Incheon City Launches Documentation Project for Former US Military Base 'Camp Market'

Incheon Camp Market
Photo provided by Incheon City

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City is set to launch a project to document the history of the former U.S. military base 'Camp Market.'

On the 23rd, Incheon City announced that it has begun a commissioned study to establish a basic plan for building the Camp Market archive.

The commissioned study, focusing on investigating the history from the Japanese colonial period to the time of the U.S. military base's return, organizing the status of public and private records related to Camp Market, and establishing a phased basic plan for building the Camp Market archive, will continue until October.

The city plans to systematically manage Camp Market records and explore public utilization methods to build an open archive platform.

Through this, they also plan to consider creating a complex cultural space in the form of a 'Larchiveum,' combining a library, archives, and museum.

An official from Incheon City stated, "We hope that through the commissioned study to build the Camp Market archive, the historical value of Camp Market and the local community will be discovered, laying the foundation for turning Camp Market into a park for citizens."

Located in the heart of Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, Camp Market opened in 1939 during the Japanese colonial period as a Japanese Army weapons manufacturing factory (Jobeongchang). After liberation in 1945, it was used as a U.S. military base until its closure in October 2021 due to unit relocation.

According to the South Korea-U.S. agreement, 210,000㎡ out of the total 440,000㎡ was returned in December 2019, and the remaining land is expected to be returned soon. Incheon City is preparing detailed plans under the policy of developing Camp Market into a citizen cultural park.

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