Els Slots

The Netherlands - 30-Aug-24 -

I guess few people outside of the Koreas often think about the Korean War (1950-1953). Still, it was a very bloody struggle with 3 million casualties, it saw a confrontation between China and the USA during the Cold War and its repercussions (such as the continuation of the Kim dynasty in the DPRK) are felt until today. To refresh my knowledge, I listened to two recent episodes of the podcast ‘Empire’ during my flight to South Korea, which dealt with the Korean War and the period leading up to it. 

As only one of two cities in the South never captured by the communist insurgents, Busan was the de facto capital of South Korea during the war period. It also hosted 500,000 refugees from the rest of the country, more than its regular inhabitants. The TWHS ‘Sites of the Busan Wartime Capital’ aims to illustrate that particular period in the city’s history via 9 component sites. I visited 3 of those.

I started at the Busan Citizens Park, which was a horse race track during the Japanese occupation of Korea and later the US Army Camp Hialeah. It was used by the US Army until 2006, but the grounds have since been returned to the City of Busan which transformed it into a public park. I strolled around it in the early evening, accompanied by joggers and people walking their dogs. A few signs and odd constructions give away its former use. There are guardposts and various forms of housing, including the remarkable Quonset Huts (photo 1) – prefab huts that were quick to construct but more durable than tents in the Korean climate. 

Close to the Toseong metro station are two further components, which I visited the next day. The Temporary Presidential Residence (now also known as the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall) was the residence of Syngman Rhee, at the time the president of South Korea. It is an interesting building that mixes Western and Japanese elements. You can walk through its rooms freely, and they have 2 videos of 7 minutes each (also in English) on show which give more context to the situation in Busan during the Korean War. For me, it helped make the period come alive (as if the war itself wasn’t bad enough, the city also was hit by a terrible fire in 1953 which led to even more casualties and more homeless people).

Not too far away lies the Ami-dong Tombstone Village. It takes a steep uphill walk, if you’re not keen on that there are also local buses. Ami-dong is one of the areas where the war refugees flocked to when the refugee camps in town were full. During the Japanese occupation, the area held a hillside cemetery, but the refugees transformed it into housing. What you’ll encounter nowadays is like a ‘favela’, with narrow passageways, lots of stairs and colourful tiny houses (but much safer to walk around in than in its Brazilian counterparts). People still live there. There are some signposts to notable buildings, but it’s such a maze that I didn’t find them all. The reuse of tombstones as spolia isn’t very visible. 

Overall, the selection of components has a somewhat similar approach to that of the Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites – together the parts form a narrative about that period in history. However, the Busan Wartime Capital is not proposed as a Site of Memory (which would be criterion vi), but as a criterion iii site (‘testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization’ - like Ayutthaya, and also the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region). This is odd, certainly taking into account that one of the components is the UN Memorial Cemetery. It might be an effort to avert opposition by China, Russia and the DPRK against the inscription of a site connected to a recent conflict that they view differently from the South Koreans. So for most of the components, the focus lies on construction techniques and urban planning (pragmatic ways of quick construction). Inscription chances seem quite low to me, but still, these are important places in South Korea’s history and I found it worthwhile to learn about them.

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Kyle Magnuson

California - United States of America - 16-Oct-23 -

For those who have visited Busan, you can be forgiven for not prioritizing its wartime history! The fact is, Busan is a lively city and its main attractions (Taejongdae, Jagalchi Fish Market, Seaside temples, Gamcheon Culture Village, and beaches) are more alluring for the casual visitor than the Seokdang Museum of Dong-A University. The later museum was formerly known as the Busan Provisional Government Headquarters during the Korean War. Today, it’s an excellent museum that covers ancient to modern Korean History. While a visit to the museum is genuinely rewarding and the building is caringly preserved, it does not add significantly to one's understanding of the 1,023 days when Busan was the temporary capital.  

The Provisional Capital Memorial Hall (Formerly the President's Residence) includes moving exhibits about the conditions refugees experienced upon arrival to Busan. Much of the “house” museum maintains rooms in their 1950’s decor when President Rhee occupied the residence. I found the visitor experience here solemn and emotive. Exhibits highlight the time and events of Busan's darkest days. Some visitors were visibly moved by the exhibits. Considering modern day life in Busan and that of the half-a-million plus refugees in the 1950's, the difference in those 70 years is stark. I have not forgotten the photographs displayed on-site.

The journey of this serial nomination has been arduous, the nomination was “conditionally” approved in 2017 by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea. Busan’s primary OUV will be as a “Cold War” heritage site and its refugee past. There have been considerable efforts in the last 7 years to include this nomination on Korea’s Tentative List, while also avoiding certain pitfalls. I think Korea is keen on avoiding this nomination languishing on their tentative list for a decade or more, 2028 is the projected year of inscription (if all goes well). That date (2028) would be the 75th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement (de facto end of the “hot” war). One of the most challenging tasks for the authorities in Busan was the selection of components, identifying potential OUV (criterion), and beginning the comparative analysis work. We can be sure the study on recent conflicts will be consulted by the cultural heritage team developing the dossier. The original list of candidate sites have been adjusted over time, ultimately narrowed from 14 components early in the process. Pier 1 of Busan Port went through a years-long process in favor of historical preservation rather than planned redevelopment, though the final management plan remains under discussion.  Certain components (including the Presidential Residence) needed to be designated at the national level, which also took time.   

When I visited Busan (most recently) in 2016, there were some hints at a nomination in early development, but certainly nothing was finalized. Having only visited 2 of the 9 components in a satisfactory manner at that time, I cannot speak to the entire scope of the nomination. I arrived at the Busan Modern History museum 10 minutes too late, so my “3rd component” became superficial as I only have a picture of the modest exterior. Gamcheon Village, which does have connections to refugees, has been ignored in favor of the nearby Ami-dong Tombstone Culture Village. The dilemma with these remnant “Refugee Villages” for the Cultural Heritage Administration was “What can be designated and protected?” Community support is also critical. Gamcheon Village is quite large and you’d be hard-pressed to create a realistic boundary and buffer zone, let alone getting full business and community support. Moreover, the numerous buildings that are no longer homes have become art galleries and coffee shops. Alternatively, the boundary for Ami-dong is actually quite small and centered on the buildings that were constructed directly on top of the tombstones of the old Japanese Cemetery. 

Regarding the comparative analysis, the “Funerary Sites and Memorials of World War I” will be analyzed in-depth because of the inclusion of the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. With the inscription of the WWI Memorials this improves Busan’s chances. This is exactly what some within our forum (myself included) feared regarding "recent conflict" sites or memorials being inscribed, insofar as setting a precedent for a large number of potential sites of regional/national importance seeking world heritage status. While I am ambivalent about Busan's OUV, I will be paying close attention as the nomination dossier is developed and completed. Busan was not a battlefield during the Korean War, as the "Pusan Perimeter" held. Moreover, the UN Cemetery currently includes burials of eleven countries, in fact more than 90% of the remaining burials are from the UK, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. Is there a scenario that China and the DPRK accepts this nomination without protest? Surely, even casual visitors will formulate the reason why there were so many refugees in Busan? I am certainly interested to read what ICOMOS concludes about the UN Cemetery and Busan as a temporary capital that became a safe haven for refugees. I welcome Korea's first modern heritage nomination and I'm encouraged that more are on the way.

Video highlighting the components:

Busan, provisional capital for 1,023 days

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