Publication of 'Tracing the History of Yongsan Giji'

A Total of 3 Volumes, 1028 Pages... First Comprehensive Study on Yongsan Base History... Covers Construction and Operation by Japan and US Military Since Modern Era... Numerous Illustrations and Materials Collected from Japan's Ministry of Defense and US NARA Added

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Yongsan District Office (Mayor Seongjang Hyun) has published 200 copies of the integrated edition of "Tracing the History of Yongsan Base."

The book, consisting of a total of 3 volumes and 1,028 pages, is the first comprehensive study to clarify the history of Yongsan Base.

Volume 1 is titled "Tracing the History of Yongsan: AD 97?1953," Volume 2 is "Tracing the History of the Lost Dunjimi Old Village within Yongsan Base," and Volume 3 is "The Korean War and Yongsan Base."

◇Tracing the History of Yongsan: AD 97?1953

Volume 1, "Tracing the History of Yongsan," was first published in 2014. Initially 304 pages, it has expanded to 420 pages after three revisions.

It consists of 11 chapters covering ▲Yongsan before the Russo-Japanese War (1904) ▲The Russo-Japanese War and the militarization of Yongsan Base ▲Status of major Japanese military facilities within Yongsan Base ▲Forced annexation and Yongsan Base ▲Transition to a standing army system ▲Transformation into a continental invasion and wartime mobilization base ▲The Asia-Pacific War and mobilization to New Guinea ▲Yongsan Base during the liberation period, among others.

In particular, it provides a detailed look at how Yongsan, developed as a Japanese continental invasion forward base during the modern era, continued to be used as a key site by the U.S. military after liberation.

In 1905, the Japanese forcibly acquired 1.18 million pyeong (initially planned 3 million pyeong) around the old Yongsan Dunjimi Village, and after eight years of construction (1906?1913), built facilities including the military command, division headquarters, infantry regiment, cavalry company, artillery company, ordnance depot, army warehouse, military hospital, military prison, shooting range, parade ground, and military police detachment. Some of these remain in their original form within the current Yongsan U.S. military base.

The transition to a standing army system from 1915 to 1922, right after the outbreak of World War I, is also noteworthy. Previously, the 13th, 6th, 2nd, 8th, and 9th divisions from mainland Japan rotated every two years to manage Yongsan Base. Later, Japan expanded two divisions (19th and 20th) within Korea, assigning the 20th Division to operate Yongsan Base. The 20th Division participated consecutively in the Manchurian Incident (1931), the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937), and the Pacific War (1941?1945).

The U.S. military took over Yongsan Base on September 8, 1945. After three years of U.S. military government, most U.S. forces withdrew by June 1949, but reoccupied the base after the Korean War and are currently in the process of returning the base after 70 years.

This expanded edition features many additional illustrations collected by author Kim Cheon-su, head of the Yongsan Cultural Center’s Historical and Cultural Research Office, from sources such as the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), enhancing the visual impact.

It also enriches the book with materials such as the "Documents Related to the Korean Disturbance Incident" (held by the National Institute of Korean History), which reveal the harsh Japanese suppression during the March 1st Movement in 1919, and the "Seoul Allied Forces Prisoner of War Camp (current site of Shingwang Girls' High School in Cheongpa-dong) inmate list."

◇Tracing the History of the Lost Dunjimi Old Village within Yongsan Base

Volume 2, "Tracing the History of the Lost Dunjimi Old Village," was published in 2017. Originally 252 pages, it has increased by 96 pages through expansion.

The main content focuses on the history of the village of Dunjimi located around Dunjisan (屯之山) within Yongsan Base. The author reconstructs the life of the era by analyzing the household register (junhogu) of a resident, Cheon Heung-cheol, using microhistorical research methods. Additionally, a top-secret document from the Japanese Ministry of Defense titled "Reasons for the Expansion of Two Divisions" was secured to analyze the expansion process of Yongsan Base from a macro perspective.

The discovery of the Japanese Ministry of Defense document "Regarding the Korean Military Land Acquisition (1907)" and the included "Detailed Map of Korean Yongsan Military Land Acquisition (1906)" is also a significant achievement. These documents detail the process of Japanese acquisition of Dunjimi and, through the map, confirm the locations of houses (14,110 units), graves (129,469 total), and farmland (895,552 pyeong) in the Dunjimi area.

The expanded edition includes a translated full text of "Regarding the Korean Military Land Acquisition" as an appendix. According to this, the Japanese struggled greatly with Korean resistance during the military land acquisition and ultimately had to reduce the acquisition area to one-third of the original plan.

However, during the division expansion process, another forced acquisition (about 300,000 pyeong) occurred, and residents of Daechon and Dannae villages in Dunjimi (current areas around the National Museum of Korea and Yongsan Family Park) had to relocate around 1916 to Bogwang-ri (current Bogwang-dong, Yongsan-gu). Large-scale parade grounds were established in Daechon and Dannae villages.

◇The Korean War and Yongsan Base

Volume 3, "The Korean War and Yongsan Base," was published at the end of last year. It consists of 260 pages divided into four chapters: Chapter 1 covers Yongsan Base during the liberation period; Chapter 2 discusses the establishment of the Republic of Korea government and changes at Yongsan Base; Chapter 3 focuses on Yongsan Base as a historical site; and Chapter 4 details the Korean War and the reconstruction of Yongsan Base.

Chapter 1 deals with the arrival of the U.S. 24th Army Corps led by Major General John Reed Hodge in Seoul immediately after liberation in 1945, the return of Japanese troops, the stationing and activities of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division headquarters under the 24th Army Corps at Yongsan Base (Camp Seobinggo), and other daily affairs.

Chapter 2 introduces the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea in 1948 except for the 5th Regiment Combat Team (RCT) and the establishment of the United States Military Advisory Group to the Republic of Korea (KMAG) in 1949.

Chapter 3 tells the stories of two figures who passed through Yongsan Base between 1949 and 1950: Ahn Doo-hee and Park Chung-hee. Notably, Park Chung-hee, after being accused of leftist sympathies and leaving the military, worked as a civilian at the Yongsan Base Army Headquarters Intelligence Bureau. He first met Kim Jong-pil, an 8th class graduate of the Korea Military Academy, there.

Chapter 4 is the main body of the book. It thoroughly introduces the damage and conditions of Yongsan Base during the Korean War, the deployment plans of the U.S. 8th Army at Yongsan Base by the United Nations Command (Tokyo Far East Command), the U.S. 8th Army Engineer Staff’s reconstruction plans for Yongsan Base, and the reconstruction process from 1952 to 1953.

Despite its great influence and symbolism in modern Korean history, the history of the U.S. military base, which was literally in a "blank state," has been substantially clarified through materials collected from NARA and other sources, which is the significance of this book.

Director Kim Cheon-su said, "Research on the history of Yongsan Base is not the end but the beginning," adding, "I hope Yongsan Park will be developed not just as a vast lake and green space but as a park with identity containing our history and culture. Yongsan Park is definitely not America's Central Park."

Yongsan District Mayor Seongjang Hyun emphasized, "The research achievements over the past 10 years have been compiled into a book of over 1,000 pages," and added, "It will greatly help the government-led Yongsan Park development project."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.