Busan's Refugees and Hillside Villages
Discover the story of Busan's hillside villages—the legacy of the Korean War
Mountain road in the Yeongseon-dong area todayProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Today, Busan is known for its unique landscape of hillside villages that can be seen throughout the city center, as well as the mountain roads that run through these neighborhoods. Some of these are popular tourist destinations with great views of the sea and harbor, attracting large numbers of tourists all year round. Did you know that the scenery around Busan Bay was created during the difficult period of the Korean War?
Refugees waiting to board the SS Meredith VictoryProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
The Korean War and Busan's hillside villages
When the Korean Peninsula was liberated from the Japanese in 1945, Busan had a population of about 300,000. More than 100,000 Koreans returned through Busan Port and settled in Busan after liberation, greatly increasing the population there. After the Korean War broke out, refugees from all over the country flocked to Busan, as the place furthest away from the war. As a result, at the height of the Korean War in 1951, the population of Busan was almost 840,000.
The life of refugees in Jeonpo-dongProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Before the Korean War, the city's social infrastructure, including its residential areas, water supply and sewerage system, had been designed for only 300,000 people, which was the population during the Japanese occupation. After the Korean War began, Busan was quite poorly prepared to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.
View of a refugee settlement near the Bujeoncheon streamProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
In Busan, the city's theaters, factories, inns, and even private homes were used to accommodate these refugees, but there was still a severe shortage of housing for them. In addition, rents had skyrocketed, and people who rushed to escape with only household items could not even find a single room. Many refugees had no choice but to go to the hillsides, cutting down trees and roughly clearing the slopes to build shacks using planks and straw mats.
Workers moving barrels at the pierProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
At that time, Korea's logistics centered around the pier in Jungang-dong and the adjacent Busan Station, which was where much of the foreign aid and military supplies entered the country. It was also where foreign troops, including the US military, first landed. The arriving supplies and manpower were then sent out to all parts of the country through Busan Station, next to the pier. In the area around the docks and the station, a lot of people worked as cargo workers or carriers.
View of Gukje MarketProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
In addition to those areas, a lot of refugees lived around Gukje Market. All sorts of commodities were traded there, from daily necessities and luxury items to various goods from US military bases, and even contraband. Since the refugees did not have enough money to buy their own shops, they mainly ran stalls in the market or worked as street vendors, as well as doing the arduous job of carrying luggage with forklifts.
View of a mountain road in BusanProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
They built shacks in the areas around the pier and Busan Station, including Yeongju-dong, Choryang-dong, Sujeong-dong, and Yeongdo. They also lived on the slopes around Gukje Market, in areas such as Yongdusan, Daecheong-dong, Ami-dong, Daeshin-dong, and Bosu-dong. Shacks were also constantly appearing higher up in the hills, in areas relatively far from the city center, such as Beomil-dong, Gamcheon-dong, and Yeonsan-dong. Eventually, almost all Busan's hillsides became residential spaces.
Busan's hillside neighborhoods and a mountain roadProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Hillside villages after the Korean War
Right after the Korean War, various industries and fisheries prospered in Busan, and the population there had sharply increased. The influx of people to Busan continued until the 1960s and 1970s, and the hillside villages expanded throughout the area.
View of a mountain road in BusanProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
The mountain road connecting the villages was first opened in 1964 in Choryang-dong, Dong-gu. In late December 2012, Busan's mountain roads extended throughout Jin-gu, Dong-gu, Jung-gu, Seo-gu, Saha-gu, and Sasang-gu, covering a total distance of 13.81 miles (22.23 km).
Gamcheon Culture Village todayProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Gamcheon Culture Village
Gamcheon Culture Village is a typical hillside village spread over an entire slope, creating a picturesque view of orderly, tiered houses. These villages, formed by the refugees who flocked to Busan during the Korean War, are now known as the South Korean Machu Picchu or Santorini, and are some of Busan's most popular tourist attractions.
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Ami-dong Tombstone Culture Village todayProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Hillside village in Ami-dong: Biseok Cultural Village
Ami-dong is an area in which crematoriums and cemeteries for Japanese people were concentrated during the Japanese colonial period. During the Korean War, some of the refugees who came to Busan began to live there in temporary housing.
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After the war ended, many of the people who were driven out of their shacks in the city moved there. Traces of the old Japanese cemeteries can still be seen in the tombstones and headstones dotted around the village's alleyways and houses.
View of Uam-dong todayProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Uam-dong's Somak Village
Uam-dong is a seaside town located in the southeast of Busan. From 1909, cattle exported from the Korean Peninsula to Japan were routinely quarantined, and Busan Cattle Quarantine Station (the largest one) was built in Uam-dong for that purpose.
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After the Korean War broke out, Uam-dong was in one of the main government-designated refugee camps in Busan city, and many refugees flocked to it. Uam-dong became a typical refugee settlement, as evacuees arrived in the area and public and private organizations came to help them. It still retains some of its former appearance today.
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