Have You Seen a 'Fire Truck' from the Joseon Dynasty?… Ulsan Jungbu Fire Station Awards Appreciation Plaque to Fire Relics Donor

Have you seen a fire truck from the Joseon Dynasty?

Ulsan Jungbu Fire Station (Chief Kwon Wang-sang) awarded a plaque of appreciation to a citizen who donated firefighting relics that served as fire trucks since the Joseon Dynasty.

On the 20th at 10 a.m., Jungbu Fire Station announced that it presented a plaque of appreciation to Mr. Choi Seong-sik, who donated the so-called ‘Wanyong Pump,’ in the chief’s office.

Mr. Choi Seong-sik, working as a village manager in Samsan-dong, Ulsan, had personally kept the Wanyong Pump that had been used in the village for a long time after it was slated for disposal due to urban redevelopment. This time, he donated it to Jungbu Fire Station as a firefighting relic.

Choi Seongsik (right) is handing over the Wanyong Pump firefighting artifact to Kwon Wangsang, Chief of Ulsan Jungbu Fire Station.

The Wanyong Pump was introduced after the opening of the Joseon Dynasty ports and was used for over 100 years until the 1980s, making it Korea’s original fire truck. It is equipment that draws water from wells or streams through a suction pipe and brings it to the fire site, where 6 to 9 adults pump on both sides to spray water through hoses.

The donated relic will be preserved by Jungbu Fire Station and used for fire safety education and research materials.

Kwon Wang-sang, chief of Jungbu Fire Station, said, “We sincerely thank you on behalf of all Ulsan firefighters for donating the Wanyong Pump relic,” and added, “We hope for much interest and participation in collecting and donating firefighting relics so that historically valuable firefighting artifacts can be systematically preserved and managed.”

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