail, was reinstated. With his return the Koreans soon regained control over the waters of the straits, forcing the Japanese to land men to take defensive positions along the coast from Ulsan in the east to Suncheon in the west. On September 16, 1597, Yi led 12 ships against 133 Japanese ships in the Myongnyang Straits. The Koreans sank 31 enemy ships and forced a Japanese retreat. In November, the Japanese fleet was lured by Yi into a tide-race where the oar-driven turtle ships caused wholesale destruction.

By early 1598, the Japanese forces, hemmed in by Korean and Chinese armies, found themselves unable to break out of the south despite fierce fighting. The Wanli Emperor sent a Chinese fleet under artillery expert Chen Lin in May 1598 this naval force saw action in join maneovres with the Koreans. Konishi Yukinage warned that the Japanese position in Korea was untenable. Hideyoshi in turn ordered the withdrawal of close to half of the invading force, leaving mostly Satsuma warriors under Shimazu clan member commanders. The remaining Japanse forces fought fiercely, turning back Chinese attacks on Suncheon and Sacheon. The invasion was suddenly abandoned only when news of Hideyoshi's death on 18 September 1598 reached the Japanese camp late in Ocotber.

The Seven-Year War left deep scars in Korea. Farmlands were devastated, irrigation dikes were destroyed, villages and towns were burned down, the population was first plundered and then dispersed, and tens of thousands of skilled workers (celadon ware makers, craftsmen, artisans, etc) were either killed during the war or kidnapped to Japan as captives to help Japanese develop their crafts. In 1598 alone, the Japanese took some 38,000 ears as horrific trophies. The long war reduced the productive capacity of farmlands from 1,708,000 kyol to 541,000 kyol. Pillage and foraging by Chinese troops only added to the unmitigated tragedy of a war from which the peninsula kingdom never fully recovered.

Imjin War Return Routes

Following the war, relations between Korea and Japan had been completely suspended. Japan was cut off from the technology of continental Asia. After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, however, negotiations between the Korean court and the Tokugawa shogunate were carried out via the Japanese lord (Daimyo) on Tsushima. In 1604, Tokugawa Ieyasu, needing to restore commercial relations with Korea in order to have access to the technology of the mainland again, met Korea's demands and released some 3000 captive Koreans. As a result, in 1607, a Korean mission visited Edo, and diplomatic and trade relations were restored on a limited basis. (Source: Seven Year War)

Though unrecognized by modern Korean history, the Daimyo of Tsushima remained in Possession of Pusan, and from 1623, Korea agreed to send envoys and tribute to Japan, although conveyed at the expense of the Japanese. It is unnecessary to point out how much this war intensifed Korean hatred of the Japanese. (Source: The Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963, p14) References as late as the 19th Century indicate that large areas of Pusan contained a large Japanese population.

During the bitter years of Japanese occupation, large areas of southern Korea are thoroughly pillaged. Among the vast quantities of booty borne off to the Japanese archipelago are many treasures plundered from Buddhist monasteries, including paintings, sculptures, stone lanterns, and large bronze temple bells. Numbers of Korean potters are also carried off to Japan, where masters of the increasingly popular tea ceremony (chanoyu) have acquired a profound appreciation for Korea's punch’ōng ceramics. The labor of skilled Korean potters at Japanese kilns not only benefits the production of high-fired, glazed stonewares in the Kyushu region, but also significantly hastens the development of porcelain production in the archipelago. (Source: Met Time Line)

Seoul: After its founding as the Choson capital in 1392, Seoul grew slowly but steadily. Its growth came to a halt, however, in the late 1500's when the Japanese invaded Korea. In 1592, the Japanese general and warlord, Hideyoshi, invaded Korea, after Korea refused to allow his forces to march through Korea to attack China. For six years, the Japanese burned and looted the country. Seoul was ruined and shrank in size. The royal residence of Kyongbokkung was burned by commoners angered by the king's decision to flee north. This symbol of royal power was not rebuilt until 300 years later.

Natural disasters, including droughts, famine, tidal waves, hurricanes, and earthquakes, brought further hardships to Korea during this time. Yet these natural disasters brought people to the capital seeking relief in the form of rice. Since the government had the power to collect and store rice, it was in a position to distribute food to starving peasants. The government set up a system to give food in exchange for labor. It had built rice storage facilities along the Han River. Around these storage areas that lay outside the city walls of Seoul, commercial activity grew up and people built homes.

After the Japanese and Manchu invasions, the government set out to rebuild Korea. As part of their effort, it shut its borders to foreigners. Both China and Japan were taking similar steps in the 1600's, isolating themselves from outsiders just at the time that Europeans were beginning to sail their trading ships into East Asian waters. Korea's isolation would be so complete that it became known in the West as the Hermit Kingdom. (Source: Korean Society.)

Korea had barely begun to recover from the Japanese assaults when the Manchus, people from northeastern Asia, overran the peninsula in 1627 and 1636. Once again Seoul was destroyed. (SITE NOTE: Remember that the Choson Dynasty was founded by the Pro-Ming faction and the Ming Chinese had come to its aid during the Imjin Invasions.) Korea was called on to aid Ming China against the Manchus, but as a result suffered two Manchu invasions, and in 1637 was forced to promise to renounce allegiance to the Ming emperor and to send tribute to the Manchu court (Yuan Dynasty). This tribute was progressively lightened, being "rather a percentage paid for license to trade than a symbol of vassalage." The Manchus as the ruling dynasty in China continued to invest each Korean king and a new fillip to Chinese learning in Korea was given by Chinese refugees from the Tatars. During the remainder of the seventeenth century until the early nineteenth century Korea enjoyed a period of relative peace, but fear of foreign powers had become so great that she completely shut herself off from the rest of the workld. Foreign trade, except for a small volume with China and Japane, was discouraged; foreign travel and visits by foreigners were prohibilted. (Source: The Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963, p14)

The Manchu invasions of the Korean peninsula and the subsequent establishment of the Qing dynasty in China during the first half of the seventeenth century shaped the Chosōn elite's view of its own culture. Scholars and officials increasingly take an interest in Korea's history, geography, agriculture, literature, and art. The new strain of research, now commonly termed sirhak, or "practical learning," is in vogue through much of the two centuries between 1600 and 1800. It is manifested in practical legislation that seeks to control and enhance the government's bureaucratic workings and the lives of the general population, especially the peasants. (Source: Met Time Line)

Throughout the centuries Choson merchants and leaders engaged a in limited contact with Japan and a slightly more expanded contact with China. So intense was the isolationism within Choson however, that when the first recorded Europeans landed on the peninsula in 1628 (three Dutch sailors who were shipwrecked off Cheju Island), they were not allowed to leave. They were treated well by their rescuers and two of them were later killed defending Choson against the Manchurians. The third took the Korean name Pak Yon and lived his full life in the capitol at Seoul.

Similar treatment was given to survivors of another Dutch shipwreck in 1653. Though 15 years later some of them were able to, the maritime world understood that if you went aground in Corean waters you would disappear for eternity. This, like the pre-Columbus tales of falling off the edge of the flat planet, added an even more ominous mystery to a little known kingdom. (One of the survivors from the 1653 shipwreck was Hendrick Hamel, who later wrote about his adventures in Corea, providing European readers with their first glimpse of what was becoming the Hermit Kingdom.) (Source: Home of Heroes: Korea 1871)


Jinwi Yangkyo Baejido

Pyeongtaek Baejido

Jinwi Government Office and Pyeongtaek Government Office. Unknown when the government offices were first built, but the offices were reorganized in 1680s after complaints of abuses of power by the yangban over the common people. The government offices were to enhance the bureaucratuc controls to benefit the common people. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Pyeontaek: In 1596 (Seonjo 29th year) Pyeongtaek-hyon had been destroyed by the Japanese invasion. There was a movement to rebuild the area and it was aligned under Chiksan.

In 1610 (Kwanghae-gun 2nd year), the rebuilding of Pyeongtaek-hyeon started. The Pyeongtaek area contained Chiksam-han and Kyongyong-bo. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

The Monument to the Enforcement of the Dae Dong Law in Sosa dong, Pyeongtaek was set up in the 10th year (1659) of King Hyo Jong to make the enforcement of the Dae Dong law known to all people and to applaud his virtue of caring for people. It was after the Dae Dong law, which was enforced in Hoseo region to remove the imbalance of public labor and the unfairness of compulsory labor when Kim Yuk was working as the governer of Chungcheong Province in the period of King Hyo Jong of the Chosun Dynasty, produced good results. The Dae Dong law is a tax payment system which removed the evil practice of imposing each province a tribute in their local specialties, and reformed the system to the one by which people can pay tribute in rice. After the enforcement of this law, the imbalance of public labor and the unfairness of compulsory labor were removed and private commercial transactions also came to progress smoothly . The Dae Dong law was enforced from the 41th year (1608) of King Sun Jo to the 31th year (1894) of King Go Jong. (Source: Pyeongtaek City.)


Paengyeodo (1767-1776) (Pyeongtaek City)

Pyeongtaek: During the same period, the guesthouse of Paengsung hyeon during the Chosun Dynasty was originally built on a small-scale but later rebuilt to a large-size during the period of Hyeon Jong (1659~1674). It was repaired in the 36th year of Yeong Jo (1760) and then repaired again in the 1st year of Soon Jo (1801).

Paengsang-eup Guest House (Pyeongtaek City)

(NOTE: The building is located in Paengsung-eup, Pyeongtaek City. At present, the building attached to the main gate and the main building remain, and among the total of nine rooms, three rooms are Jungdaecheong and three rooms on either side of it, respectively, are Dongseoheon. Jungdaecheong, in which the memorial plate symbolizing the King was kept and the head of the district bowed down to the plate twice a month, is a building highly formalized by framing Choikgong on a thick circular column and making the roof higher than that of Dongseoheon. Dongseoheon was used as a guesthouse in which public officials from other districts stayed. The main gate consisted of one room at the central part of the building attached to the main gate was decorated with a monitor roof. Structure carved in the form of the dragon head were put on both ends of the ridge of the roof of Jungdaecheong and the main gate. They showed the dignity of the administrative office.) (Source: Pyeongtaek City.)

Kyonggi-do (18th Century) (Pyeongtaek City)

Pyeongtaek-hyeon (After 18th Century) (Pyeongtaek City)

Pyeongtaekhyeon (mid-18th Century) (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Education in Korea was conducted on the Confucian system. The pupils first entered the sohtang, or private common school found in every town and village, where they were mainly taught to read and write Chinese ideographs and the Chinese classics. For a more advanced course, they might go to a higher school, or han-gyo, in every district; and finally to the Imperial Academy in Seoul. As in China, the purpose of education was the development of the examination system for civil servants, through which learned men attained political power and social prestige. The basis of all learning was the great compendium of neo-Confucianism, the Hsing li Ta-chu'an. The Korean language remained the language of the people, but the scholar-governing class was contemptuous of it. To this day education in South Korea is to some extent influenced by the persistence of the Confucian ethos. Its system of ethical rules requireing a fixed pattern of life discouraged change, innovation, or progress; individuality and originality tended to be subordinated to official doctrines; the whole emphasis was on literary pursuits and practical matters. Above all, manual labor was despised. (Source: The Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963, p86) As can be seen the society was still structured with the Yangban or scholarly elite class at the top, followed by the craftsmen, tradesmen, and farmers in the middle and the despised jailers, butchers, boatmen, coolie laborer, etc. at the bottom.

Seoul: In Seoul during the 18th century, Korean kings ignored the advice of conservative aristocrats who held much political power as well as land and began to implement various reforms. The kings redistributed some land to peasants and eased the tax burden on commoners. To bypass opposition from the ruling elite, King Chongjo, who ruled from 1776 to 1800, began to walk outside the city walls and listen to the concerns of the people themselves. He hoped thereby to prove the merit of his ideas and overcome aristocratic opponents. This practice also reflected the Confucian idea of the ruler whose job was to provide good government to his people. Chongjo's efforts to reach out to the people led to a system of petitioning. Commoners gathered at the gate used by the royal family and handed out petitions detailing abuse of power by royal officials or requesting attention on other issues.

During this period, commercial activity increased in and around Seoul. Ports sprang up along the Han River, and local trade flourished. Each port handled a specific product such as rice or lumber. Despite Korea's isolation, various imported products were available, including leather goods from the Middle East and textiles from Europe, China, and Japan. Meanwhile, the government eased regulations that had limited commercial activity. Private merchants and artisans competed for business with companies that had long held official licenses from the government.

Commerce led to growth outside the city walls. Areas that had once been used for agriculture were turned into building sites for stores and restaurants. In time, these "suburbs" were absorbed into the city of Seoul itself. Economic growth transformed Seoul from merely a center of government into a center of economic and cultural activity. With the rise of a wealthy merchant class came a challenge to the traditional Confucian social order. According to the Confucianist world-view, scholars ranked at the top of society, followed by peasants and artisans, with merchants at the bottom. In Confucian thought, merchants made profits off the labor of others and not by their own hands. In Seoul, however, wealthy merchants lived as well or better than landholding aristocrats. Gradually, their financial successes forced some adjustments in social attitudes although scholarship continued to be seen as the most noble pursuit. (Source: Korean Society.)

Culturally, a similar strain of interest in things Korean finds expression in works of art that explore native vernacular, geography, and social customs. Fiction written in han’gūl (Korean writing) explores nontraditional themes that fall outside of yangban (literati) interests, and are often authored by people of the lower classes. Paintings of the eighteenth century depicting famous sites in Korea and the daily lives of people—known as "true-view" landscape painting and genre painting—evidence the vibrant and "Korean" artistic expressions of this period. Ceramic production, having suffered setbacks following major Japanese and Manchu invasions of the peninsula, reemerges with fresh creativity by the second half of the seventeenth century and through the eighteenth century.

Attention to Korea's history and culture does not mean indifference to foreign stimuli. On the contrary, there is enduring, if selective, interest in and relations with the world outside, alongside discoveries of native potentials. Diplomatic and cultural exchanges with China and Japan continue, despite ambivalence and mistrust, and contribute significantly to shaping Chosōn culture. Sporadic and largely accidental contact with the West sparks the two worlds' awareness of each other. (Source: Met Time Line)

Yi Sung Hyun, among the first Catholic converts in 1783 (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Yi Sung Hyun in Catholic Cemetery in Pyeongtaek (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Catholic Meetings 1791. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Suwon: In 1794, the construction of Suwon castle and fortification begins and is completed two years later. Situated in Kyōnggi Province, Suwon is an ancient city not far from present-day Seoul. The building project incorporates traditional Korean and Chinese techniques of castle construction, as well as new scientific advances like the pulley mechanism. Much of the city wall remains today and is considered an important example of early modern castle construction technology in Korea. (Source: Met Time Line)

Prior to this flat-land castle, fortresses had been built on the mountain tops. During peace, the people resided in the low lands, but in time of war, the people would flee to the mountain fortresses until the invaders had left. Scholars had preached against this system because it fell into disrepair easily when not occupied; people lost everything when they fled; and was expensive to build and maintain. King Seongju had 294 residences relocated and gave them 10 years without taxes. Suwon was the first planned city in that a central avenue with businesses and a market place along it were incorporated and subsidized. In addition a reservoir was built to aid in rice crops.

Hwaseong Fortress was built during the reign of King Cheongjo from the years 1794-96. It was intended not just as a fortification, but as a memorial to his father, Prince Sado, who had been forced to commit suicide by his father, King Yangjo. Sado's death had been particularly cruel. After showing signs of sadistic mental illness, Sado had been ordered to strangle himself so that a brother could succeed to the throne. However, Sado's servants were so loyal that they cut down the noose each time Sado attempted his father's wishes. Finally out of anger, Sado's father (the King) ordered him into a large rice chest, which was then bound and shut for nine days until Sado died of thirst. During this period, King Cheongjo's mother Queen Hyegong had to endure the muffled voice of Sado pleading for his life inside the sealed chest.

As son of a dishonored parent, King Cheongjo hoped to consolidate his rule weakened by factional infighting and strengthen the kingdom by building a number of fortresses. Cheongjo moved his father's tomb to Mt. Hwasan in the small town of Suwon in 1789. He then moved Suwon to nearby Mt. Paldalsan and creating a new well-planned town. The town of Suwon used to stand at the base of Mt. Hwasan, eight kilometers south of the city. To protect its inhabitants, construction was started in 1794 on a massive fortress in honor of his father. The construction was completed in 1796. Inside the fortress walls, Sado's coffin was reinterred and given a proper burial. He was posthumously honored with the title of King Changjo.

The architects of the fortress were a committee which included Chung Yak-yong (1762-1836), who drew up the principle plans. Former minister Chae Je-gong presided over the project while Cho Sim-tae, the magistrate of Hwaseong Prefecture, supervised the actual work.

The fortress is fairly advanced for the time age. During its construction, cranes were used for the first time to hoist stones, and construction methods were also standardized.

Suwon Gate (1954) (Robert Furrer)

(NOTE: The fortress was designed by Jeong Yakyong (1762-1836), one of the greatest Confucian Silhak (School of Practical Learning) scholars. He used the scientific knowledge of his and other silhak thinkers. His plan made use of the topography of the area. Many new materials were used in the construction including brick. A pulley crane was designed for the first time to raise materials. Many modern architectural and engineering techniques were also used for the first time. The planning allowed for commerce, manufacturing, and defense of the town to coexist. Many new architectural feature were added that had not been seen before in Korean fortresses. It was equipped with assorted defense facilities such as command posts, five observation towers (gongsimdon), battlements, secret gates and arrow-launching platforms. Openings in the walls were designed for the use of rifles or arrows and there was a major use of cannons. There are four gates with two larger gates having two story pavilions on stone structures and are shielded by a semi-circular wall of brick. The fortress took 700,00 man-days. Efforts were made to improve labor conditions. Workers were paid while most projects in the past had been done with compulsory labor. Hwaseong Fortress was partly burnt down during the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, but renovation works in the 1970s restored it to its former glory. (Source: Granite Schools.

Suwon Gate (1954) (Robert Furrer)

The entire circumference of the fortress is 5.744 kilometers. Along the wall are four gates facing in the cardinal directions. There are also five secret gates, two floodgates, four gateguard platforms, three observation towers, one beacon tower, five sentry towers, two command posts, four angle towers, five firearms bastions, two multiple-arrow-launcher platforms, and other facilities. Justifiably proud of his work, King Cheongjo had a country palace built at the foot of Mt. Paldalsan within the walls, where he could rest on his way back from visiting the royal graveyard at Hyonnyungwon.

The fortress was restored from 1975-79. A small part of the southern section around the south gate has been leveled in order to allow traffic to the interior, which is now filled with apartment housing. (Source: Oriental Architecture.)

Hwaseong: Yongjusa Temple is in Hwaseong City, 8 miles south of Suwon. It was originally built as Galyangsa Temple in the 16th year of King Munseong (AD 854) in the Shilla Dynasty. Yongjusa is known as the original temple of Yungneung (the tomb of Prince Sado). King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty (the twenty-second King), son of Prince Sado had constructed this temple after moving the tomb of his father, that was located at Yangju-gun Baebongsan Mountain at the time to today's Hwasan. Fillial Piety Museum exhibits all kinds of cultural assets related to the Fillial Piety of King Jeongjo. (Source: Hwaseong City.)

Osan-ni: Around the same time the Hwaseong Castle was built, there existed a Marketplace in Osan-ni that is at least two centuries old. Osan Market is mentioned among the records in the Hwasong Kyolriji, published in 1792. The marketplace is also mentioned in the Daedongjiji and Suwon Buupji, two books which were published in 1863 and 1899 respectively. There are misconceptions that the marketplace was started during the Korean War. (NOTE: The market is open 3rd - 8th at every month on the wide road. Vendors from all over Osan gather to buy and sell different items at various prices. It is difficult to perceive the exact size and population of the market and the quantity of sales made however, since the market is not officially registered for approval.)

Also in Osan City, the Gweulri Shrine was erectedby Gong Seo-Rin, the 64th descendant of Confucius, in Gweulri, Osan City in 1792 (the 16th year of King Jeongju). (Source: Osan City)

Songtan: Also from this period is the Sambong Jipmokpan (Wood Plates of the Sambong Collection). The collection consists of 14 volumes, 459 hyeols and 213 plates which were from the 15th year (1791) of King Jeong Jo of the Chosun Dynasty. It is located between Songtan and Osan (national road 1) in Eunsan ri, Jinwi myeon (near Jinwi River Children's Park). The Sambong Jipmokpan, the wood plates of the Sambong collection was made by collecting the prose and poetry and literary works of Sambong Jeong Do Jeon (1337~1398), who was a scholar, civil minister and a distinguished contributor to the founding of the Chosun Dynasty in the end of the Koryo Dynasty and in the early period of the Chosun Dynasty. Jeong Do Jeon passed the Sungkyun test in the 9th year (1360) of King Gong Min of the Koryo Dynasty and preached neo-confucianism as an academical expert belonging to the Sungkyunkwan with Jeong Mong Ju, etc. in the 19th year (1370) of King Gong Min of the Koryo Dynasty. While he was holding the post of Panuiheungsamgunbusa, etc. as a chief contributor to the founding of the Chosun Dynasty, he arranged the institutional and ideological basis of the Chosun Dynasty. (Source: Pyeontaek City.) Though he was a 1st degree meritorious retainer in the founding of the Chosun Dynasty, he was killed by King Taejong, the former prince Lee Bang Won, during the 1st Uprising of the Princes. (Source: Tourism Map of Pyeongtaek)

Originally, the Sambong collection was first published in two volumes by Jeong Jin, the son of Jeong Do Jeon, in the 6th year (1397) of King Tae Jo of the Chosun Dynasty. It was republished in six volumes and six books from the Andong bureau in the 11th year (1465) of King Se Jo , and was enlarged to eight volumes and eight books in the 17th year (1486) of King Seong Jong.


Jipmokpan Wooden Plates

The Wood plates of the Sambong collection here, which were republished by the order of the king in the 15th year (1791) of King Jeong Jo, consists of fourteen volumes and seven books altogether. Busiakjang, etc. were recorded in volume 1 and 2, literature such as Soseogiseol in volume 3 and 4, Gyeongje Mungam, which emphasized centralism, in volume 5 and 6, and Chosun Gyeonggukjeon, which was the foundation for the creation of Gyeongguk Daejeon, the code of laws of the Chosun Dynasty, in volume 7 and 8. Bulssijapbyeon, Simgiripyeon, and Simmuncheondab, which included the philosophical thought of Jeong Do Jeon, are recorded in volume 9 and 10. Gyeongje Mungam Byeoljib, which recorded administrative achievements of the line of kings of the Koryo, are in volume 11 and 12. Jinbeob, Seup U, Jehyeonseosul which is a collection of a philosopher's opinion composed of Jeong Do Jeon's comments, are in volume13 and 14. These wood plates composed of 228 plates in total are not only valuable materials for studying printing art history since the wood engravings are particularly elaborate, but also rated high on the fact that they are the wood engravings of the Sambong collection bringing together thoughts on politics, economy and philosophy of Jeong Do Jeon, which were the national ideal envisioned on the founding of the Chosun Dynasty. (Source: Pyeontaek City.)

SITE NOTE: In June 2005, we drove out to see the tablets. The location is almost to the boundary of Anseong and the sign is so small that you could miss it. Once one turns off, there is no sign until you get to it -- located across from a dairy cow barn. However, at the top of the hill are brand new structures resembling a temple...except with modern appertanances. Even the separate restrooms were in the temple motiff. It was closed when I arrived but an old gentleman came up, opened the door, and let me in. He did not act like a gateman -- so I assumed he was in some way related to the Jeong Do Jeon though I may be wrong. The exhibits were very few though well done and attractively laid out. The modern printed copies of the books along with the ancient bound manuscripts are in glass cases. However, the sight of the wood plates in a separate airconditioned room through a glass window made the drive worthwhile. When I left, the gentleman shook my hand which made me feel very welcome.

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Jinwi Hyangkyo Daesongjon Confucian Academy from 14th Century. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

The Jinwi Hyanggyo is the Cultural Relic No. 40 of Gyeonggi-do as an educational instition in the Chosun Dynasty and a location at which memorial services were performed to the ancient sages of China and Chosun.

Jinwi Hyanggyo is composed of the Main Sacred Hall, Myeongryundang, and internal and external Sammoon with an old tree in the middle of the grounds that has been there as long as the institution. Unlike other Hyangkyo, the main sacred hall is left open with ancestral tables of five sacred intellects, including Confucius, at the center. On both sides of these are ancestral tablets of 27 persons including 18 ancient sages of Korea such as 4 sages of Songjo, Yi Yi, and Yi Hwang. (Source: Tourism Map of Pyeongtaek)

On 28 Aug 2000, Brig Gen David Clary, 51st Wing Commander, transferred the Yi Taeyun Stele to the Vice-mayor of Pyeongtaek City, Yi Pil-woon. Afterwards, City Workers moved the Stele to a 14th Century Confucian School at Hangkyo, Bongnam-ri, Chinwi-myeon, Pyeongtaek City along with other monuments. (Source: MIG Flyer, 1 Sep 2000) The stele was in honor of the Kwangju Governor Lee Taeyu in 1661. There is some uncertainty about the origin of this stele. An improbable tale is that it was erected in the area in 1661 and was present when the base was constructed. A more likely tale stated that it was relocated from Palgongsan near Taegu during installation of a communications site. (Source: Osan AB: Conservation.) It was turned over to the Pyeongtaek City government in Aug 2000 -- though humorously the Osan AB claimed at the time that there were no formal records of this stele being in the USAF possession until 1989.) On 5 Aug 2005, we stopped by the Daeseongjeon Jinwi Hanggyo to find the Yi Taeyun Stele. The Confucian Academy Memorial is not a major tourist attraction. We had passed it many times on the way to Yong-in and noted its location near the Moobongsan Youth Camp. However, in tracking down the Yi Tae-yun Stele we decided it was time to stop by. The grounds are well-taken care of and there is one building with tables and chairs in what appears to be a lecture hall. Above it are the gates to the old Confucian academy. Though attractive, it is not a major tourist attraction. Down near the entrance, there is a shelter for markers. Outside in the elements, the Yi Taeyun stele has found its resting place in the graveyard for forgotten monuments -- sort of like going to an elephant's graveyard. Kind of sad, but at least it is preserved. The stele looks smaller without the concrete base it stood on while at the base. The site appears to be a monument warehouse for those markers no one knows what to do with. There is no sign or explanation for the Yi Taeyun stele -- as it is for all the other markers stored there. It's just another piece of stone.

(L) Daeseongjeon Jinwi Hanggyo (R) Yi Taeyun Stele with other Monuments (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)


(L) Yi Taeyun Stele Turtle base (R) Yi Taeyun Stele Top of Marker (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)

Harry Tezlaf at Turtle (near where Commissary in 2005) (1965) (Harry Tezlaf)

Pond near Turtle Monument (where Commissary is in 2005) (1965) (Harry Tezlaf)

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Opening of the Hermit Kingdom

Dubbed the "hermit kingdom," Korea was known especially to the West for its reluctance to engage in relations with the outside world. This stands in stark contrast to China and Japan, with whom the Europeans enjoyed trade and cultural exchange, if at times antagonistic. By the late nineteenth century, however, Korea, as a result of both internal politics and external pressure, signs formal treaties with the U.S. and various European nations. Around the same period, the Korean peninsula becomes a targeted territory of the Japanese, whose new and "modern" Meiji government develops increasingly imperialist ambitions, competing with other global powers boasting empires or colonies, notably Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain (the U.S. coming into the game late with the acquisition of the Philippines from Spain in 1889).

Though the "Hermit Kingdom" had sealed itself off from the outside, it did not exhibit cruelty to visiting ships or shipwrecked sailors. Numerous examples of shipwrecked sailors being rescued, fed and sent to China to be repatriated are recorded. (Source: Asian Research)

The nineteenth century is a period of significant political, social, and cultural change as Korea lurches into the modern era and world order. Much political jostling occurs among the royal in-law families, creating drama but little stability or visionary leadership. Socially, the class system weakens considerably, even within the so-called elites, as more and more "fallen" yangban (literati) demand greater equality and recognition. Culturally, exciting developments occur in all the arts, including visual, literary, and performing arts. (Source: Met Time Line)

French Invasion Fiasco (Byungin-yangyo) During the 19th century both European and western traders began looking to the Orient as fertile grounds for commerce. In 1844 the U.S. Congress considered, then tabled, a motion to open trade with Corea. Over the following 20 years however, the Orient was subjected to increased, though unwanted, interest from foreign shipping and trading concerns. On March 31, 1854, the United States and Japan signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, opening Japanese ports to American ships. Six years later the French and British invaded China, seizing the capitol at Peking. While the Chinese fought to hold their capitol, Russia moved in from the east to easily grab 350,000 square miles of Chinese lands in the Ussuri territory. On the Corean peninsula the Choson people watched the western incursion into the Orient with fear and concern.

The year 1864 brought a change of leadership to Corea when Ch'olechong, the 25th king of the Choson Dynasty, died without leaving a male heir. In accordance with her rights under custom and law the queen mother took possession of the king's seal, the symbol of enthronement. After consulting with her advisors and statesmen she adopted Kojong, the second son of Yi Ha-ung. Kojong was only thirteen years old when he ascended to the throne, and in his place his father ruled the Choson Kingdom. Adopting the title Taewongun, literally interpreted "Prince of the Great Court", Yi Ha-ung became one of the strongest leaders of the Choson Dynasty during a critical period of trial, crisis, and increased interest from abroad.

In the name of his son King Kojong, the Taewongun initiated his best efforts to bring harmony to the kingdom, while resisting any influences from the outside world. He quickly recognized that treaties with western nations would most probably be one sided, as had been the treaties signed with Japan and China. These would benefit no one but the westerners. (The term Westerner not only applied to nations of the western hemisphere, but also those of Europe which was also west of Corea.)

Taewongun also firmly believed that the foreign missionaries with their Christian teachings were diluting the kingdom with unwanted ideas. Under King Ch'olechong persecution of Christians in Corea had eased for the first time in the kingdom's history. The Taewongun's efforts to return his country to the traditions of Confucianism ultimately led to the death of nine of the twelve French Catholic priests in Korea, and nearly 10,000 of their native converts. (Source: Home of Heroes: Korea 1871) Accounts of the executions relate the public spectacle of the beheading of the priests.

The year that Westerners called "1866" was known as "Byung-in" in Corea, a country that had now become known as "The Hermit Kingdom" because of its strong policies of isolationism. In Byung-in a series of events set in motion the unwanted intrusion of foreign nations on Corean soil. These would eventually topple one of the world's longest lasting ruling dynasties. In Byung-in the French invaded Corea in what became known as the Byunginyangyo...."Western disturbance" yangyo in the year byung in. (Many historical references translate the Korean characters for that year with the Romanized letter "P", referring to the year as pyong and the French invasion as Pyonginyangyo.) During the Taewongun's February 1866 crackdown on the spread of Catholicism in his kingdom, three priests managed to escape to China including Father Felix-Clair Ridel. Upon learning of the fate of the Catholics in Corea, French consul Gabriel Deveria boarded the gunboat of Rear Admiral Gustav Roze, commander of the French empire's Far Eastern Squadron. Roze immediately cancelled plans to sail for Nagasaki, while Ridel forwarded the sad news on to the French diplomat in China, Henri de Bellonet. On July 13 Bellonet sent a dispatch to Admiral Roze informing him: "In receiving the news of the general massacre of Christians and missionaries in Corea, you have no doubt thought like myself that the slightest delay in the punishment of this bloody outrage could result in serious endangerment to the 500 (other) missionaries preaching in China." (Source: Home of Heroes: Korea 1871) (SITE NOTE: Remember that Catholicism first arrived in Korea in 1795 from China.)

Meanwhile, the French foreign minister also sent a dispatch to the American consul in Peking, suggesting a joint French-American expedition. Americans people were weary of war, this request coming only a year after the end of the great Civil War. More importantly though, the recent deaths of the French priests and native Catholics had no direct bearing on the United States or its own citizens. Without any personal reason to join the French in the foray to Corea, the American consul declined the invitation.

The American denial was something of a setback for the French but Rear Admiral Roze consolidated his fleet in Qufu, China for a planned early fall incursion in Korea. Then some unexpected uprisings in Indochina, which included part of the far-flung French empire, delayed him. (NOTE: During this delay, the General Sherman Incident occured that would draw the US into the fray to forcably open Korea.)

The inland capitol city of Seoul sits on the Han River which flows northwest into the Yellow Sea. The convergence of the Han River with the Imjin and Yeasung rivers near Kanghwa Island has filled the seaward inlet with silt which, when the tide is out, becomes miles of mud beds. These, coupled with some of the world's most extreme tides, make the water route to Seoul both difficult, and dangerous. At the mouth of the Han River is Kanghwa Island, Korea's fifth largest island. Like a vigilant sentry Kanghwa guards the only water route to the capitol. Throughout the centuries, the island had been built up with a series of well-established fortifications. Because of the resistance of the Hermit Kingdom to outside countries, very little charting of the dangerous waters had been accomplished. While awaiting the arrival of his fleet to make his own incursion into Corea, Rear Admiral Roze determined to make a reconnaissance of the area before making his punishing assault on the barbarians who had killed the Catholic priests and their converts. With three ships carrying 65 men including escaped priest Father Ridel, he departed Qufu on September 18. Five days later Admiral Roze passed Kanghwa Island to steam up the Han River towards Seoul.

"It is deplorable that the dirty foreigners invaded deep into the Han River," Taewongun announced. He then ordered his military commanders to propose a plan to resist the invading French ships. Before the Corean military could mount opposition however, Admiral Roze sailed his ships back to Cheefoo. "We let those dirty mobsters keep their lives only because we put emphasis on generosity," Taewongun subsequently proclaimed.

Admiral Roze had not left Corean waters as a gesture of benevolence to the Hermit Kingdom's preference for privacy, however. Instead he returned to assemble a fleet of sufficient size to mount an armed attack. His two-week exploratory mission had convinced the Admiral that he did not have enough men to attack the Corean capitol, so he planned instead for an invasion of Kanghwa Island at the entrance of the Han River. With a fleet of seven ships and a force of 600 men he departed China on October 11 for a return to Corea.

October 13th the French flotilla reached Corean waters and anchored off Mulchi Island. With the dawn on the following day a landing force of 450 men went ashore on the north end of Kanghwa Island. The French soldiers marched quickly towards the town of Kapkotji and the Kapgot Fortress. It was deserted and the French moved boldly through the gates.

Taewongun was aware of the French invasion and held an emergency meeting of the State council in Seoul on October 15 to form a Special Defense Command under Yi Kyong-ha. On October 16 as Yi Kyong-ha was taking steps to secure the Han River and the mainland, Admiral Roze sent a force from the French-held Kapgot Fortress to Kanghwa City. When the troops reached the northeast gate the Coreans opened fire. It was the first combat action of the 1866 western disturbance, the Byunginyangyo.

The skirmish was brief and French gunfire drove the defenders from the walls of Kanghwa City. Then the invaders marched back to their captured bivouac at the Kapgot Fortress. The following day they returned and, upon finding the city deserted, seized the administrative building. They plundered the city for spoils of war. In addition they entered the royal library of the administration building, which had been previously inhabited by Governor Yi In-ki. The French took vast quantities of books and ancient manuscripts including irreplaceable records of the culture of the Hermit Kingdom. These remain in French possession to this day.

Over the ten days that followed, Admiral Roze headquartered his force out of Kanghwa City while buttressing the defenses of the separately walled administration building for an expected counter attack. Rumors of a Corean response to the invasion had circulated widely, but by October 25th no sign of the Corean forces had been seen. The following day the French Admiral ordered two platoons under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Olivier Thouars to cross the Kanghwa Straits on the north end of the island to gather intelligence on the Corean activities. As the soldiers began unloading from their small boats on the Corean mainland they were met with a withering fire from the village. The invading soldiers fixed bayonets and charged the village amid the hail of fire. The Coreans pulled back to the protective walls of the Munsu Mountain Fortress. The French withdrew across the strait and back to Kanghwa, two of their number dead and many more wounded.

To prevent the Coreans from using the boats that dotted Kanghwa Island against him, Admiral Roze ordered their complete destruction. On November 2nd his ships bombarded the naval headquarters of Jyonggi province, destroying more of the Corean ships. Meanwhile, the Taewongun amassed a force of nearly 10,000 Corean troops on the mainland, well within sight of Kanghwa from across the strait. For the French the situation was now turning perilous.

On November 7th Admiral Roze received word that a large force of Coreans had landed on the southern coast of Kanghwa and occupied the Buddhist monastery at Chondung. Two days later he ordered Commander Marius Olivier to attack the Chondung temple with 150 men.

Corean forces prepared for the enemy's arrival in a fashion that served them well. They remained well hidden while the French soldiers approached. With the exception of the earlier landing on the mainland, the French had thus far encountered little resistance. As Commander Olivier proceeded towards the temple without incident it appeared he had little to fear. He moved within 300 meters of the monastery wall without any sign of the Coreans and then sent a scouting party towards the front gate. Suddenly the Coreans sprang from their places of concealment, quickly wounding nearly thirty men and five French officers. Commander Olivier pulled his forces back a safe distance to treat the wounded, and then retreated to Kanghwa City before darkness fell.

By this time Admiral Roze had reached the conclusion that there would be no negotiations with the Taewongun, no reparations for past grievances, and no hope for agreement or treaties to open the Hermit Kingdom to the outside world. On November 11 he burned Kanghwa City to the ground and the French fleet left Korean waters, their mission an utter failure. The Byunginyangyo was over.

The French invasion of 1866 only served to galvanize the resistance of the Hermit Kingdom against the outside world. It seemed when foreign ships arrived it meant only pillage, plunder, and death for Corean citizens. Rear Admiral Roze and French diplomat Henri de Bellonet were reprimanded by the French Government for their role in the fiasco. Meanwhile Taewongun rejoiced in his double victory: at Pyongyang over the American ship, and Kanghwa Island over the French fleet. He issued a proclamation establishing an official policy of isolation, and had stone tablets erected throughout the Hermit Kingdom reading: "Not to fight back when invaded by the Western barbarians is to invite further attacks." Unfortunately for members of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, their own politicians and policy makers never took the time to translate the wording on those stone tablets, and heed the message.

The General Sherman Incident (Sinmi-yangyo) This little-known "war" is known as Sinmi-yangyo in Korea and as the 1871 US Korea Campaign in America. (Duvernay, 2001; Hulber, 1898; Sterner, 2003). In some texts it is refered to as the "Little War."

Early western reports surrounding the disappearance and loss of the General Sherman were rooted in the mystery and erroneous perceptions most foreigners had of the Hermit Kingdom. There really wasn't much mystery to the incident. As early as 1868 Corean officials acknowledged in a letter to Captain John Febiger of the USS Shenandoah that the General Sherman had made an unauthorized entry into Corea and that all crewmen had been killed. The events leading to the incident were also recorded in detail in the Kojong Sil-rok by a Corean eyewitness.

During the American Civil War the Princess Royal had served first as a Confederate blockade-runner. She was captured by the USS Unadilla near Charleston, SC in 1863 and was refitted as a US Navy gunship. As such, she was well armored and heavily armed with two 12-inch cannon. Following the war she was purchased by W. B. Preston, an American businessman who put her into service as a merchant vessel. Mr. Preston retained the heavy cannons that had served the Princess Royal well during the war, realizing that there were also dangers to be faced when she went to sea as a merchant ship.

In August of 1866 the Princess Royal was under contract to the British firm of Meadows & Co. out of Tientsin, China. The vessel was commanded by Captain Page and Chief Mate Wilson Loaded and was loaded with cotton, tin sheets, glass and other marketable goods. When the General Sherman steamed out of Chefoo, China on August 9 the only other westerners aboard the ship were the vessel's owner Mr. Preston, a British trader named George Hogarth, and a Protestant missionary named Robert Jermain Thomas. Reverend Thomas accompanied the expedition as an interpreter.

The crew, thirteen Chinese and three Malays, had been recruited primarily from the bars in Tientsin, and boasted that should the Coreans refuse to trade with the ship, they would loot the cities and return with Corean gold and other valuables. From the moment the General Sherman began its journey, it was an incident looking for a circumstance.

On August 16 the General Sherman entered the inlet that forms the mouth of the Tae-dong River that flows inland towards the Corean city of Pyongyang. There the crew dropped anchor near Kupsumun, hoping to make contact with local merchants and trade the goods aboard the merchant ship for Corean leopard skins, rice, paper, gold and ginseng.

Governor Park Kyoo Soo of Pyung-an sent an emissary to meet with the American ship captain and informed him that the kingdom did not engage in trade with foreigners. Though the General Sherman was unwelcome in their waters, the Coreans did offer to provide provisions to hurry it on its way to other regions.

As soon as the Corean emissary departed to report back to Park Kyoo Soo, Captain Page hoisted anchor and steamed up the Tae-dong River towards Pyongyang. The Crow Rapids halted his unauthorized progress and the General Sherman anchored for the night. The following morning an unusually high tide arose after a night of heavy rain that lifted the Tae-dong River to record levels. The General Sherman was able to cross the rapids and proceed further inland towards Pyongyang. There Governor Park sent requested provisions to the ship with a message: "You have reached the walls of our city when asked to stay put at Keupsa Gate. You insist on trading with us, which is forbidden. Your actions have created a grave situation so much so that I must inform my King and then decide what to do with you people." The message was delivered by Governor Park's aid, Yi Hong ik.

Tension mounted on both sides in the days that followed while Governor Park awaited a decision from the king as to how to deal with the invaders. Curious civilians crowded the riverbanks during daylight hours to watch the strange ship from the West. On August 27 Yi Hong-ik was invited back aboard the General Sherman, and then kidnapped. (Some accounts state that a small party of the American ship's crew attempted to leave the vessel in a small boat, which was then pursued by Yi Hong-ik, resulting in his captivity aboard the General Sherman.)

Late in August the king's edict finally reached Governor Park: "Tell them to leave at once. If they do not obey, kill them." But by now it was no simple matter. The waters of the Tae-dong River had returned to normal and the encroaching General Sherman was trapped inland.

Differing accounts relate conflicting sequences of events in the last days of the General Sherman. What is generally agreed to by most reports is that on August 31 the cannons of the merchant vessel fired into a crowd along the shore, killing a dozen Corean soldiers and many civilians. The soldiers withdrew to plan their own attack on the General Sherman and hostilities continued for four days with civilians bombarding the ship with rocks and flaming arrows. The General Sherman responded with canon fire. On September 5th Governor Park ordered the General Sherman destroyed and the Coreans prepared "turtle boats" for their attack.

The 19th century turtle boat that attacked the General Sherman was probably a makeshift vessel, a hastily converted fishing boat that was quickly covered with tin and cowhides. It began firing its cannon outdated cannon when it neared the stranded vessel. In this battle the legendary Corean warship was unsuccessful, shells bouncing harmlessly off the thick armored plating of the General Sherman.

The Coreans then tied together two smaller boats loaded with firewood, sulfur and salt peter. When set ablaze the two boats were dispatched on a collision course with the American vessel. The fire went out before the boats reached their destination. A second set of fireboats was readied, but was pushed away by the crew when it reached the merchant ship. A third set of fireboats reached their destination, turning the General Sherman into an inferno that took many aboard to their death. Those members of the crew that jumped into the river and swam to shore were quickly captured by the Coreans and beaten to death. The only survivor was Yi Hong-ik, who was rescued in the confusion.

The account recorded in Kojong Sil-rok states, "The enemy ship was totally burned down and there remained only her iron ribs that looked like posts driven into the ground." Other later reports stated that the ship was NOT totally destroyed, and US Naval archives indicate that the ship may have been returned in 1868 and placed in service as a civilian steamship until she sank on January 10, 1874, near Wilmington, North Carolina.

Whether completely destroyed on the Tae-dong River in 1866, partially destroyed and then hidden by the Coreans, or returned to the United States covertly at a later date, the fact remained that the General Sherman disappeared on September 5, 1866...along with every last member of her crew. All that was ever publicly known or seen of the ship's demise were the two large cannon that were taken for display at the armory of Pyongyang, and her anchor chains which were hung from the East Gate Tower as a symbol of the Corean victory. These served as a warning to other invaders.

The U.S. Invasion of Korea The Hermit Kingdom's doors were forcably opened. In May 1871 a flottila under the command of Rear Admiral John Rodgers set sail from Shanghai for Korea. The mission was to escort the US Minister ot China, Frederick F. Low, to Korea to seek assurances of human treatment for shipwrecked sailors and negotiate a commercial treaty. Five years earlier, the General Sherman, a US merchantman, was sunk in Taedong River and all hands massacred by Koreans determined to residet foreign "contamination." As the convoy passed Kanghwa Island which guards the approaches to the Han river, the fortress unleashed a barrage of some 2000 cannons wounding two seamen. On 10 May the Monocacy and Palos, the only two ships with sufficiently shallow drafts to navigate the river, along with four steam launches, and 20 longboats carrying a landing party of 546 sailors and 105 marines equipped with breech-loading carbines and four howitzers. (Source: The US Military Experience in Korea 1871-1982, pp 1-2, Command Historian's Office, USFK/EUSA)

The amphibious assault did not go as well. The site for the landing south of the Choji Fortress had been chosen because it flanked the enemy's position and left nothing to be feared from the rear. Additionally, the beachhead sloped gently towards the body of the island, as opposed to the sharp rocks and high hills elsewhere along the strait.

The Palos swung in towards the shoreline and released its twenty-two small boats. Then she moved back into the strait to join the Monocacy. The tide was out so when the landing force reached shallow water, they were faced with a 200-yard beachhead. When they stepped out of the boats to charge the island, the Marines and bluejackets sank up to their knees in the soggy mud flats. Along the east of their line where the artillery landed, the howitzers sank up to their axels.

Had the Coreans anticipated the landing and lain in wait, the first Marines to step ashore would have been quickly cut down as they struggled through the mud. Fortunately, the only opposition the landing force met came from the terrain.

So thick and sticky was the mud flat that it sucked boots, socks, and even pants from the Americans struggling to reach firmer ground. Leading the way, McKee's muddy Marines formed a skirmish line and advanced on the Choji Fortress. As they struggled through the brush towards the 100-meter oval wall on the hill overlooking the river, an occasional round peppered their ranks. From time to time movement could be seen in their periphery. Upon reaching the 12-foot stone walls, much of it was found to be in ruin, testament to the Monocacy's accuracy. They found the fort abandoned. (Source: Kanghwa-do Assault 1871)

The Marines spiked the cannons and threw the small arms into the mudflats. On 11 May the Americans attacked the principal fortress (Kwangseongbo) where they would meet determined resistance from warriors dedicated to fight to the death. After the first volley by the Koreans, they did not have sufficient time to reload their ancient weapons and the Americans swept forward. A fierce hand-to-hand battle ensued where the Koreans fought fiercely with swords and spears. There was heroism of both sides. 350 Koreans died and only 20 wounded were taken prisoner -- the others prefering suicide to surrender. The American losses were three killed in action (and a fourth died of "disease" after) with ten wounded. Fifteen sailors and marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for their part in the assault. (Source: The US Military Experience in Korea 1871-1982, pp 1-2, Command Historian's Office, USFK/EUSA and Asian Research)

The Koreans for their part have memorialized the bravery of their soldiers in the battle with monuments at Kanghwa Island. Sadly, their graves and fortress fell into disrepair until the 1970s when it was resurrected as a tourist attraction. In 1973 the Choji (Chojijin) Fortress was reconstructed on Kanghwa, still perched high above the entrance to Kanghwa Strait. A single cannon is displayed inside the fort, a popular attraction to the island which sees considerable tourism. The pine trees around the fort still carry the scars of the many battles fought by the Coreans to protect their shores. In the 1990s a resurgence of anti-American feeling and nationalism arose to resurrect the brave warriors of the fort to hero status once again. In 2000, the grave of General Uh Je-yeon was honored in ceremonies to rededicate the Korean heroes of the battle in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War. (SITE NOTE: Besides the French in 1866 and Americans in 1871, in August 1875 the fort saw action with a Japanese Battleship,Unyang-ho,which intruded into Korean waters. Especially the invasion by Unyang-ho of Japan opened the door of Japanese colonization of Korea through the forced Kanghwado Treaty in 1876.)

Ill-conceived foreign policy by United States leaders and politicians can never diminish the valor of the soldiers who must enforce that policy. Politically the Corean expedition of 1871 was a total defeat for the United States, despite the striking victory by US Navy bluejackets and Marines at the Citadel. For the Coreans, the valiant stand and fight to the death of General Uh Je-yeon became a historical even viewed much like Americans remember the defeat at the Alamo. The Corean defenders were lost, almost to a man, including the General himself. In one of his letters to Nannie, Captain Tilton spoke of sending her "the plume & tassel of peacock feathers & red & yellow hors hair, which was taken from the cap of the General (Uh Je-yon)" as a souvenir, along with a yellow piece of cloth from the captured Corean flag.

Perhaps the most fortunate of the Coreans were the 20 or so severely wounded that were taken aboard the American ships for medical treatment. In the weeks after the invasion of Kanghwa and prior to departing the Corean waters, Admiral Rogers made repeated efforts to establish a line of communication with Seoul to obtain the desired treaty. At one point he tried to use these prisoners as a bargaining tool, offering to release his recovering prisoners in exchange for a treaty. The Coreans informed the Admiral that his prisoners had dishonored themselves by allowing their capture, and should they be released they would be unwelcome home and would be subject to severe punishment.

Captain Tilton noted: "Our mission to Corea has been a perfect failure; they won't have anything to do with us, not even the fisherman. The local authorities refuse to send our letters to the King, and all are returned to us on the end of a pole stuck up on the beach, where we send a boat for them."

In all, more than 350 Coreans were killed in the failed expedition. Losses for the Americans were three killed in action, a fourth dead of disease, and ten or more wounded. Lieutenant Hugh McKee's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin for transport to his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky for burial. The other three dead Americans: Landsman Seth Allen (USN), Private Denis Hanrahan (USMC), and Thomas Driver (USN) were buried on Boisee Island (now called Jakyak Island by the Koreans) just off the coast near Inchon.

The large yellow flag of General Uh Je-yeon was sent to the United States as a "trophy of war", and placed in a museum at the United States Naval Academy, where both Lieutenant McKee and Captain Tilton had trained to become Naval officers.

On February 8, 1872, Marine Private Hugh Purvis and Corporal Charles Brown were awarded Medals of Honor for capturing that flag. For his role as color bearer and for his valor in planting the Stars and Strips on the wall of the Citadel and then defending it, Navy Ship's Carpenter Cyrus Hayden was also awarded the Medal of Honor. (Source: Kanghwa-do Assault 1871)

Choji Fortress, Kanghwa-do

Treaty of Kanghwa (1876) -- The "Gunboat" Treaty After the 1871 expedition to Korea, the United States leaned heavily on China to force its client-state Korea to open up for trade with the United States, but the Korean court steadfastly refused to go along. (Source: Asian Research)

In 1876 the Treaty of Kanghwa, Korea's first modern treaty, was signed with Japan. The preceding year, the Japanese Meiji government dispatched the navy vessel Unyō into the waters off Kanghwa, forcing the Koreans to open fire, then used this attack as a pretext to demand formal treaty negotiations. Although many Chosōn government officials oppose entering into negotiations with Japan, King Kojong is persuaded by a few to reconcile with Japan and sign the Treaty of Kanghwa. This marks the beginning of Japan's imperialist designs on the Korean peninsula, which would ultimately result in the formal annexation of Korea under Japanese rule in 1910.


Choson Treaty Ports

After the Kanghwa Treaty with Japan, the Korean King decided to open up to outside world. Soon, trade agreements with the United States and several European countries followed. Korea's first pro-American official was Kim Hong Jip (1842-1896), who had served as the Korean minister in Japan and witnessed the rapid Americanization of Japan. Kim drew up a grand scheme to use America as a springboard to recover the vast Koguryo territory lost to China and to establish a powerful Korean empire. Kim returned to Korea in 1880 and presented his "Korea Plan" to King Kojong, who warmly accepted the plan. (Source: Asian Research)

During the late Choson period, rice was sent to Seoul from each of the provinces as a form of tribute. Prior to the opening of Korea to the west in 1882, this rice was transported by the small junks that plied the coast. The boats would enter into Chemulpo Harbor (modern Inchon). After the opening of Korea to the west, two German steamships, the Nanzig and the Hever, were granted the right to visit the unopened ports. Until 1897 there were only three ports open to the west and their steamships: Chemulpo, Pusan and Wonsan. All other ports were closed, except to the two steamships that were allowed to pick up the rice tribute. The fees that these ships charged for the transportation of the rice were expensive, and the German company that owned these ships probably found themselves operating at a loss. In late 1886, either at the Korean government's urging or perhaps on their own initiative, they ceased to operate in Korean waters. (Source: Corean Merchant Steamship Company.)

In 1882, the populace was subjected ot "heavy and relentless taxation" according to W.E. Griffis. Land, houses, customs, salt, tobacco, fish, fur, lumber, minerals, ginseng -- in fact the producet of every actifity was taxed, and in addition "donations" had to be sent from various parts of the country for grtification of the Throne on pain of the loss of office of the local prefect. Moreover "dishonest exaction on the part of the tax collectors was met by wilful deception on the part of the people." There were also such anomalies as the fact that the land tax was based on surveys made some five centuries prior. (Source: Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeves, 1963, p7)

On March 24, 1882, King Kojong appointed Shin Hun to negotiate a treaty with the United States. Commodore Robert W. Shufeldt represented the US side. The negotiation began on April 4 at Chemulpo, and on May 22, the delegates signed a 14-article treaty on the deck of the USS Ticonderoga. This treaty is known as the Chemulpo Treaty, the first article of which loftily proclaims - "Corea and the United States of America hereby establish everlasting amity and friendship between the two peoples." The Chemulpo Treaty provided for immigration of Koreans to America, extraterritorial privileges for Americans in Korea, the purchase of land for an American legation, most-favored-nation trade relations, the right for American missionaries to preach the Gospel in Korea, and most importantly, mutual defense in case of a foreign invasion. It should be noted that Commodore Shufeldt rejected the Chinese request to incorporate Chinese suzerainty over Korea in the treaty, and he made it clear that the United States recognized Korea as an independent nation. (Source: Asian Research)

Seoul's expanding population required still more living space by the mid-1800's so the city pushed outward beyond its original walls. By this time, more foreign influences were seeping into Korea. Westerners and Japan were applying ever greater pressure on Korea to open up to trade. King Kojong, who ruled from 1864 to 1907, focused on modernizing his capital. His ideas were summed up in the phrase, "Eastern Ways, Western Machines." In other words, he wanted Korea to use western inventions but keep its traditional ways. Korean scholars such as Pak Che-ga, author of Discourse on Northern Learning, examined the world of commerce in China. He conceded that although commerce was not a noble profession, the shopping streets of Seoul needed to be cleaned, widened and paved. Taking his cue from changes in China, Pak recommended that Seoul should have visible signs for storefronts so people could tell the nature of each business and should build a waste disposal system. He even noted that the yangban class, or aristocrats, could become more productive by engaging in commerce and foreign trade.

By the late 1800's, Korea had been forced to end its long, self-imposed isolation. Japan, the U.S., and various European nations won trade treaties. With the opening up of foreign trade, Korea had to modernize its ports. It began to build a railroad to link the southern port city of Pusan to Seoul, and it gradually adopted other forms of western technology. Foreigners introduced new ideas as well as inventions to Seoul. At the same time, Korean diplomats and students who had gone abroad returned home with plans for improving and expanding their nation's capital. They wanted to model Seoul on the cities they had seen abroad. (Source: Korean Society.)

In 1860, Russia occupied Vladivostok and threatened to move south in search of ports navigable year-around. In April 1885, the British Pacific Fleet landed marines and occupied Kuh-mun-do, a Korean island in the South Chulla Province, in the pretext of stopping the Russian expansion in to the Pacific. The British hoisted the Union Jack on a Korean island. The British navy left the island in February 1887 under an intense international pressure.

By the 1890s, Korea's military was looked at with derision by the West. Lord Curzon described the Korean military as "of a species unique in the world. The infantry lined the roadway, and were for the most part lying asleep upon the ground. They had almost as many flags as men; and their muskets ... were commonly destitute either of hammer, trigger, or plate, sometimes of all three, and were frequently only held together by string; while the bayonets were bent and rusty. Infinitely more remarkable ... were the cavalry. They were clad in uniforms probably some 300 years old, consisting of a battered helmet with a spike, and a cuirass of black leather studded with brass bosses, and worn over a heavy jerkin of moth-eaten brocade." The infantry regiments that had been taught by foreigners, he continued, and which constituted the Seoul garrison, were said to show a capacity for drill and discipline. Until the rebellion of 1894 they were officered by Japanese, but after that date there were two American drill instructors. (Problems of the Far East, Curzon of Kedleston, 1894, pp164-165). and The Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963 p83)

In 1876, the first foreign "gunboat" treaty was signed with Japan. A new era was opened of intrigue, palace coups, and power struggles on the international level. In Homer B. Hulbert's The Passing of Korea written in 1906, he talks about the turbulent years that followed. In 1884, the Japanese-inspired coup with 400 Japanese was thwarted by a frontal attack by a Chinese force of 2800 men. The Japanese fled back to Japan. According to Hulbert (p126), "This was the first great reverse the Japanese suffered at the hands of the Chinese, and the question was definitely settled as to the attitude that Korea should take. She was henceforth completely in China's hands, and was destined to remain their until Japan reversed the verdict in 1894 just ten years later." The foreign powers tried to keep Korea "out of the clutches of China" because of "Korea's willingness to fall back upon the old-time relationship of suzerain and vassal." In other words, though the foreign governments (including the U.S.) had signed treaties with Korea, the die was cast that they would do nothing to protect Korea in a confrontation with Japan.

The foreign powers (U.S., Russia, China and Japan) were playing cat-and-mouse games in Korea. Various treaty ports of Chemulpo, Pusan, Wonsan and Seoul were opened. In the years after 1884 (p128), "It was no longer a struggle between Japan and China, but between Japan and Russia. And just as Japan failed in the diplomatic duel with China, so she failed in the diplomatic duel with Russia. In each case a final resort to arms was necessary." When the Japanese invaded the palace, the king fled to the Russian embassy. (NOTE: This face-off would ultimately result in the war with Russia in 1904-1905 where Russia was defeated and forced to cede the southern half of Sakhalin.)

The country of Korea was in a hopeless state of chaos in 1890. The infighting between Queen Min and her father-in-law, the ex-regent Taewon-gun had escalated. A History of the Korean People: Korea Tradition & Transformation , Andrew C. Nahm, 1988, states, "The heavy tax burden and the intolerance of government officials had already caused many uprisings by impoverished peasants. The severe grain shortage that developed following the drought of 1889 only increased their plight and their restlessness grew. Banditry became rampant and an increasing number of peasants joined armed bandit groups. Local uprisings of peasants, miners, and fishermen, as well as other socially mistreated people frequently, sometimes under the leadership of former government officials and government slaves. The situation of discontent in Chungchong and Cholla provinces was the worst." The Japanese minister, Oishi Masami, observed in 1893, that "there was not a single Korean statesman capable of regenerating his own country."

It all started with the Tonghak "peasants' revolution." At first it was a protest movement against corrupt officials, misappropriation of wages, and the instituting of political reforms. Though the sect leaders were anti-government, they were loyal to the king. However, when they petitioned the king for government redress, they were turned down. The Tonghak sect then lead a thousand angry farmers in a revolt on February 1894. The government retaliated against the leaders and a full-scale uprising ensued. The victorious rebel forces under Chon Pong-jun (1854-1894) took over Chonju, the capital of Cholla Province on May 31, 1894 and the revolt quickly spread to the Chungchong and Kyonggi provinces. At this point the king decided to request China's military assistance against the rebels -- over the objections of his advisors.

In the meantime, the government's military leader in the Cholla area realized his inability to defeat the rebels and offered a truce. The Tonghak rebels accepted the truce and withdrew from Chonju. For a short time, it appeared that the government would meet the demands of the insurgents under directions of the king. There was a lull in the disturbance as the movements leaders attempted to work with the government.

Though the uprising was temporarily quieted, the ball had been set in motion. On June 6, 1894, 1,500 Chinese troops arrived in Korea to help the Korean government to subjugate the Tonghak rebels. The Chinese stated that they acted "in conformity with China's ancient custom of sending troops to protect vassal states." The Japanese government rejected this Chinese notion and in turn sent eight Japanese warships under a new Japanese minister, Otori Keisuke. There was a swift buildup of troops ending in a face-to-face confrontation with 10,000 Japanese troops against 5,500 Chinese troops. Western nations were unwilling to become involved. At first Japan offered to share with China the control of Korea, but China refused. On July 22 Otori delivered an ultimatum that unless a satisfactory response was given (meaning that the king should tell the Chinese to leave), Japan would resort to military force in defense of her interests. On July 23 Japanese troops occupied the Kyongbok Palace, the king's residence and the king was forced to abrogate the Chinese treaty. On August 1 China and Japan declared war. The Japanese troops quickly demolished the Chinese troops and Chinese troops retreated northward. (NOTE: The end result of this war with China between 1894-1895 was that Japan gained control of not only Korea, but also Formosa and southern Manchuria.)

In A History of the Korean People: Korea Tradition & Transformation , Andrew C. Nahm, 1988, (pp174-178), it tells of Kunsan harbor's creation. On August 20, 1894 Japanese Minister Otori Keisuke brought the Korean foreign minister, Kim Yun-shik, "to conclude the 'Provisional Agreement' in which Korea agreed to accept Japanese advice on internal reform, to allow the Japanese to construct railway lines between Seoul and Inchon and Seoul and Pusan; to promote trade with Japan by opening a port (Kunsan) in Cholla Province ; and to raise no questions regarding the July 23rd incident which involved the Japanese invasion of the Kyongbok Palace."

But the story is not over. The Tonghak "peasants' revolt" reflared in October 1894 after the Japanese gained control of Korea and the government failed to keep its promises. The revolt became both anti-government and anti-Japanese. The combined Tonghak forces marched on Seoul. In November 1894, they had captured Kongju, but they soon were badly beaten by combined Korean and Japanese troops. In December 1894, Chon and most of the leaders were captured and executed bringing the Tonghak movement to an end in January 1895.

In 1882 the "Corean-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce" is signed at Inch'ōn. This is the first treaty that Korea, long known as the "hermit kingdom," signs with a Western nation. Similar treaties follow with Britain (1883), Germany (1883), Italy (1884), Russia (1884), France (1886), and Austria-Hungary (1889). (Source: Met Time Line)


Divisions of Korea (1895) (Pyeongtaek City)

Seoul: The early 1900's saw rapid modernization in Korea and in its capital, Seoul. The Seoul Urban Development Project was set up in 1896 to create visual and functional order for the growing city. New regulations ordered the removal of thatched roof houses that jutted over main roads. Main streets were paved and new streets were built to give better access to the city. Homeowners received funds to move their homes out of the planned roadways and to improve the exteriors of their homes. In 1899, the first streetcars were put into use to transport people around the city. Seoul also acquired modern conveniences such as electricity and telephones.

During this period, Seoul evolved rapidly from a government and commercial center into a city bustling with new industry, diplomats, and foreign and Korean business people. Although King Kojong (ruled 1864-1907) had begun modernizing Korea, foreigners were increasingly making their presence felt. By the late 1800's, foreigners were taking over Korea's trade and industry. The U.S. gained valuable rights to mining and railway building. Japan obtained control over Korean imports and exports, while Russia took over Korean timber resources. The arrival of many westerners in Korea led to further changes in Seoul. Diplomats from Russia, Belgium, Britain, and the U.S., for example, had western-style offices and residences built just south of the palace grounds. The new forms of transportation from railroads to streetcars reflected western technology. Christianity received a boost as missionaries flocked to Korea to set up churches. (Source: Korean Society.)

In 1894 a large-scale Tonghak uprising, with thousands of peasants joining forces, attempts to overthrow the corrupt Min oligarchy (the powerful Queen Min and family) and banish the imperialist Japanese presence already taking root in Korea by this time. The Tonghak (Eastern Learning) "peasants' revolt" in the Cholla area. The revolt caused King Kojong (1864-1907) to ask for Chinese military help in putting down the uprising. However, the Japanese fearing Chinese dominance in Korea intervened. This in turn led to a face-to-face confrontation between Chinese and Japanese military forces on Korean soil. The confrontation soon exploded into the Sino-Japan war where the Chinese were trounced. The end result was Korea was forced into legitimizing the Japanese military presence in Korea.

Between 1894–96 a series of sweeping sociopolitical reforms, known as the Kabo Reforms (kabo refers to the year 1894), are launched. Aimed at modernizing Korea, they are decreed by the Korean government and instigated and encouraged by the Japanese. The initiatives take place in the context of the Sino-Japanese War. Some key provisions include the introduction of a modern judiciary system and a new monetary system, reform of the highest levels of government, and abolition of the social status system.

In October 8, 1895 the assassination of Queen Min, King Kojong's consort, who, along with her clan, wielded much political influence. With mounting Russo-Japanese tensions, and with the Korean peninsula as a coveted territory, the Japanese minister in Korea masterminds a plot to eliminate the queen and her anti-Japanese (and, by extension, pro-Russian) faction. (Source: Met Time Line)

Jinwi and Pyeongtaek: In 1896, King Kojong split the country administratively into 23 bu and 339 gun. "Gongju-bu, Jinwi-gun" was the name of the Songtan area. (NOTE: "Bu" is a Japanese division and demonstrates growing the Japanese influence.)

In 1897, the country name was administratively changed to "Taehan Jaeguk." The country was divided into 13 provinces (do) and 339 gun (district). "Kyonggi-do, Jinwi-gun" was the name of the area. At that time, "Pyeongtaek-gun" was in Chungcheong-do. (Source: Songtan.org: Songtan History: Hangul Translation)

On September 18, 1899, the Gyeongin line (Noryangjin - Jemulpo) opened. The line constructed by an American contractor was a short-haul line from Seoul to the Inchon port area. The rest of the country still lacked a railway system.

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 .)

Japan Annexes Korea as a Protectorate

In 1905, Japan forced King Kojong (1864-1907) to turn Korea into a Japanese protectorate, making Korea and its capital, Seoul, into a base for future Japanese expansion. In 1907, the Japanese destroyed the original walls of Seoul and several of the city gates in order to widen roads for troop movements. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea outright, making it a Japanese colony. The last King of Korea, Sunjong (1907-1910), became a crown prince of Japan. For the next 35 years, Japan exploited Korean resources and the population.

The colonial period brought oppression in many forms. The Japanese renamed Korea "Chosen." Many streets in Seoul and elsewhere were given Japanese names, and Koreans themselves had to take Japanese last names. Seoul itself was renamed "Keijo" to reflect the language of its new rulers. The Japanese controlled businesses and schools. They put down nationalist protests with brutal force. Japanese military forces were moved into Seoul, which was no longer a national capital but an administrative center for colonial rulers.

Seoul: The Japanese inflicted another blow on Koreans when they destroyed a traditional symbol of Seoul's landscape. They erected a large Government-General building between Kyongbokkung, the royal residence, and Kwanghwamun, The Gate of Transformation by Light in the north. The new building symbolically cut off the energy that was said to flow from the mountains to the north through the city to the Han River. To Koreans already reeling from foreign occupation, the Government-General building was seen as a deliberate effort to destroy their cultural heritage. (Source: Korean Society.)

The first half of the twentieth century in Korean history is marked by two grave and painful experiences: the Japanese occupation between 1910 and 1945 and the Korean War of 1950–53. These events dominate the collective national psyche for generations. The legacy of the colonial period is complex and fraught with emotion. The Japanese colonialists' push toward modernization brings tremendous technological, and consequently social, advances, such as the building of infrastructure and the development of modern school systems. The Japanese also carry out the first modern archaeological excavations of ancient Korean sites (royal tombs, temples, ceramic kilns) and preservation of their artifacts. On the flip side is the question of the colonialists' intentions and their methods in these cultural endeavors, and more seriously, war crimes of torture, rape, and killing. In the postcolonial period, Korea struggles with the issue of how to reconcile the positive developments of the colonial era and the unforgettable brutality, humiliation, and loss.

The second half of the twentieth century witnesses rapid changes and developments in all aspects of (South) Korean society: economic, political, social, and cultural. Astonishing economic progress—even through periods of political turbulence—enables a self-conscious and appreciative exploration of traditional Korean arts and active participation in international exchanges of culture. In the 1980s and the '90s, especially, South Korea expands its cultural presence around the world through the establishment of Korean galleries at museums and academic posts in Korean studies at universities.

By 1905 Japan had assumed the administration of Korea, which technically remained a separate country (but in name only). In 1910 the Treaty of Annexation is signed on August 29, marking Korea's formal annexation to Japan and the beginning of thirty-five years of colonial rule. The Government-General of Korea (Japanese: chōsen shōtokufu; Korean: chosōn ch'ongdokpu), the chief colonial administrative unit in Seoul with direct ties to Japan, controls all aspects of governance–political, social, economic, and cultural.

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

Pyeongtaek: In 1910, after the Japanese takeover, Hansong was changed to Hansong-bu. (Source: Songtan.org: Songtan History: Hangul Translation)

On March 1, 1914, the total number of myeons was reduced to 11 myeons as part of Pyeongtaek-gun, Chuncheongnam-do and Suweon-gun, Gyeonggi-do were mergeged into Jinwi-gun:

• Byeongnam-myeon (changed to Pyeongtaek-myeon on April 1, 1926. Present six dongs in Nampyeongtaek)
• Buyong-myeon,
• Seo-myeon (merged into Paengseong-myeon in April 1932). Presently Paengseong-eup)
• Bug-myeon (renamed Jinwi-myeon in August 1948)
• Songtan-myeon (Seven dongs in Songtan area.) -- Tan-hyeon, Songjang-myon and other myeon were joined to form Songtan-myeon. (Source: Songtan.org: Songtan History: Hangul Translation)
• Seotan-myeon
• Godeok-myeon
• Oseong-myeon
• Cheongbuk-myeon
• Poseongy-myeon
• Hyeondeok-myeon

(Source: Pyeongtaek City.)

Pyeongtaek-gun and Suwon-gun (1914) (Pyeongtaek City)

Pyeongtaek-gun (gi-yok) (1914) (Pyeongtaek City)

At the end of the 19th century, the Choson Dynasty opened its closed doors to the outside world, and a massive influx of western cultures followed. The people of the Choson Dynasty were exposed to a new world of views and awakened to the defects of the traditional educational system with heightening concern for an educational system which would be appropriate for the changing society. (Source: Ministry of Education: Advent of Modern Education (1880 ~ 1945).) The first group of modern schools includes Wonsan Haksa (1883), the English School (1883), Yukyong Gongwon (1886-1894), Paejae Hakdang (1885- ) and Ewha Hakdang (1886- ). Wonsan Haksa was founded by local people out of patriotic sentiment. The state English School and Yukyong Gongwon reflected the government's desire to adopt new ideas. Paejae Hakdang and Ewha Hakdang were the first of many modern schools founded by American missionary organizations. (Source: ibid)

While enlightenment movements were in progress, King Kojong declared the Royal Decree in 1895, authorizing the establishment of other state-run modern schools such as primary schools, normal schools and vocational schools. He put emphasis on the importance of education for the training of competent persons and the revival of the nation. In the private education sector, the Christian missionary organizations erected schools in Seoul and local areas and patriotic-minded leaders who fought against the Japanese invasion also erected many schools to enlighten people and make them love their own country. This period is called the dawn of modern education in Korea. (Source: ibid)

The independent development of Korean modern education was interrupted by the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910. During the following 35 years under colonial rule, public schools were erected but the aim of education was to convert Koreans into loyal citizens of Japan. This intent was manifested in the Educational Decree promulgated shortly after the annexation. In the 1930s and 1940s, Koreans were forbidden to use the Korean language. Instead, they were forced to use the Japanese language under the Japanese plan to obliterate the cultural identity of Koreans. Korean history was excluded from the curriculum. Koreans were forced to learn only Japanese history. Moreover, Koreans were obliged to change their names into Japanese names. In order to maintain their colonial rule, Japanese colonialists demanded loyalty and submission from the Korean people. They limited the opportunities for education because they thought it very dangerous to spread education among the Koreans. Thus, the standard of education was low on the whole. (Source, ibid)

American Christian missionaries also established the Choson Christian College (which later developed into Yonsei University) in Seoul in 1905, and Soongsil College in Pyongyang in 1906. (Source: A Handbook of Korea, 1999, p348.)

The Japanese began revising the old system in 1895, but naturally took a far tighter hold with the establishment of the protectorate in 1906, when they claimed to establish education in Korea on modern lines, in conformity with the famous Imperial Rescript of Education of 1890. The most contentious measure they took, believed by the Koreans to be a discriminatory measure, was to establish parallel Japanese and Korean schools. There were thus Korean elementary and higher shools and Japanese primary, middle, and higher schools. The Japanese explanation was that the difference in language and customs necessitated the establishment of separate schools; they maintained that syllabuses and qualifications were identical, although there were separate textbooks for Koreans emphasizing their language, history, and geography. But history at least was rewritten to teach that Korea was part of Japan, and the Japanese teachers were better paid. Elementary education was not compulsory in Korea -- as it was in Japan -- but tuition and textbooks were free. Nevertheless it proved difficult at first to get Koreans to enrol in the schools because the time-honored study of Chinese calligraphy and classics was relegated to the background and the study of Japanese, arithmetic, and geography took its place. After 1921 9-12 hours a week had to be devoted to Japanese,fair use of which had to be made also in teaching other subjects, while it was the sole medium of instruction in the higher schools. As the Japanese themselves admitted, the Koreans believed that Japanese "was being forced on their children in order to supplant their own language and thus destroy their national charactyeristics." From 1937 the teaching of the Korean language was prohibited. (Source: The Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963 pp86-87)

All government functions (police, fire, roads, etc.), as well as all industries, were taken over by Japanese, and Korea's economy was re-geared towards providing Japan with food and material for the expanding imperialistic efforts. Japanese became the official language, and Shintoism became the official religion. Usage of the Korean language (in print at first) was banned, and local religions were persecuted. Korean became the "Rice Bowl" of Japan, as evidenced by a dramatic increase in total rice output. However, per capita consumption of rice fell even more dramatically. So while there was more rice then ever before, everybody but the Japanese were going hungry. Such exploitation expanded in 1937 AD, when Korea became the stragetic base for operations in the invasion of China. Korean men were conscripted to fight in the army, and Korean women were conscripted for use as sex slaves for Japanese troops. All use of the Korean language was banned outright, and all Koreans were forced to adopt new Japanese names. (Source: M. Kim: History (SITE NOTE: Changing of name to Japanese was "voluntary" but without a Japanese name, one was denied jobs, education and advancement. As to the Rice Bowl, there is evidence that the Japanese did encourage its people to emigrate to Korea to take advantage of the land there. There is evidence that Koreans were intimidated into selling their land to Japanese.)

The Japanese, who had emancipated themselves from a feudal order not so long before, brought to Korea the missionary zeal to convert to westernization. Their attitude to the Koreans emerges in their official reports, which contain such headings as "causes of degeneracy of Korea summarized." In one of these the Korean people are said to be characterized by "dullness, slovenliness, lack of thrift and ambition, and above all, laziness".

It was not only that the Japanese despised the Koreans, or that as the colonial power they inevitably instigated anti-colonialism. What made their rule far more repugnant to the Koreans was the principle of treating the Koreans as inferior Japanese citizens. What the Koreans resented even more than a police state was the fact that until 1919 the few Koreans employed in minor positions in the administration were paid less than Japanese in similar posts; that separate schools were maintained for Koreans and Japanese with the post of principal reserved -- until 1919 -- for Japanese; that the Korean language was supplanted by Japanese; that there was a Japanese-owned and directed economy. It is for these reasons that the Korean view of Japanese rule has been, and remains to this day, that Japan "brought only political, economic, and cultural oppression to Korea." As the official Handbook of Korea puts it, "law and order, plans and regulations were promulgated but never was one designed to benefit Koreans. All the political rights and economic privileges were enjoyed exclusively by the Japanese themselves while the life of the average Korean was limited to bare existence. " The Japanese view was that they had brought progress, order, modern industry, educational and social reforms to a country best by "deep-rooted evils." (Source: The Republic of Korea, W.D. Reeve, 1963, pp7-8)

After the protectorate was established it gained rapidly, especially because of the support of dispersed army personnel. Annexation did not halt the almost incessant insurrection, and it was not until 1915 that the peninsula as a whole was allegedly pacified; even then, gurerilla activity of the Korean Army of Independence, led by Li Tung Hui and operating from headquarters in eastern Manchuria, continued the struggle in the northern part of the peninsula. ... Japanese reforms of the first decade following annexation, even if they could be construed as bettering the lot of the Koreans, were received with no enthusiasm by the people. In addition to the insurgent groups, the Korean Chrisitians and the Tong Hak resisted the Japanese. The former though not numerous included many of the leading intellectuals. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, pp37-38.)

The Righteous Army (yi-byong)

The Righteous Army was formed by Yu In-sok and other Confucian scholars during the Peasant Wars. Its ranks swelled after the Queen's murder by the Japanese troops and Korean traitors. Under the leadership of Min Chong-sik, Choe Ik-hyon and Sin Tol-sok, the Righteous Army attacked the Japanese army, Japanese merchants and pro-Japan bureaucrats in the Kangwon, Ch'ungch'ong, Cholla and Kyongsang provinces.

Choe Ik-hyon was captured by the Japanese and dragged away to Tsushima Island where he refused to eat the food given by the Japanese army and finally died as a martyr. Sin Tol-sok, an uneducated peasant commanded over 3,000 troops. Among the troops were former government soldiers, poor peasants, fishermen, tiger hunters, miners, merchants, and laborers.

In 1907, the Righteous Army under the command of Yi In-yong massed 10,000 troops to liberate Seoul and defeat the Japanese invaders. The Army came within 12 km of Seoul but could not withstand the Japanese counter-offensive. The Righteous Army was no match for two infantry divisions of 20,000 Japanese soldiers backed by warships moored near Inchon.

The Army retreated from Seoul and the war went on for two more years. Over 17,000 Righteous Army soldiers were killed and more than 37,000 were wounded in combats. Unable to figh the Japanese army head-on, the Righteous Army split into small bands of partisans to carry on the War of Liberation in China, Siberia and the Jangbaik Mountains in Korea. The Japanese troops first quashed the Peasant Army and then disbanded what remained of the government army. Many of the surviving guerrilla and anti-Japanese government troops fled to Manchuria and Siberia and carried on their fight. (Source: Kimsoft: Tonghak)

Secret organizations continued to operate at home, attacking and destroying Japanese police stations and government buildings. Korean leaders were also active in supplying funds to independence fighters in Manchuria and Shanghai to promote their military and political activieties. Anlong the norther border many small groups of Kroean soldiers continued attacks against the Japanese troops. The Uiyoltan, organized in Manchuria in November of 1919, as an independenceorganization, infiltrated its commandos into Seoul and Tokyo to carry out the mission of attacking Japanese governmnet offices and assassinating officials. There were frequent explosions incidents in Korea and Japan, and even in China. Yun Pong-gil (1908-1932), a member of Aeguktan (Patriotic Assocaiation), succeeded in killing several Japanese army commanders in China with a bomb at their gathering in Shangai in April 1933. His success raised the morale not only of Koreans but also of the Chinese who were faced with mounting Japanese agression. (Source: A Handbook of Korea, 1999, pp106-107)

In 1911, determined to break this center of resistance and of Western influence, arrested 135 of the most influential leaders on the charge of conspiring to assassinate the governor-general. When the United States protested, the sentences were greatly reduced. Meanwhile the Tong Hak philosophy was spread among the peasants by an organization known as the T'ien Tao Chao or Chundo Kyu, which organized Farmers' Associations, Young Men's Assocaiitions, and Women's Associations on village, country, and provincial levels. Of these the two former associations included the bulk of the society's two million members; they were strong revolutionary organizations. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, pp37-38.)

SITE NOTE: 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 to Congress 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 fact was resurfaced during the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1970s. It resulted in the U.S. apology to the Hawaiian people for the annexation by Bill Clinton in 1990 -- though the State of Hawaii kept all the illegally confiscated Crown lands and revenues from these lands. Bill Clinton's "apology" opened a Pandora's box for the US government and State of Hawaii -- but the bottom line is that the Hawaiian people will never get their lands back. For Korea, there will never be an apology. In 1963, the ROK and Japan formalized relations and at that time all claims against Japan was "settled." Though Ministers continue to issue formal "apologies," the bottom line is that the issue to the Japanese is settled...but to the Koreans it is an open festering wound.)

After 1910, Japanese immigrants were flooding into Korea 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 the Pyongtaek area 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 Pyeongtaek as well. Ironically, the Japanese used the excuse that there was not enough arable land for Japanese farmers so they encouraged the Japanese to emigrate promising "incentives." Actually it has been proven that there was adequate land in Japan and the Japanese were simply encouraging Japanese to "take over" Korea. When the Japanese "took over," the Korean populace was basically barred from management positions. (NOTE: As a result when WWII ended, there was no trained personnel to maintain the economy. From bank managers to engineers, the Japanese nationals controlled the economy. At the end of the war, the Occupation Forces were faced with a disastrous situation -- there were no upper-level managers to transition the economy to. When the Japanese left the Korean economy with worthless currency and no one to take over. As a result, the US was forced to "request" some of the Japanese police to stay on as there were not enough ROK personnel to take their places.)

However, many of the Korean intelligensia bowed to the Japanese demands and became "Japanese" -- by assuming Japanese names and collaborating with the Japanese. Many attended Japanese colleges or institutes of higher learning. Others openly rebelled against the Japanese domination and were sentenced to jail for their publicized views. Still others fled the country and formed a resistance movement against the Japanese -- and were allied with the Chinese Communists in fighting against the Japanese in WWII.

Manchuria lay just across the Amnokang river, so many loyal troops went there after 1906, and when Korea was overtaken by Japan, groups of patriotic leaders sought exile there. They engaged in reclaiming farmland, educating the children of exiled patriots and organizing military training centers. Manchuria was also an ideal military base for launching quick attacks on the Japanese, and the independence trooops operating in eastern and southern Manchuria were gradually integrated under the leadership of the Provisional Government. (Source: A Handbook of Korea, 1999, p107)

The independence army suffered severe financial hardship, hile Japan tried to obtain the cooperation of the Chinese in an attempt to oust it from Manchuria or to annihilate it altogether. Despit such adversitites, teh Korean troops fought well and achieved significant results. The Chongsan-ri Battle of October 1920, in which a Korean force outnumbers eight to one triumbphed over the Japanese, will remain a landmark in history of the Korean independence struggle. (Source: ibid, p107)

Venting their rancor on the Koreans for that disastrous defesat, Japanese troops slaughtered many Korean residents in Manchuria. Some others were buried alive in random massacres, and other atrocities were committed in horrible scenes, as witnessed by a Presbyterian missionary from America. (Source: ibid, p107)

After Korea was annexed the Kyongbu rail line connecting Seoul to Pusan was completed along with a road that basically followed the route of the the rail line. In 1904, the Japanese had completed the Kyongbu line -- and work to complete the connection from Taejon to Pusan. In 1904, the Seojongni Station and the Pyongtaek Station were opened as well. (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

On January 1, 1905 the Kyongbu line (Seoul - Busan) opened. On January 11, 1914 the Honam line from Taejeon - Mokpo opened. A spur line from Iksan on the Honam line connected to Kunsan. The lines expanded and it would connect the industrial areas of North Korea and Pyongyang through Kaesong to Yongdongpo. (NOTE: On February 1, 1943, the Railroad Administration Bureau restructured into Department of Transportation. It would become the Korea National Railroad in 1963.) (Source: Korean National Railroad (KNR))

The system of railways and bridges which linked Korea with Manchuria was substantially completed by 1928, when Korea was also linked with Tokyo and Dairen by regular air flights. Theis meant that for the first time it was possible to exchange the products of the north and the south, and thus to introduce some division of labor and diversification fo the economy. (Source: Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963, p20.)

By 1917 mainly Japanese capital -- 86 percent of teh total -- had been investe in ore smelting, cotton ginning, gas and electricity, rice-cleaning, tobacco manufacture, brewing and tanning. Mining became increasingly profitable iwth the outbreak of the First World War.

In agriculture better seed and stock, model farms, improved irrigation methods, and the reclamation of waste land all contributed to higher yields. An example of tidal land reclamation was the creation of the port city of Kunsan from scratch -- and the reclamation of rice lands that surround Kunsan AB -- a former island.

The Government-General of Chosen was the biggest entrepreneur in the peninsula, running all the public utilities, a large part of the forest areas, and the monopolies of ginseng, salt, tobacco, and opum. The largest contribution to revenue was made by the receipts from government undertakinggs and properties, while the expenses of public utilities were defrayed with proceeds from public loans or borrowed money chargeable to a special account. (Source: Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963, p21.) (NOTE: After the liberation of Korea, the new government found it difficult to divest itself of the public enterprises as there was a shortage of private capital. Thus it was compelled to enlarge the government sector of the economy...leading to corruption and multiple ills seen today.)



In 1910, a Pyongtaek police unit was formed. These police units were led by Japanese officers and NCOs with Koreans in the lower ranks. Only those Koreans who assumed Japanese nationality were allowed to be promoted up the ranks. This form of management structure would cause great upheaval when Korea received its independence in 1945. Pyeongtaek history states that in 1945 there was a great deal of problems when the Japanese police left creating confusion and turmoil. The US Military government (Occupation Forces) asked the Japanese police leadership to remain in place until Koreans could be trained to take over the positions. Though this riled many Koreans, it was the only solution until Koreans could be trained to take over.

Seoul: Under Japanese occupation, Seoul was modernized with a view to increasing the production of Korean manufactured goods and to exploiting Korean resources. Factories were built, and Korean workers produced cotton goods and other textiles along with rubber and leather goods to be sent to Japan. Factories provided jobs to peasants, many of whom had been forced off the land by Japanese policies. As a result, Seoul's population grew to 1 million, and the city's appearance changed still further. Gone were the low structures, traditional roofs and courtyards of Korean homes. In their place, the Japanese erected tall government and office buildings. To make room for development, gardens were destroyed. Palaces were sold to entrepreneurs who moved them to other parts of the city and opened up restaurants. Many Japanese buildings were burned after Koreans regained independence in 1945; others were destroyed during the Korean War. Today, only a few buildings from the Japanese occupation remain.

Seoul was a center of resistance to Japanese rule. Much of the resistance was secret, or underground. But public protests also occurred. On March 1, 1919, a state funeral for King Kojong in Pagoda Park erupted into a public demonstration for independence. The Japanese cracked down at once turning the park into a bloody battleground. As a result of such protests, the Japanese made new plans to widen Seoul's main road so that troops could enter the city more easily. (Source: Korean Society.)

After the funeral of the old emperor in 1919 thirty-three liberal leaders prepared the Proclamation of Korean Independence. On March 1 it was widely disseminated, and it precipitatted the famous Mansei unarmed revolution. Although the revolt continued in a sporadic fashion thoughout the peninsula for several years, it was in effect suppressed by the Japanese within two months after the initial demonstrations. Its results, however, were far-reaching. One was the improvement of the situation of the Korean people. Admiral Saito, appointed governor-general, instituted a comprehensive program of administrative reform which decidedly favored the middle classes. japan at the moment was undergoing liberalization within her own governmnet, and while the technique she was employing in Korea was similar to that used against the nobility a decade earlier, in order to satisfy the liberal element the Japanese were complelled to draw a blue print which could later serve as a basis for a more democratic government. A result of the suppression of the Mansei revolt was the swelling of the exodus into Manchuria and Siberia. Korean activity in the former area provided the Japanese with an excuse to interfere with Chinese authorities, but in Siberia the exiles were free from Japanese persecution. As both groups were subjected to Soviet ideaology a number of these million-odd refugees became Communist sympathizers, which was to have an important bearing on Korea's future. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, pp38-39.)

March First Independence Movement (Samil)


Kyonggi-do Uprising (March 1, 1919). The numbers indicate the incidents had spread throughout the Kyonggi-do area. Pyeongtaek had incidents on the 4, 5, 6, 10 and 20 March. Songtan had an incident on 14 March. Jinwi-myeon had incidents on 7, 21, and 22 March. Seotan-myeon had incidents on 18 and 19 March. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Suwon: In 1919, the Hambyong-dae was formed which was a combined constabulary (forerunner to the Korean Army) and Korean police. It seems apparent that this type of combined unit was formed to put down the Independence Movement by strengthening the police enforcement arm with constabulary. This unit was led by Japanese officers and NCOs with Koreans in the lower ranks. By combining the two, the Japanese Military Governor had a "local" police force with an enforcement arm that was "Korean." Technically, the units used to suppress the Independence Movement were local police.

As Kyonggi-do was the center of the Japanese influx, the disenfranchised Koreans of the Kyonggi-do area were the most vocal in protesting the Japanese presence. On March 1, 1919 more than a million Koreans take to the streets in the March First Movement, demanding independence. The demonstrations force the Japanese colonial administrators in Seoul to rethink their colonial policy, from one of brutal coercion to a more conciliatory stance known as the Cultural Policy. (Source: Met Time Line) In the repression that broke up the demonstrations and decapitated the movement, the Japanese killed perhaps 1,200 Koreans at the cost of nine security force lives, arrested 19,500 (of whom about 3,000 received jail sentences), and burned thousands of homes, churches, temples, and schools.

Hwaseong: The following is the Korean account of the atrocities committed by the Japanese and was excerpted from Hwaseong Jeam-ri March 1st Movement Martyrdom Hall.

In the account it refers to "Cheondoists" (Chundoists) or followers of Chundo-gyo, a religion indigenous to Korea. Chundo-gyo ('chun' = Heaven, 'do' = path or ways, 'gyo' = religion or 'ism' = Heavenly Way) is often mistaken for Chunju-gyo ('chun' = Heaven, 'ju' = master referring to Christ - Master in Heaven, i.e., the Catholic Church).

In 1905, Korean nationalists founded Chundo-gyo based on the themes of Tong-hak teachings popular during the Peasant Wars. The nationalists wanted to stem, by peaceful means, the tide of pro-Japanese sentiments sweeping across Korea. During the waning days of the Chosun (Yi) Dynasty, King Kojong himself embraced Chundo and promoted it nationwide. The King added rituals and codices to the new religion. It was organized into a formal organizational hierarchy similar to that of Chunju-gyo (The Catholic Church) with Pope, Papal Muncio, formal ceremonies, etc.

Chundoism preaches that there is God and that He resides in each of us - not in Heaven as Christianity and other religions preach. It strives to convert our earthly society into a paradise (Heaven) right here on Earth. It attempts to transform the believers into intelligent moral beings with high social consciousness. In this respect, it is humanistic socialism.

Chundoism arose from the Tonghak revolution that began in 1812 in Chosen. Besides the insurgents in China, the Korean Christians and Chundoists (Tonghak followers) were the most vocal in demanding independence from Japan. The Righteous Army -- an outgrowth of the Tonghak revolt -- fought the Japanese at Seoul in 1907. Thus the Christians and Chundoists massacred were natural targets by the police and its constabulary enforcement arm based in Suwon. (Source: Kimsoft: Tonghak)

The reaction of the Japanese was severe. A case at Suwon, Kyonggi-do province, was typical. On April 15 that year, a squad of Japanese troops ordered about 30 villagers to assemble in a Christian church, closed all the windows and doors, then set the building afire. While the church burned for five hours, the Japanese soldiers aimed a concentrated barrage at the confined civilians, killing all of them, including women and infants. The Japanese soldiers also burned 31 houses in the village, then set fire to 317 houses in 15 villages in the vicinity. Informed of the incident, F.W. Schofield, a Canadian missionary, and other American missionaries visited the scene of the incident on April 17, personally viewing the traces of Japanese atrocities, and informed the world of what they had seen.

'Jeam-ri Incident' is the one of worst showing the cruelties committed by imperialist Japan in retaliation for the 1919 independence movement of residents in Suwon and Hwaseong, such as the Demonstration of Balan Market Day. According as demonstrations in the region of Suwon and Hwaseong began to take on the aspect of a violent riot, the Police Administration Division of Kyonggi-do dispatched an arrest team made up of military policemen, infantrymen, and policemen in this region. After rounds for the said region twice on April 2-6, and April 9-6, 1919, the arrest team raided some villages, the center of such disturbance, set fire to them, and arrest the leaders of demonstration through a massive search. In this course, there broke out the incident of Suchon-ri that would lead to the Jeam-ri Incident.


Jeanri March First Freedom Movement: Mansei Demonstration

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A violent hurrah (Mansei) demonstration staged by residents in Jangan-myon and Wujeong-myon on April 2 proved an incentive to the Suchon-ri Incident. On April 3, the villagers of Suchon-ri and Seokpo-ri crowed to the administrative office of Jangan-myon with cheers for independence, and destroyed the buildings. Joining the demonstrators from the Jugok-ri region of Wujeong-myon on Mt. Ssangbong, they held an assembly, before the destruction of the Wujeong-myon Office and the raid of the Hwasu-ri Police Outstation. The crowd growing up to 2000 people murdered a Japanese policeman who stood against them with a gun, and set fire to the building of this police outstation. Even the murder of a Japanese policeman occurring further to the burning of a police outstation and the destruction of a myon office, the Japanese arrest team came to conclude that Suchon-ri was the origin of such disturbance, and rushed in Suchon-ri at about 3:30 a.m. on April 5 in order to arrest Paek Nak-Ryol, a circuit propagator of the Namyang Cheondoist Parish, and Kim Gyo-Chol, a Methodist missionary. In this course, the arrest team set fire to private houses together with Cheondoist temple and Methodist church, with the result that 38 of 42 houses in the village were burnt down. The arrest team also besieged 25 villages, including Suchon-ri, within Jangan-myon and Wujeong-myon, and arrested 204 leaders of demonstration on April 11. The two round-ups had the nature of retaliation for the violent hurrah (Mansei) demonstration, that could be proved by the Jeam-ri Incident of April 15.

On March 30, 1919, 1000 people of Jeam-ri and its vicinal villages staged the independence movement with cheers on the occasion of the Market Day. That day, 3 villagers got killed by the gun of a Japanese policeman. Enraged at this sight, the demonstrators threw stones to Japanese houses, and then, 43 Japanese took shelter in Samgoi-ri at a distance of 30 ri from the village. In revenge for this, Sasaka, a rice polisher, volunteered to act as a guide for the Japanese military at that time of the Jeam-ri Incident on April 15. The people of villages in the vicinity of Balan-ri staged a demonstration, raising beacon fires on the hill near the Balan Market on April.1.

The independence movement with hurrah (Mansei) on the occasion of the Balan Market Day was planned by Lee Jeong-Geun, a Confucian scholar in Kajae-ri, Paltan-myon, Paek Nak-Ryol, leader of Cheondoist in Suchon-ri, Jangan-myon, An Jeong-Ok, Cheondoist in Jeam-ri, Hyangnam-myon, and Kim Heung-Ryol, leader of Chendoist in Koju-ri. Started with Lee Jeong-Geun's leading shout of 'Hurrah (Mansei) for the independence of Korea' at noon on the Market Day, the demonstration scaled up the independence movement that the number of participants grew up to 8000 in a moment. As the demonstrators rushed the Balan Police Outstation, shouting hurrah (Mansei), Japanese policemen fired a warning shot at the crowd, who confronted the policemen with stone missiles. In the end, the Japanese began to brandished swords on the demonstrators who were about to approach the police outstation. In this process, Lee Jeong-Geun and his pupil named Kim Gyong-Tae were stabbed to death, while Hong Won-Shik, An Jong-Hu, An Jin-Soon, An Bong-Soon, Kim Jeong-Heon and Kang Tae-Seong (Christians of Jeam-ri) and Kim Seong-Ryol(Cheondoist of Koju-ri), who were victoms of the two incidents in Jeam-ri and Koju-ri, were arrested by the Japanese guards and were put to severe torture, before release from the Japanese police.

The Balan Market Day's demonstration can be characterized by the tie-up between Christians and Cheondoists and the nature of intensity and violence. Additionally, behind this movement, there is an underground organization called 'Gugukdongji-hoi (meaning 'National Salvation Club') which Hong Won-Shik, leader of the Jeam-ri Methodist Church (Former Korean military man, Former head of the loyal army after dissolution of the military, Removed to Jeam-ri in 1914, Established a library and developed the educational enlightenment campaign), An Jong Hu(Founder of the Jeam Church), and Kim Seong-Ryol, leader of Cheondoists in Koju-ri organized at the national level in spite of their religious difference.

The raid of the police outstation at that time of the 1919 demonstration proved an incentive to the retaliatory massacre committed by Japan in Jeam-ri, Hyangnam-myon and Koju-ri, Paltan-myo on April 15. The backup force for guarding the Balan district after the market days' demonstration of March 30 and the Hwasu-ri and Suchon-ri demonstration of April 3 was under the control of the 79th Infantry Regiment, the Japanese Army. It was on April 13 that 11 infantrymen, led by Arita, first lieutenant, arrived in Balan. Accordingly, their duty was to keep public peach and order of the Balan district in which punitive operations had already completed. However, Arita decided to subdue the region of Jeam-ri, since the leaders of demonstration in other regions were mostly caught through two arrest operation, while the leaders in Jeam-ri who initiated the Balan market day's demonstration were not arrested yet.

In the afternoon on April 15, Arita went to Jeam-ri, leading 11 men under his command, together with a Japanese policeman, Cho Hee-Chang, assistant policeman who had lived in Jeam-ri, under the guidance of Sasaka, a rice polisher. Arita, after arriving in the village, had Cho Hee Chang and Sasaka make only adult men assemble at the Jeam Church, and set private houses as well as the church on fire, subsequently to fire gun at the villagers inside the church. Thereafter, going to Koju-ri, he shot 6 Cheondoists to death, mangled their body with sword, and burnt the mangled corpse.

Putting various report of testimony together, the progress of this incident can be reconstructed as follows: But, there may be some error in the details such as time, name, etc.

• The force of Arita instructed Sasaka, a Japanese resident in Jeam-ri, and Cho Hee-Chang and Cho Gi-Chae, Korean assistant policemen, to assemble only adult men (over the age of 15) of all villagers at the Jeam-ri Church.
• He seemed to have the register of residents, from the fact that he called the person not attended to come,
• Arita asked people what is the doctrine of Christianity, and a representative of believers named 'An' (maybe, An Jong-Hu) answered to the question.
• Right after Arita came out of the church, he gave firing order, and his soldiers who were surrounding the church began to shot at the villagers through windows
• After shot, they threw sheaves of straw and oil to the church, and lighted fire.
• Due to rattling wind, the houses located at upper place caught fire, while as for the lower houses the soldiers set them on fire.
• As the church caught on fire, 'Hong'(maybe, Hong Soon-Jin), 'Person who worked at the myon office', and 'Cho Gyong-Tae'('No' according to No Bul) tried to escape the fire, and among the three, 'Hong' was shot to death, 'Person who worked at the myon office'(maybe, An Sang-Yong) was found out at this house and got killed, and 'Cho Gyong-Tae' took refuge in the hill to be alive.
• Outside the church there were two body that seemed to have been shot on the way of refuge.
• The wife(age 19) of 'Kang(Kang Tae-Seong)', who hurried to the church at the sight that a fire broke out in her village, were killed by a soldier.
• The wife of 'Hong'(Hong Won-Shik) also were shot to death.
• Thereafter, Japanese soldiers killed 6 Cheondoists in the village of Koju-ri by shooting.

Through the progress of this incident, we can see that this incident broke out according to a very careful plan from the beginning. In other words, it was not an 'accidental' event that "some soldiers who was accustomed to local conditions without experience in stationing in Korea committed, enraged at the death of Japanese people, as Japan insists. Sending out scouts in advance to intercept a retreat of villagers in Jeam-ri, securing the list of leaders in the Christian and Cheondoist circles of Jeam-ri through the Korean assistant policeman and calling them together, and detecting and killing leaders in the Cheondoist circles of Koju-ri. All these facts prove it. The cruelties committed by Japan in Jeam-ri could be known to the general public the next day by Underwood, Curtis, and Tailer who witnessed a horrible scene by chance on the way to make an inspection on the spot of Suchon-ri.

Scofield, a Canadian missionary, came and went there several times after his first personal visit to Jeam-ri and Suchon-ri of April 18, and contributed for the settlement of post matters, while he transmitted a report on this incident to his acquaintances living in Canada and U.S.. Additionally, he let all the nations of the world know Japanese brutalities and cruelties through his work titled Flame Not Extinguished.

The Jeam-ri Incident should be called 'Jeam-ri & Koju-ri Incident'. That is because between the demonstrations developed in Jeam-ri of Hyangnam-myon and Koju-ri of Paltan-myon, which the two villages neighbors to each other, there is a close correlation, and the cruel massacres of the Japanese military in the two villages also was committed at the similar time in the same context. Since foreign missnionaries first let all the world know the tragedy of the Jeam-ri, and their interest is concentrated on the burning of the Jeam Church and the massacre of Christians, this incident is known just as the cruel incident caused by Japanese retaliation for the independence movement of Christians. But, as for Jeam-ri, most victims were Christian and Cheondoist. Meanwhile, as for Koju-ri, 11 of 23 victims including 6 persons of the Cheondoist leader's family were Cheondoist in the independence movement, not inferior to the number of Christian victims of 10 (*2 victim's religion is unknown), and the number of Cheondoist victims(17) is more than that of Christian as a whole. Therefore, it is certain that the independence movement by the villagers of Jeam-ri and Koju-ri was developed with the power generated from a cooperation of Cheondoists and Christians. (Source: Hwaseong Jeam-ri March 1st Movement Martyrdom Hall. JeAmRi Memorial Hall of 3.1 Patriotic Movement -- Address : San 16-3, JeAmRi, Hyangnam-myon, Hwaseong-si, Kyonggi-do)

The most spectacular outcome of the 1919 revolution was the inauguration in that year of the independent Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai, with Dr. Syngman Rhee as president and General Li as prime minister. The Korean Independence News, suppressed by the Japanese in 1910 was revived, a military school was established, and branch associations were set up among exiles in other cities. This government flourished until 1924, when Chinese insurrections hopelessly split its ranks.

In 1924, the Korean Communist Party, its Young Men's Association, and the fellow-traveling Farmers-Workers Alliance were organized within Korea proper, and for the next decade the independence movement both at home and abroad was largely led by Communist groups. Other societies, socialistic, anarchistic and terroristitc were formed and though ruthlessly resisted, continued ot flourish underground. In 1929 occurred the last pre-war general uprising within Korea; it began when a Japanese student insulted the sister of a Cholla Nam Do schoolboy. The result was a student demonstration and strike which quickly spread all over Chosen. Like the Mansei revolt it was unarmed, but not bloodless. It was substantially quelled within a few months. Activities beyond Korean borders, however, continued until Japan's defeat in 1945. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, p14)

Most impressive among various activites at home after the 1919 Independence uprising was the press movement aimed at promoting national consciousness by criticizing and attacking Japanese colonial policy. In 1920, three newspapers came into being, the Dong-A Ilbo, the Chonun Ilbo and the Shisa Sinmun. These dailies spread the use of the Kroean language and made significant contributions in the traditional fields of literature, drama, films, music and fine arts, and also in the dissemination of information from aroad. (Source: A Handbook of Korea, 1999, p107)

The educational movement began to awaken the masses on a broad scale to the necessity for anti-Japanese struggle. Private institutes and night courses for workers were established by the Koerans themselves. Youths and students who came to cities from rural villages could earn their school expenses through affiliation with organizations of self-supporting sutdents. The determined effort to establish a private college in order to promote higher learning was repeatedly rejected by the Government-General. (Source: ibid, p107)

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Jinwi Government Office, 1920 (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

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Patriot: An Jae-hong


Ahn Jae-hong (Pyeongtaek City)
Home of Ahn Jae-hong in Minsae (NOTE: The direction sign for house is located on Route 340 to Anjung near Seojong-ni Station. It is on the left when driving to Anjung. The current birthplace is a residence in the Chosun Dynasty fashion composed of main residential quarters and visitor quarters.) (Pyeongtaek City)

Songtan: Songtan is the birthplace of An Jae-hong (1891-1965) -- a patriot who endured the Japanese as a newspaper editorial writer, historian, scholar, and later as the president and publisher of the Chosun Ilbo. An Jae-hong made outstanding contributions by refuting the distorted history of the Japanese scholars. He led the independence struggle by establishing the Association of Patriotic Youth in 1919. He was appointed the chief editor of the Chosun Daily Newspaper in 1924. On January 25, 1928 An Jae-Hong and editor Baek Gwan-Su were arrested for 'The sacrifice of delay in bail,' an editorial criticizing Japan's cruel prison system. On May 9, 1928 An Jae-hong was suspended for 133 days for the editorial 'Byeok Sang-Gwan' of the 'Jinan incident' criticizing the dispatch of Japanese troops to Shandong. Chief editor Ahn Jae-Hong was re-arrested on March 22, 1929. On Jul 25, 1931 An Jae-Hong was appointed president of the newspaper. When the nation was liberated from Japanese rule, he became the Minister of Civil Affairs under the 1947-48 U.S. Military Government. (NOTE: Though the Chosun Ilbo is now an English-Korean newspaper, Ahn Jae-Hong did not understand English and was appointed to the US Military Government position because of his status as a "patriot" (anti-Japanese record) and intellectual accomplishments.) At the start of the Korean War, many prominent Koreans, including An Jae Hong, went North. In 1956, the surviving southern 'abductees' formed the Peaceful Unification Promotion Committee (North Korea). An Jae Hong died on March 1, 1965 at the age of 75 in North Korea. He willed that his writings be published and distributed among his family and relatives. His writings were published on December 25, 1965. He is buried in North Korea in a national cemetery for revolutionaries and other patriots at Samsuck Cemetery near Pyongyang with 39 other patriots. (Source: Resting Place.)

[Arrowhead] A Tragedy of Modern Korean Politics

By Choi Yearn-hong
Poet, Professor at University of Seoul

As a political scientist and poet, I admire Mr. Ahn Chae-hong who endured the Japanese colonial rule as a newspaper editorial writer, historian, scholar and later as the president and publisher of the Chosun Ilbo. When the nation was liberated from Japanese rule, he became the Korean governor under the 1947-48 U.S. Military Government.

When the inaugural National Assembly elected Syngman Rhee the first president of the Republic, he was placed third after Rhee and Kim Gu, one of the most respected independence fighters. Immediately after the Korean War broke out in June 1950, the North Korean invaders arrested and sent him to Pyongyang. He died there on March 1, 1965. His life was full of frustration and regret.

I have received ``Biography of Ahn Chae-hong'' written by Dr. Chung Yoon-jae, forwarded by Dr. Kim Hak-joon, publisher of the DongA Ilbo. The book was a gift from Mr. Ahn's granddaughter, Hye-cho, one of my precious poet friends. My grandmother's close relative, Paik Kwan-soo, was also a close friend of Ahn at the Chosun Ilbo, and the Singan-hoe group during the Japanese colonial days. Both were kidnapped to the North during the war. Both died there. So my friendship with Ahn Hye-cho has been very special.

Ahn was a very important political leader who tried to organize moderate right-wing and left-wing politicians for the new nation in 1945, but failed. Not because of his efforts, but because of the extreme leftists and populists in the turbulent Korean politics, and the then Soviet Union's ambition to make North Korea as its own satellite nation in the Northeast Asia. He took the governorship under the U.S. military rule in order to contribute something positive for the new nation.

The U.S. Military Government attempted to bring law and order, but it was under heavy attack from the communists. At Moscow, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Union President Joseph Stalin agreed to establish the U.N. trusteeship in the new nation, but Stalin ordered the Korean communists to revolt the trusteeship. As the Korean chief executive under the U.S. military rule, his role must have been very limited. However, the U.S. military government had high hopes for Ahn and Kim Kyu-sik to lead the turbulent nation. That effort also failed.

As the new nation was liberated from 36 years of colonial rule, Korea probably might have needed the U.N.'s three-year trusteeship. It should be a basic training period for democratic citizenship. But both Syngman Rhee and Kim Gu did not like the trusteeship. Their political ambition and national pride overpowered the reasoning power.

However, Song Jin-woo, the leader of the Korean Democratic Party ("Hanmindang''), was sympathetic to the trusteeship idea and then was assassinated by a nationalist. Most likely, Ahn could weigh that the new nation would accept several years' trusteeship for a mature democratic politics and society. Democracy could not come in rhetoric and street demonstrations. I appreciate the book, because it will stimulate more studies on political leadership during the turbulent times from 1945 to1948. I am always curious about who killed Song Jin-woo, Yeo Un-hyung and Chang Duk-soo during those chaotic times. We all know of the assassins, but we still do not know who was or were behind the killers. History has not answered many significant questions. It's the role of political and social historians to bring the whole truth to light.

Some leaders were unfairly glorified, while others were unfairly condemned.

Ahn should be rediscovered and reevaluated from various perspectives as a reputed political leader, famed historian and an articulate writer and commentator. His idealism should be highly evaluated. Should we criticize his leadership or Korean politics? His biography does not answer all of my questions. But it will encourage more studies on the most critical time of the modern Korean political history.

Whenever I look back on Korean politics from 1945 to 1948, the new liberated nation required a heroic, charismatic leadership that could heal the ideological conflict between the left and the right. It seems to me that Ahn was not a realistic politician who could control and command the different political forces. No one probably could do that job as I wished. Syngman Rhee was the most charismatic leader who could utilize the Hanmindang for his power, but he immediately betrayed others by seizing power. Why could Ahn and Kim Kyu-sik not emerge as the powerful forces? This question is not also answered in the biography.

By reading this biography, I came to know that his funeral in Pyongyang was organized by Hong Myung-hee, a renowned novelist who became the second highest person next to Kim Il-sung in North Korea. Hong was a close friend and colleague of Ahn at the Chosun Ilbo. Ahn, then publisher and editor of the daily provided the space for Hong to write a serial novel _ "Im Kkok-jong," a Korean version of ''Robin Hood,'' in the newspaper in 1928. They went down two different roads, but somehow they met at the funeral in sadness.

Ahn's life is the tragedy of modern Korean political history. (Source: Korea Times. [Arrowhead] A Tragedy of Modern Korean Politics, Choi Yearn-hong, 15 Jan 2004

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Patriot: Wan Shim-Chang


Wan Shim Chang (1934) Patriot for forming the Korean Young Man's League in 1934. This led to his arrest. (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

Wan Shim-chang was one of the founders in 1924 of the Young Men's Association -- an arm of the Korean Communist Party. His involvement with the independence movement embroiled him with the Japanese police and his imprisonment. For the next decade, the Communist party led the independence movement underground both in and outside Korea.

A common front between nationalist and Communist leaders mounted a vigoraous campain against the Japanese, and a nationawide sutdent movement erupted on June 10, 1926. The Communist Party secretly sent Kwon O)-sol home from Shanghai to lead the independence demonstration, a mass struggle as large in scope as the March First, 1919 Independence Movement, by capitalizing on the masses gather because of the demise of former Empoeror Sunjong in April of 1926. (Source: A Handbook of Korea, 1999, p108)

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Education: Seojong-ni (Sojang-ni) Though the Jinwi Elementary School had its roots starting in 1899, the Seojong Elementary School is considered the oldest "modern" school in the Songtan area tracing its roots to 1922. However, there were private "church" schools in the area as well. One of these was the Seojong Catholic School that was founded in Seojong-ni in 1937 and started a small school in the rectory of the church. This later would evolve into the St. Theresa's Middle School in 1953 and later would become Hyomyung Middle School and High School. (NOTE: The Pyeongtaek history, Pyeongtaek Si Sa, has a reference to the school but has an error that the Seojong Elementary school was renamed Songtan Elementary in 1996 -- a typo mistake referring to the Songtan Elementary School in Songtan-dong.)

Seojong-ni Potong Hakkyo (Public Primary School). (1922) (Seojong Elementary Wall Mural (2005))

Graduating Class (1922) (Seojong Elementary Wall Mural (2005))

After 1921 9-12 hours a week had to be devoted to Japanese, fair use of which had to be made also in teaching other subjects, while it was the sole medium of instruction in the higher schools. In 3 Jun 1922, the Seojongni Potong Hakkyo (Seojong-ni Public Primary School) was opened during the Japanese colonial period. On 16 Oct 1922, the school started into a 4-year program for Primary School. The school enrollment remained very low during this period. On 16 Nov 1924, the school became a 6-year program. On 21 Mar 1926, the school had its first graduating class. At this time, primary education was not mandatory and many of the farmers simply could not afford the educational expenses. A significant portion of the population was disenfranchised from educational opportunities.

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In the face of Japanese colonial rule and economic exploitation, which worsened in the 1930s, the appeal of Communism as an alternative revolutionary solution to Korea's backwardness and oppression is hardly surprising. For self-proclaimed Korean patriots, especially those disillusioned with the non-violent forbearance and gradualism of the Protestant evangelicals, the ideological assumptions of Marxism seemed singularly appropriate: the party vanguard would lead the masses of workers and peasants into a new utopia of independence, a classless society, and a state-managed economic system that would ensure the equitable distribution of wealth. In addition, the Korean Communists could draw support and protection from two traditional counterweights to Japanese exploitation, China and Russia. The Communists also provided a structure of opposition to the Japanese (the Korean Communist Party and the Korean Communist Youth Association, formed in 1925) that survived the periodic Japanese crackdowns until the final, relentless pursuit of the Communist organizers (including one phoenix-like founder, Pak Hon-yong) in 1929-1930. The Communists also proved adept at undermining their challengers. In China the Communists lured the trained subversives of Kim Won-bong's Korean Volunteer Corps to Manchuria and integrated them into their own Korean Volunteers Army - North China Branch. Within Korea they subverted Shinganhoe (1927-1931), a promising mass anti-Japanese association formed by the evangelicals. The Communists claimed that their revolution was far more authentic than the Western liberalism of the March First Movement. They rejected the economic incrementalism and survivalism that had taken root among some of the leaders of the Protestant evangelicals. Not surprisingly, every effort at some sort of "unified front" resistance organization failed, largely over the issues of ideology, organization, and "collaboration."'

Both claimants to the cause of Korean nationalism and independence, the Protestant evangelical reformers and the Communists found little common ground beyond their shared opposition to Japanese colonialism. Even on that point their ardor varied. The westernized reformers turned away from violent action and direct protest within Korea since their rich experience in martyrdom made them keenly aware of risks of retaliation to the Korean masses. The Communists required terrorism and partisan warfare to build the party, impress their Soviet sponsors, and politicize the rural masses, who were encouraged at every opportunity to stage peasant protests and workers' strikes, whatever the economic and human cost. The liberal revolutionaries saw long-term advantages in Japanese investment in Korean manufacturing enterprises and extractive industries and supported the concept of entrepreneurship and economic development, even to the point of taking pride in such enterprises as the Kyongbang Spinning and Weaving Company, the textile conglomerate founded by the Kim family of Koch'ang. Although many of the new entrepreneurs became ardent champions of Japanese economic development and opponents of political nationalism, others looked forward to a new kind of Korean capitalistic corporatism that would be free of Japanese economic colonialism. The Communists, of course, advocated state-ownership and the revolution of agriculture through collectivization, which they described as providing land for the tenant farmers enslaved by the Japanese.

In terms of political theory, the Protestant evangelical modernizers and the Communists advanced programs for democratic participation in political life, at least an authoritarian version. The ideal of a republic fired the revolutionaries' imagination, but not their minds, since few of them could envision a largely rural and uneducated people exercising much real political power. The appeal of top-down administrative government run by an especially-prepared bureaucratic elite, drew strong support in the Koreans' Sino-Confucian past and even fit some western modernizers' notions of Progressivism (one of their heroes was Woodrow Wilson) and the Communists' emphasis on the party in shaping the perfect socialist state. Both movements wanted a single Korean state, but they differed dramatically on the relationship of that state to Japan. At the level of popular politics, condemning Japan for its cultural imperialism and inhuman cruelty to fellow Asians had no equal for crowd appeal. At the level of policy-making, however, the capitalist revolutionaries realized that good relations with Japan spelled Korean prosperity. Neither the Soviet Union nor China could fill the need for capital, markets, technology, and managerial knowledge. For the Communists, Korean economic development meant some sort of economic integration into a commonwealth of socialist states, not Japan. (Source: "Understanding Is Better Than Remembering: The Korean War, 1945-1954", Allan Millett, 1995.)

Japan Expands into Manchuria and then World War II

In 1932 in Kunsan, the Japanese Fuji Company initiated the first tidal plain reclamation project by connecting the inshore islands and then using coolie labor to fill in the dike portion with earth and sand. The entire Japanese portion of Kunsan City and the land on which Kunsan AB sits was accomplished by this method. Kunsan Aerodrome was used as a Japanese advanced fighter training base starting during the Manchurian Invasion. Similar projects were done throughout the country to open up the ports for the transshipment of rice to Japan.

The Japanese had almost total control of the land and Koreans had become tenant farmers -- but it should be noted that it was a system that had existed for centuries and was not invented by the Japanese. Instead of rental money, the Japanese practice was to collect tenants rents in terms of a fixed percentate of the rice crop.

Enforcing the policy of naisen ittai (the complete integration of Koreans into Japanese culture), the three wartime governors-general (all Japanese generals) dealt a series of blows to the Korean nationalists that fell least heavily upon the Communists, already outlawed and underground. Koreans had to adopt Japanese names and conduct as much business as possible in Japanese (about one-third of the population learned Japanese); schools could no longer conduct classes in Korean or teach Korean language and literature. The only authorized religions after 1935 were Shintoism or Japanese-style Christianity taught from a Bible devoid of the revolutionary Old Testament. Thousands of Christians ceased open worship and education or went underground. Japanese prisons overflowed with political protestors, many of whom found themselves shipped off as involuntary laborers to Japan and Manchuria. High school and college students took required military training, and after 1942 Korean youths faced conscription into the Japanese army. All Koreans had to join at least one patriotic society and submit to constant surveillance by economic and political police. Yet the Japanese war effort, at least in its early stages, also offered new profits and plant expansion for Korean businesses, which hastened to join the Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere. On the whole, however, the Koreans exhausted themselves in what appeared to be a fruitless struggle.(Source: "Understanding Is Better Than Remembering: The Korean War, 1945-1954", Allan Millett, 1995.)

Instead the Korean people were sucked into the very maw of the Japanese war effort and paid a price for their largely involuntary participation. First, farmers could not keep up with Japanese demands for rice, could not meet their debts for seedlings and fertilizer, and fell into a swelling number of tenant farmers or left the land for other work. Tenant-landlord disputes rapidly increased, fueled in part by the fact that Korean rice consumption per capita dropped by half at the same time rice production increased. In addition, the Koreans shared the Japanese wartime inflation, taxes, and infrastructure neglect. The Japanese handled rural unrest in a straightforward way: they drafted Koreans for war industries and sent over two million to Japan and some 700,000 into China and the Pacific to work on military construction projects. Thousands of Korean women "served" the Japanese army as captive prostitutes. Despite conscription, the Japanese accepted only 40,000 Koreans for actual military service, much of it in either support units or in elite counter-guerrilla units in Manchuria. Koreans within Japan organized their own underground political groups for postwar party organization; the most numerous groups were rightist-revolutionary, but the Communists had fewer factions and greater cohesion. (Source: "Understanding Is Better Than Remembering: The Korean War, 1945-1954", Allan Millett, 1995.)

Jinwi: In 1936, a police station was established in Jinwi-gun.

Pyeongtaek: On October 1, 1938 Pyeongtaek-gun renamed by Ministerial Decree No. 196 (Promulgated on September 27, 1938) On the same date, Pyeongtaek-myeon was raised to the status of Pyeongtaek-eup. (Source: Pyeongtaek City.)

In the course of invading China in 1937, the Japanese began to suppress freedom of religion, substituting compulsory worship at Japanese Shinto shrines. In 1928, Korean-language teaching was banned from secondary school curricula. On 3 Mar 1938 the Korean language was banned in Korean middle schools. From April 1941 onwards, the curricula of Japanese schools was imposed upon Korean schools. As the war intensified, the education of Koreans under the Education Decree of March 1943 was increasingly geared to the Japanese war establishment. No longer was the Korean language taught in primary schools. (Source: A Handbook of Korea, 1999, p112)


1940 Graduating Class (1940) (Seojong Elementary 80th Anniversary Book) (2003))

Teaching class in Japanese (1940) (Seojong Elementary 80th Anniversary Book) (2003))	Students in classroom (1940) (Seojong Elementary 80th Anniversary Book) (2003))
Students assembled in front of Japanese flag (1940) (Seojong Elementary 80th Anniversary Book) (2003))	Sports Day (1940) (Seojong Elementary 80th Anniversary Book) (2003))

After 1942, the Japanese required manpower to run its war machine. In 1942, the Government-General came under the central administrative concrol of the Japanese government, and a massive mobilization of Korean manpower and materiasls was integrated into the war effort. From 1943, Korean youths were drafted into the Japanese army, and the Student Volunteer Ordinance of January 20, 1944, forced Korean college students into the army. Moreover, under the National General Mobilization Act of Japan, Korean labor was subjected to forcible removal from the peninsula. The drafting of laborers began in 1939 and many were sent to Japan, Sakhalin or Southeast Asia. Statistics up to August 15, 1945, show that 4,146,098 workers were assigned inside Korea and 1,259,933 in Japan. Many Korean workers were sent to coal mines in Japan; some of them remain in Japan and Sakhalin enven to this day. (Source: ibid, p112) Over 10,000 Korean were taken into the military -- but only 7 percent of these men returned. Many Koreans who had assumed Japanese names became Japanese Army officers and NCOs. One such young officer was Park Chung-hee who would later become the President of Korea. (NOTE: After Korea's independence, many of these Japanese-trained officers would become the backbone of the Korean constabulary under the US Military Government. This constabulary was the forerunner of the ROK Army. Unfortunately, there was also a Japanese-collaborator witchhunt after the war and many of these officers were cashiered because of their Japanese affiliation.)

Many Korean conscripts became prison guards for the POWs -- and the Koreans were known for their extremely harsh treatment of the POWs. It was stated that the American POWs thought the Japanese were most cruel and inhumane -- until the Korean prison guards arrived. After the Korean War, about 200 Korean soldiers were tried as "class C" war criminals because of their harsh treatment of prisoners. Approximately 15 were executed. The highest ranking was a Major General who was hanged in the Philippines.

Those assigned as prison guards were the "lucky" ones as those assigned to the Japanese military labor battalions suffered from some of the worst conditions -- dysentary and malaria were rampant with its resultant high death tolls. In the tropical jungles, the death rate for these labor battalions amounted to fifty percent or more.

In the latter part of the war, many Koreans were conscripted to work in the Japanese factories and taken to Japan. The conditions were harsh and they were forced to live in segregated communities. (NOTE: However, to many this life was preferable to what they endured in Korea and after the war, remained in Japan as an expatriate community. Unlike later Koreans who emigrated after the war, this group received special identity cards from the Japanese government recognizing their Japanese status.)

The saddest episode was the recruitment of "comfort women" for the Japanese soldiers. The young Korean women were attracted to offers of factory work, but instead were forced into brothels to "service" Japanese soldiers throughout Asia. Unspeakable conditions and unimaginable suffering were endured. After the war, they were repatriated to Korea but remained silent because of the "disgrace." Only in the 1990s were their plight exposed and compensation from Japan demanded. Unfortunately, Japanese courts stated that the compensation issue was settled in the 1963 Normalization Treaty when Japan paid Korea monies to settle all claims.

Japanese Army marching across Pyeongtaek Bridge Training Exercise (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

In 1939 the value of farm production was 1,644,404,479 yen and in 1941 rice fields covered a total area of 1,645, 877 chungbo (4,032,389 acres), yielding 24,885,642 suk (123,432,784 bushels). Next in importance are barley, millet, wheaqt, and rye, cultivated largely for home consumption; their combined total in 1940 was over 80,000,000 bushels. Cotton is another important agricultural product, and the 1940 yield exceeded 180,000,000 keun (23,940,000,000 pounds). Additional crops are peanuts, tobacco, beans, peas, oats, corn, ginseng, wild silk, potatoes, melons, giant radish, peppers, and lettuce. Fruit farming is generally engaged in for local market only. Sericulture (silkworm) is of some importance; in 1940 there were over a million and a half households producing cocoons. Farm animals were far from plentiful; in 1941 there were less than two million draft cattle, some million and a half hogs and about six and one-half million chickens. (SCAP, Summation, No. 1, p. 285; USAFIK, OMG, Ordinance No. 19, 30 October 1945) (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, p14 -19)

In good years, the land provided ample food for the population, but during the Japanese colonial period, the portions taken by the Japanese increased. The conditions in Korea grew worse as the Japanese took all the rice supplies to feed their military leaving very little for the people of Korea. The Koreans were reduced to a subsistence economy under an increasingly dictatorial Japanese-controlled government.

Much of the wealth of Korea -- mines, farmland, forests, factories, commercial establishments, real estate, art treasures, bank deposits, automobiles, and Army material belonged to the Japanese; ownership was by individuals, corporations, or by the government. The size of these holdings was immense, and it was admitted that "the Japanese now own about half of the cultvated land." This steadily incread. The Japanese as an average directly owned and operated 20 percent of the arable land and controlled about 75 percent of the provincial wealth. The Korean areas were owned by the "absentee landlords" -- the landed elite -- leaving 80 percent of the farmers in the provinces as tenant farmers. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, p206)

As an example of this inequity of Japanese-Korean representation at the first election for provincial councils held in May 1944, of a total of 433 councillors 135 were Japanese and 397 Koreans; of those appointed 83 were Japanese and 56 Koreans. Since the Japanese constituted only 3 percent of the total population of Korea, their pro rata share of representation was still far higher than the Korean share. The minimum tax qualification for the franchise meant that the great mass of Koreans had no vote and no experience in real self-government. (Source: Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve p12)

The most important financial institution was the Bank of Chosen, the bank of the government -genernal. It had fifteen branches in the province and served as the offical clearing house and discounter of government paper; it also engaged in ordinary banking. Second in importance was the Choheung Bank, largest independent bank in Kora, with branches in the citis and principal touwns. The Choheung was both a commercial and investment bank. The Chosen Industrial Bank, the peninsula's second largest, had branches in industrial centers, and concentrated on financing large and small industerial enterprises. Of considerable importance in the financial structe was the Agricultrual Bank, with a branch in almost every gun which was occupined manly with farm mortgage transactions. Comparable with the US building and loan associations were the Federation of Financial Associations, mostly saving banks but handling small chattel mortgages. The Chosen Savings Bank had a few branches as did the Cosen Commercial Bank, but they were secondary in importance; and there were smaller postal savings. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, pp141-142)

Public Works had been a highly centralized activity under the Japanese regime. Public Works branches, like Tax offices, were in every important locality, and their personnel were paid from provincial rather than local revenues. The heads of the local branches looke to the Province for orders as they were not under the direction of the district magistrate. There were more Japanese in the Public Works Section than any other activity of Mining and Industry except forestry. (Source: American Military Government in Korea, E. Grant Meade, pp148)

Like at Kunsan in 1932, the Japanese conscripted coolie labor from the Korean populace in order to build their bases in Korea. At that time, most of the airfields were leveled and sand carried in and packed. Sod covered the earth was the landing surface.

Pyeongtaek: Near the end of WWII, the Japanese started to build a Pyeongtaek Naval Supply Base near the town of Anjung-ni. 20,000 Koreans were conscripted to build the base with harsh conditions. The conscripts were allowed to see their families only on Saturdays. (NOTE: This base would become K-6 (Camp Humphreys) in the Korean War.) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

The Japanese tightened their control of Korea as a part of Japan. There still existed the parallel Japanese and Korean schools systems with Korean elementary and higher shools and Japanese primary, middle, and higher schools. Elementary education was not compulsory in Korea -- as it was in Japan -- but tuition and textbooks were free. After 1921 even the Korean schools were required to teach 9-21 hours a week devoted to Japanese, fair use of which had to be made also in teaching other subjects, while it was the sole medium of instruction in the higher schools. From 1937 on, the teaching of the Korean language was prohibited. After 1937, the school system was basically Japanese with the exception that elementary schools were free. However, the inequity was that most of the Korean poor tenant farmer children living in the countryside were never educated. (Source: The Republic of Korea, W.E. Reeve, 1963 pp86-87)

End of World War II: Liberation from Colonial Rule

On 26 November 1943, the Cairo decalaration was signed. The US, China and Great Britain agree that when the war with Japan is won, Korea, which had been under Japanese domination for 40 years, should become free and independent. The Soviet Union also agrees to the Declaration in early August 1945 when she declares war on Japan, threrby securing a legitimate pretext for gaining a foothold in Korea.

1945 News of end of WWII (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

On 9 Aug 1945, the Russians enter the war with the collapse of the Japanese imminent. Because the swift advance of the Russians and lack of resistance on the part of the Japanese, the 38th parallel is hastily selected by Colonels Charls M. Bonesteel and Dean Rusk as a dividing line between the RUssian and US zones of occupation because it was the northernmost line the Soviets could be expected to accept. This line was incorporated inton General Order No. 1 approved by President Harry S. Truman and cleared by British and Russian governments. The US would receive the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel and the Russians north of the parallel. (Source: The US Military Experience in Korea 1871-1982, pp 42-43, Command Historian's Office, USFK/EUSA)

On 15 August 1945 Korea is liberated from thirty-five years of Japanese colonial rule. The most immediate challenge was to form some sort of coalition that would present the American and Russian occupiers, both of whom viewed the Koreans as not quite allies nor enemies, with united political opposition. The foreign troops should leave Korea as soon as the Japanese army and civilian population (almost a million people) returned to the Home Islands and left their wealth behind. Desperate for free passage home and to retain some leverage over the Korean economic system, the Japanese governor-general turned over power to Yo Un-hyong, a well-known nationalist and leftist-reformer, to form an interim government. Yo accepted this responsibility, provided that the Japanese released all political prisoners, on August 15, 1945, now Liberation Day in Korea. Throughout Korea the national flag, the taegukki, appeared on buildings and mountain tops (including Namsan) as if by magic.

Learning of Soviet and American plans to occupy Korea and of their vague commitment (the Cairo Declaration, November, 1943) to a free and unified Korea, Yo Un-hyong transformed his emergency Committee for the Preparation of National Reconstruction into a Korean People's Republic on September 6, 1945 with most power in the hands of People's Committees at the city and county (kun) level. The immediate challenge was to preserve some public order and to start a reform program of replacing all Japanese collaborators, nationalizing Japanese property, and passing laws that advanced women and the underclasses. The national governing "central committee" of the Korean People's Republic, however, still reflected the notion that one Korea should be guided by a wide-range of revolutionaries. The membership of the "central committee," which was largely determined by three left-revolutionaries (Yo, Ho Hon, and Pak Hon-yong), tilted toward a socialist vision of a new Korea. As published on September 6, the committee of fifty-five included thirty-seven men who had some sort of socialist political orientation, including twenty-one members of the reborn Korean Communist Party. Four men, including Kim Il-sung, represented exile Communist groups. Only eight men could definitely be identified with the evangelicals-capitalists, six of them members or former members of the exile Korean Provisional Government. Five men - and perhaps as many as eight - eluded categorization. Twenty-five members of the committee had been political prisoners of the Japanese. Two days later Yo announced a ten-man cabinet, headed by Dr. Syngman Rhee, still in exile in the United States. Key members of the cabinet remained outside the country; Rhee did not return until October 16, and Kim Ku and Kim Kyu-sik arrived in Seoul from China a month later. In the meantime the U.S. XXIV Corps (Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge) arrived in Seoul on 8 September, and the Soviet 25th Army (Col. Gen. Ivan Chistiakov) occupied Pyongyang on August 26. The occupiers showed substantial differences in their behavior, but the most important became American vulnerability to Korean political pressure and the Soviets' absolute resistance to any program that threatened control of their occupation zone. (Source: "Understanding Is Better Than Remembering: The Korean War, 1945-1954", Allan Millett, 1995.)

Seoul: In 1945, Koreans celebrated liberation from Japanese rule as World War II ended. Once again, Seoul became a capital city, but soon filled up with refugees. Koreans who had settled or been forced to live in Manchuria returned home, ousted by the Chinese who reclaimed the region. Tens of thousands of other Koreans left Japan, where they had been forced to work during the war. Still more refugees came from northern Korea, which was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of the war. By 1946, Seoul's population numbered 1.6 million. The city bulged and doubled in size. Unable to cope with so many refugees, the once dignified and well-tended city was littered with temporary squatter settlements. (Source: Korean Society.)

Seojong-Jinwi-Seotan: In Jinwi-myeon there were two "hagwons" (academies). There was the Kumrung Hagwon and Jinchong hagwon. The Kumrung Hagwon later became the Jinwi Elementary school.


Jinwi Elementary School Historical Report (1945). (Pyeongtaek City) (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

In 1945, a school in Seojong-ni was established and called the Jisan-ni Training School "branch." This was marked by an official "opening" ceremony on 24 Sep 1945. It moved to its 3-classroom school house in 1947 and became the Seojong-ni Elementary School in 1948.

Graduating Class of Seojong Elementary (1945) (Seojong Elementary 80th Anniversary Book) (2003))

In Seotan-myeon, there was the Hwaeahwan Training School that later became the Seotan Elementary School. (Source: Pyeongtaek History (CD), Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

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Old Villages of Songtan

The following are short descriptions of the old villages in the Songtan area dating back to the Chosun dynasty in some cases. Sources of information are from varied sources. The translations from Songtan.org: Songtan History. We apologize that the translations from the Songtan History are not full translations as some of it deals with items that were not relevant to our history. We also take full responsibility for any unwitting inaccuracies injected into the translations to English.


Songtan (2002) (Pyeongtaek Si Sa)

• K-55 (Osan Air Base)
  
  
  • Chokbong Village -- (NO LONGER EXISTS) Near present Osan AB BX. Village relocated when base constructed in 1952. (Source: 931st EAG, Overview Drawing, Aug 51.) Jeuk Bong-ri (Source: History of Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Osan Air Base Historical Office, April 1999 and GlobalSecurity.org: Osan AB.)
  • Yari Village -- (NO LONGER EXISTS) On the north side of base near sand pit during construction. Yari relocated when the base perimeter road constructed in 1953. (Source: 931st EAG, Overview Drawing, Aug 51.) (Source: History of Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Osan Air Base Historical Office, April 1999 and GlobalSecurity.org: Osan AB.)
  • Shin-Yari Village -- (NO LONGER EXISTS) On the north side of base near sand pit during construction. Yari relocated when the base perimeter road constructed in 1953. (Source: 931st EAG, Overview Drawing, Aug 51.) (Source: History of Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Osan Air Base Historical Office, April 1999 and GlobalSecurity.org: Osan AB.)
  • Chang Deung-ri Village -- (NO LONGER EXISTS) This village relocated to make way for the 5th AF construction and construction of facilities for a second wing that never arrived. (Source: 931st EAG, Overview Drawing, Aug 51.) The Ginko Tree on the Golf Course names a village of Eunhaeng-junge which may be the same as this village. (Source: History of Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Osan Air Base Historical Office, April 1999 and GlobalSecurity.org: Osan AB.)
    
    
  
  
  
  Songtan (2002) (Pyeongtaek Si Sa)
  
  
• Shinjang 1-dong
  
  
  • Kujang-teo Village -- (Near the Doolittle Gate) During the Chosun dynasty, it was the marketplace for the Jinwi area. "Ku-jang" means "Old-market." (Source: Songtan History.) Currently a small village between the EOR and overrun area and the Doolittle Gate Road. (NOTE: On the Aug 51 931st EAB Overview Drawing, this is annotated as "Shinjang-ni" (New-Market Village).)
  • Shinjang Village -- Called "Tongsang Ji Goal" Village and was a food market BEFORE the Korean War. AFTER the Korean War, it became Shinjang. (Source: Songtan History.) (See Kujang-teo, Shinjang 1-dong) (NOTE: This appears to be talking of the Jungang Open Market in the Shinjang Mall area that appeared in about 1954 as small food stalls and grew into covered alleyways in the 1960s.)
  • Jaeyeok Village -- Founded in 1522 in the 16th year of King Jungjong's reign. Jaeyok was founded near Namsan-tau in 1522 (16th year of Jungjong's reign). During the Gimyo Purge of the Scholars in 1519, Chae Jang-soon, a member of a group of scholars pushing for innovative social changes, was forced to commit suicide because of false accusations brought against his group by conservative elements in the court. He was buried in Namsan-teo. 35 years later in 1559 during King Sonjo's reign, Chae Jang-soon was exhonerated of the charges and posthumously promoted to Minister. Yi Yul-gok (1536-1584) came to Namsan-teo and told to the residents to protect the Namsan-teo area to honor Chae Jang-soon. As a result the area was named, Jaeyok in honor of Mr. Chae. Associated with this was the exemption from tribute. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Namsan-teo Village -- (Near Bravo Gate) Unknown where name originated. Speculation that "Wonsan" changed to "Namsan." (Source: Songtan History.) (NOTE: See Jaeyok Village for note.)
  • Mokcheon Village -- (Near Kyongbu Railway) Village is estimated to be 500 years old. The large Jinwi River was to the east. In the past it was noted to have a large forest and there was a wood bridge across the Jinwi River. During flood periods, wood float down the river and retrieved in the town. (Source: Songtan History.)
  
  
  
• Shinjang 2-dong
  
  
  • Milwal Village -- (Near Main Gate) Four roads converge in the area. In the past, the area supposedly had large stands of pine trees that were noted for its beauty in viewing the moon. "Milwal" means "Honeymoon" which would describe the feeling of viewing the moon from this area. (Source: Songtan History.) At the onset of the Korean War, during the Battle of Hill 180 the area described as devoid of trees. During the Korean War, many North Korean refugees from the Hwanghae-do settled in this area making it a mass of tightly packed houses.
    
    
    Road from Milwal Road down to Prince Hotel in Shinjang 2-dong
    
    
  • Songweol Village -- Southern part of Shinjang 2-dong. In the past, the area supposedly had large stands of pine trees that were noted for its beauty in viewing the moon. (Source: Songtan History.)
  
  
  
• Songbuk-dong
  
  
  • Tanhyeon Village -- In the Chosun Dynasty, the Seotan and Songtan area were engaged in charcoal production. The Tanhyeon-dong area (Charcoal Hill) near the present Songbuk Farmers' Market area, was a rest stop along the main road from Seoul. In 1756 census, Tanhyeon-myeon, Jinwi-hyeon showed 603 people engaged in the making of charcoal. There were large stands of pine trees in the area at the time. This area provided charcoal to Seoul as only charcoal could be burned within the city walls. In Chinese ideographs, "Tanhyeon" means "Charcoal hill." In Hangul, this equates to "Sutkogae" (Charcoal rise). (Source: Songtan History.) This area was just above the old intersection of MSR-1 to the Shinjang Mall Road -- now the Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass road. It extended from the MSR-1 in the Farmers' Market area up to Mite Keonji Village. (NOTE: The Songbuk Farmers' Market originated AFTER the K-55 base was built. Prior to this the 1950s, the Kujang Village (Old Market Village) at the end of the Osan AB runway was the food market place for the Jinwi area.)
    
    
    
    
    Songbuk School Road heading towards Rte 304
    
    
  • Keonji Village -- (Near Songbuk Elementary School) Built 450 years ago next to the Jisan Cheon (Stream). Near Keonji Village, there was a Yangdal Village. To the northeast of this village there was a swampy lake called, "Buk Ahweol" which abounded in fish. Dried fish was a specialty of the village. (Source: Songtan History.) There were two villages: Are Keonji-ni (Upper Keonji) and Mite Keonji-ni (Lower Keonji). (Source: Verbal Conversation with Mr. Oh Sun-soo, owner of the Victoria Hotel, on 24 Aug 2005.) Access to the village was by a dirt road that followed the Jisan Stream. This village disappeared with the construction of the apartment buildings near Songbuk Elementary School, but still shown on a Songtan area map north of Route 304 across from Songbuk Elementary School. The area called Dokguk-dong.
  • Magok Village -- Before its name was Banghyori and located in Jinwi-hyeon. After the Korean War, it became Makgok, Panghae-dong. It was located on the backside of a mountain with a road called "Songhyun." "Songje" was below the mountain. Soldiers tents were in an area called "Makgok Camp." (Source: Songtan History.)
    
    
    Magok Village (Pyeongtaek Times)
    
    
  • Jungri Village -- Inside Magok Village in Panghae-dong. (Source: Songtan History.)
    
    
    Panghae-dong (Pyeongtaek Times)
    
    
  • Panghae-dong Village -- Panghyo-ri 400-500 years ago changed to Panghae-dong. Most of the people are from Kwangju branch of the Lee family. Guess that came to area in Chosun dynasty 400 years ago. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Dongmak Village -- Chosun period, three roads converged at this village. It was a rest stop with taverns and houses. It was first in Jinwi-hyeon, Masan-myeon. Later it was in Tahhyeon-myeon and then Songtan-myeon. (Source: Songtan History.) Located in the Burak Mountain hills. Location of Dongmak Reservoir.
  • Shinheung Village -- Across the Mountain from Ojwa-dong and split away from Ojwa-dong to create a new village. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Ojwa-dong Village -- In the middle of the Chosun dynasty (Yi jo), Mr. Chae Ja-ban, a teacher, made the town. There were a long of birds (bongang) that would eat seeds from the udong tree. The area was called "Dongshil-bong." This area has a memorial to Chae Ja-Ban (susgongun sadang) and a 5.6m gingko tree. (Source: Songtan History.) (NOTE: On boundary of Jinwi-myeon. See Chae Yu-Lim Shrine (Landmark) in Ojwa-gaol (hamlet) in Ojwa-dong Village)
  • Oligok Village -- 300-400 years ago a Mr. Oh came and made the town. The area was called "Oh lu gok" and then was changed to "Oh li gok." Townspeople state that because there were a lot of ducks in the stream it was called "Uri gaol." Uncertain, but there may have been a bridge across the stream. (Source: Songtan History.) (NOTE: On the boundary of Jinwi-myeon.) (NOTE: Oligok is north of Route 304 (Songbuk School Road) on the other side of the mountain and south of road into Jinwi.)
  • Jijang Village -- (Near Songtan Middle School) In the Koryo period in 1300 A.D. it was named Burak-man. The Jijangsa Temple is behind the Songtan Middle School up on a hill. The town was below the temple. In the Imjin War (Japanese Invasion), the temple was destroyed. Currently there is a small temple marker to mark the spot. (Source: Songtan History.) (NOTE: Hoam-sa Temple and Seongbul-sa Temple are located in the area. We cannot locate the temple marker at this time.)
  • Ugok Village -- (In Burak Mountain) Village looks like a cow laying down. Thus it it is called "U" (cow) gok (lie down). In the Koryo period a Mr. So from Chinsan government came to the town. Villagers stated he was a bad man and the town at the time was called, "So goal" town. (Source: Songtan History.) (NOTE: Ugok reached by following Chaeyokshiseol Trail into the Burak Mountains. Along Route 304 up the Jisan Valley.)
  
  
  
• Jisan-dong
  
  
  • Songcheon Village -- Gogi-eup inside of Jisan-ni, Panhyun-dong. In 1970, the name changed to Songcheon. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Jwadong Village -- (Near Terminal Ridge Road) Called by two names: Jwaeul and Jaweol. Also called Jaeul. Mr. Chae-shi from Kangnung is purported to have made the town. (Source: Songtan History.) Aerial photos show it existed along the MSR-1 in 1952. In 1970s area commonly known as "Sutkogae."
    
    
    Jisan-dong, Sutkogae in Jwadong area
    
    
  • Jijang Village -- (Near Jwadong Village and extends to Jeonchom Village area) Aerial photos show it existed along the MSR-1 in 1952.
  
  
  
• Ichung-dong
  
  
  • Wonyichung Village (I-chung) -- It was said the Chunshin was good for the King Yi chung. According to the Songtan History, Oh Dal-jae, teacher, was born here in 1609 and Jo Gwang-jo was born here in 1482. The town was made 600 years ago, but destroyed by construction of the road. Only 10 people remained in 2002. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Shinli Village -- Across from Ichung Village (Wonichung Village). A new town. (Source: Songtan History.) (NOTE: There is also an area in Jinwi known as "Shinli" in the vicinity of Songtan Samik Apartments in Songbuk-dong)
  • Dongryung Village -- Monument to Oh Dal-jae and Cho Gwang-jo located here. A 1759 Map shows area as Songjanghyan. There was a military army camp at Dongryung and it was listed as a strategic location. However, this army camp has disappeared. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Chilkwae Village -- During the Chonsun dynasty, Mr. Han Si's family founded the town. Magok town is across the mountain. (SEE Magok Village, Songbuk-dong) There were a lot of thieves (hinchi kogae) in the Burak Mountains. The town had a well and 7 nuti trees. Shamanist believed the trees were 7 powerful people protecting the well. The trees no longer exist, only the well. (Source: Songtan History.)
  
  
  
• Seojong-dong
  
  
  • Pokchang Village -- During Korean War, North Korean refugees from Hwanghaedo moved to the area. (Source: Songtan History.) Other areas of North Korean refugees settlements were Milwal-dong, Jeokbong-ni, Sageori and Shinchang-dong.
    
    
    Jeokbong-ni (Pyeongtaek Times)
    
    
  • Sageori Village -- Meeting of four roads. During Korean War, North Korean refugees from Hwanghaedo moved to the area. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Jeomchon Village -- In 1920 Hwang Kum-seok came to the area to make pottery to sell. Soon may people came to the area to make pottery as well. In 1970 Songtan was expanding and houses were built in the area and the people left. The grave of Cheong Hon-top in the area. (Source: Songtan History.) Kim Jae-won remembers walking to Songbuk Elementary School and passing large numbers of kilns in the area. (Source: Verbal Conversation with Kim Jae-won, owner of the Asia Hotel, on 26 Sep 2005.)
    
    
    Seojong Tourism Road to City Hall from the Jeomchon area.
    
    
  • Seojong Village -- "Seojong" means "West Well." Supposedly there was a well where the water tasted superior. (Source: Songtan History.) There were three wells in the area of "Seodungmul" (Seodunmul) just above Seojong Elementary School. There are no wells now as the water table has dropped as Jangang-dong has drawn away the water. (Source: Pyeongtaek Times: Seojong-dong) The original village cluster was located just above the Seojong Elementary School. There appeared to be three circular clusters just above the Seojong Elementary School indicating the existence of three wells. This area is now called "Seodumul." (Source: Map of Seojong-ni area from Songbuk House Office.)
  • Shinseo Village -- East of Seojong-ni. Built during the Chosun dynasty and called "Shinseo." (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Shinseon Village -- Near Seojong-ni. After the Korean War, many people moved into this area. (Source: Songtan History.) "Wongok" is in this area next to the Seojong Business district.
  • Mogak Village -- During the Chosun period, it was noted to have a large land on the plain. It was noted for making raincoats made of straw. (Source: Songtan History.)
  
  
  
• Jungang-dong
  
  
  • Galbyeong Village -- (Near Seojong-ni) There used to be a bridge in the area that no longer exists. Supposedly the area had a lot of reeds that were used to make sandals. (Source: Songtan History.) Northeast of Seojong-ni Train Station to the east of the tracks. Galbyeong Road starts at Galbyeong Village.
    
    
    Galpyeong
    
    
  • Jangang Village -- Formerly within Seojong-ri when it was under Songtan-myeon. (Source: Songtan History.) (Near the Jangdang local industrial area.)
  • Wonjangdang Village (Jangdang) -- The mountain looks like a deer (jang) in this area. The town was at the base of the mountain in the Chosun dynasty. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Kwangcheon Village -- Split out from Wonjangdang. There was a large stream there which boats would navigate. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Kwangkwi Village -- Split out from Kwangja Village in 1960 as a farming area. There is a spring in the area. (Source: Songtan History.) South of Seojong-ni Train Station.
  • Panseong Village -- In 1910, a Mr. Cho came to the the town (Cheongno Town) and made a water wheel. 4-5 generations of the Cho family have lived there. The name was changed to Pyeongseong. (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Jangan Village -- In the Chosun dynasty there was the Samnam Road and Hwinchi (small) Road. During the later part of the Koryo dynasty, a Mr. Cha (teacher) lived here. There was a food market here. In this village there is the Unam Cha Won-bu grave; Hwinchi Gogae Yi Yong-Son stele. (Source: Songtan History.) (Near the Jangdang local industrial area.)
  
  
  
• Songtan-dong
  
  
  • Naeri Village -- "Middle Village" in Middle of Doil-ri. Grave of Admiral Won Kyun located here. (Source: Songtan History.) Near the Deok-am Mountain. (See Korean History for details of Won Kyun grave.) North of Korean National College of Rehabilitation and Welfare.
  • Hari Village -- Below Doil-ri Village. Place of 99 hills. Grave of Admiral Won Kyun located in the area. (Source: Songtan History.) Near the Deok-am Mountain. (See Korean History for details of Won Kyun grave.)
  • Sangri Village -- In the village about 800 years ago there was a furnace for the production of iron. There was an upper town with pears and other fruit trees. In the 1759 census, there was 90 people clustered around a river fording point. At the time the village was called "Sachal-ri." The tree at the fording point still exists. (Source: Songtan History.) Located on the southeast of Songtan-dong near Route 333. It is located north of Naeri. Below Bonghwang-sa Temple in Buraksan Mountain.

Old Songtan Villages that are in areas that were split away to Pyeongtaek-shi to facilitate administrative control of industrial zones:

• Jajae-dong: To the south of Ichung-dong, the boundary is Jajae-dong, Pyeongtaek-shi.
  
  
• Kajae-dong: To the south of Songtan-dong, the boundary is Kajae-dong, Pyeongtaek-shi. "Kajae-ul" was made up of Sangkajae, Hakajae and Kamnamu. "Kajae" comes from the shape of the mountain that looks like a small lobster. (Source: Pyeongtaek Times: Kajaeul)
  
  
  • Sangkajae Village -- Lots of birds and "kajae" (crawfish). Grave site of Independence fighter: Yi Sung-ik. "Sangkajae" means "upper Kajae." (Source: Songtan History.)
  • Hakajae Village (Kajae) -- Hakajae is at the lower end of the Sangkajae. (Source: Songtan History.) ("Hakajae" means "lower Kajae." South of the Route 1-Hyomyung School Road intersection within the Songtan Industrial Area.)
  • Kamnamu: (NO LONGER EXISTS) Kamnamu was a small village below Hakajae. The name comes from the many "kam" (persimmon) trees in the area. However, since the people moved away, there is few of the trees left. (Source: Pyeongtaek Times: Kajaeul)
  
  
  
• Doil-dong:
  
  
  • Wondoil Village (Doil) -- In the Chosun dynasty, it was called Yau, Pangmyeon, Yauchaneul. (Source: Songtan History.)
  
  
  
• Mokgok-dong: Pyeongtaek-Songtan Local Industrial Complex -- Abuts Jangdang Local Industrial complex) To south of Songtan-dong, the boundary is Mokgok-dong, Pyeongtaek.
  
  
  
  
  Songtan Industrial area (Mokgok-dong)
  
  
• Chilweon-dong: (part of Chilgoe Local Industrial area)
  
  
  • Chilweon Village -- In the 1759 census, there were 120 people. Chilweon is Suchon and Sincheon together. It is now called Wonchilweon. It was at the meeting of three roads and became a rest stop with a lot of business. Thus there were a lot of makoli houses. The town was first called Gaolwon meaning "curative spa." (Source: Songtan History.) To the east of Route 304.
  • Shincheon Village -- Halfway between Suchon and Chilweon. A new town. Wondoil town created called "Chilweon Changalili." Domicheon stream runs beside it. During the Chosun Dynasty it was called "Yaujaul. Many people lived along Kamju Road. (Source: Songtan History.) Below Wondoil. To the east of Route 304.
  • Suchon Village -- Split off from Chilweon. Later located across from Tongbuk. The water from Suchon was noted as drinking water for its purity. Local custom has sacrifices of a black pig in Mudang ceremonies to ensure the purity of the water. (Source: Songtan History.) Below Shincheon. To the east of Route 304.

In Research as to location of village:

• Seokjeong Village -- "Seokjeong" means "stone well." Supposedly there was a stone well where the water tasted superior. This was one well of three wells that the water tasted superior in the Chosun dynasty period. The stone well remains. (Source: Songtan History.) Indications are that this village no longer exists. At this time, think in Seojong-ni in the Seodumul area.

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