Gyeonggi Fire Department Discovers Korea's Oldest Wanyong Pump... Cultural Heritage Registration Planned

Cho Sun-ho, Head of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, attended the Korea Best Wan-yong Pump Excavation and Transfer System event on the 16th and is taking a commemorative photo with the participants.

The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters has unearthed Korea's oldest wooden hand pump, made 113 years ago in 1910.

The hand pump operates purely by the strength of the arms and is a manual pump. The excavated hand pump was first introduced in April 1910 by the Dokdo Fire Brigade (currently Ttukseom) and is the only wooden hand pump remaining in Korea. It is highly valuable not only for fire history but also as a cultural asset, as it reveals the manufacturer, year of introduction, and the name of the fire brigade that introduced it.

The hand pump discovered this time was inherited by the Wabu Fire Brigade in Yangju-gun, Gyeonggi-do, used for decades since the Japanese colonial period, and stored in a warehouse after being retired.

Later, the hand pump, which had fallen out of public attention, was brought back into the spotlight as the provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters promoted an artifact excavation project.

The provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters decided to keep the hand pump at the Osan National Safety Experience Center and held a transfer ceremony at the Wabu Volunteer Fire Brigade on the 16th.

Jo Seon-ho, head of the provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, promised, "The hand pump is not only a heritage of firefighting but also a heritage of our country, so we will promote its registration as a cultural asset and prepare special measures for scientific preservation."

Meanwhile, the hand pump, invented in the West in the 17th century, was first introduced to Korea in 1723 (the 3rd year of King Gyeongjong) under the name "suchonggi" (water gun device) and was domestically produced in 1725, the first year of King Yeongjo. Although its distribution was not widespread initially, after the opening of ports in 1876, civilian fire brigades were organized mainly in port cities such as Busan and Incheon, and hand pumps were imported from Japan or produced by Japanese companies in Korea and began to be distributed nationwide.

From 1954, domestic hand pumps were produced with certification from the Ministry of the Interior, replacing fire trucks. In May 1962, during the nationwide severe drought in the rice planting season, the Ministry of the Interior issued a mobilization order for hand pumps nationwide, and 947 hand pumps were mobilized, recorded as such. This indicates that hand pumps were the main firefighting equipment everywhere across the country. Currently, it is estimated that about 100 or more remain in fire stations nationwide.

The provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters plans to carry out basic preservation treatment and create a separate exhibition space at the Osan National Safety Experience Center from July so that the general public can also view it.

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