Korean War Ruins of Cheorwon

Ruins of Cheorwon Methodist Church, built in 1936 and destroyed in the Korean War.

Last Sunday, I took a friend of mine up to Cheorwon, a small Gangwon-do town on the DMZ that commands the southern approaches to the strategic Geumhwa Valley. Prior to the division of Korea, Cheorwon was bigger than Chuncheon — the junction of the Seoul-Wonsan and the Mt. Geumgangsan lines, it was a major transportation hub. After the division of Korea, however, the city — located north of the 38th parallel — fell under North Korean control. The worst came during the Korean War: as the southern point of the Iron Triangle (a major invasion route to Seoul), the city was wiped off the map by merciless shelling, mostly courtesy the Americans.

After the war, the city was never rebuilt, per se, although a “New” Cheorwon was built several kilometers away. Old Cheorwon is now rice paddies and hills — much of where the old town used to be, in fact, lays across the Civilian Control Line, a military district bounding the DMZ where entry is by permit only. For Korean history buffs, however, the paddies are dotted with several ruins and bombed-out buildings from the period that are worth seeing. Also in Cheorwon is the Seungil-gyo, sometimes called (sorry about this) “Korea’s Bridge Over the River Kwai,” a scenic arch bridge that, depending on who you believe, was either started by the North Koreans and finished by the South Koreans, or started by the Japanese and finished by the Americans.

Former Cheorwon Office of the Workers’ Party of Korea

A symbol of the tragedy of division and war and a testament to the power of Soviet civil engineering, this building — which you read about here — was erected in 1946 as the local headquarters of Ye Olde Workers Party of Korea, North Korea’s ruling party. Built in that charming Soviet style favored in North Korea’s early years — see here for many more examples — the building took a licking during the battles for the Iron Triangle but kept on standing.

And why yes, those are tread marks from a Sherman tank leading up the steps.

Dreaming of Unity

Who doesn’t want unity?

Ruins of Cheorwon Methodist Church

Cheorwon Methodist Church — or what’s left of it — was built in 1936 as the church of Cheorwon’s Methodist Mission. As you can see in this image here, it was a pretty massive structure, a three-story hall made from granite and the volcanic rock found along the Hantangang River. The church was designed by a fascinating figure who we’ve discussed before, US-born missionary, businessman and architect William Merrell Vories. Going to Japan at a young age as an English teacher/missionary, Vories found his true calling as an architect, establishing an architectural firm that’s still around today. While most of his work is in Japan, he did work in Korea, too, his most prominent work being the Pfeiffer Hall of Ewha Womans University. It should be pointed out that Vories hired local Korean draftmen for his Korea projects, hence helping to develop Korean architecture.

The Japan Times did a good piece on him last year, and you can find lots of pretty photos of his work in Japan here. More on Vories here, too. As I mentioned before, too, Vories married the daughter of a Japanese aristocrat and became a Japanese citizen in 1941. In fact, another MUST READ is this essay (pdf) on Vories, which documents his time as an American in Japan during World War II.

Amazingly, the checkered tile floor in what was the church lobby still survives. The use of checkered tile also reflects Vories’ frequent use of Art Deco designs.

In these photos, you can see the unique use of volcanic rock in the church’s construction.

The North Koreans — never really that big on the whole Jesus thing — used the church as a barracks and a hospital.

The ruins are located a short walk from the ruins of the Workers Party Office.

Old Woljeong-ni Station

Located almost on the southern boundary of the DMZ (and well past the Civilian Limit Line), Old Woljeong-ni Station used to be a whistle stop on the Seoul-Gangwon Line. It is now a major attraction on the “security tourism” circuit. The station was moved to its current location and restored in 1988. The skeleton of the North Korean transport train — bombed by the Americans in the war — ain’t going anywhere.

The Seoul-Wonsan Line was completed in 1914. It brought marine products from the port of Wonsan to Seoul, and agricultural goods from Cheorwon to Wonsan for export. According to the information post, the line was built with forced Korean labor and labor from White Russian emigres hired by the Japanese.

Old Cheorwon Financial Cooperative No. 2

Located not far past the Civilian Control Line, all that remains of this colonial era bank — built prior to 1936 — is part of the safe. At one time, Cheorwon had four banks. Now it has nothing but fields and decaying concrete monuments to its past greatness.

Old Cheorwon Ice House

Built by a Japanese restaurant owner during the colonial era, this concrete structure was used to store ice taken from nearby Sanmyeong Lake.

Old Cheorwon Agricultural Inspection Office

The Old Cheorwon Agricultural Inspection Office did the best job of surviving the war, even without the ongoing restoration project. Built in 1936, it does incorporate a number of modernist elements. It’s said that after division of Korea, it was used by the North Koreans as a prosecutor’s office.

Why the local authorities are restoring the building, I haven’t the faintest idea. But as you can see, they put in a new door and windows, fixed the roof and looked like they were working on the interior.

Seungil-gyo Bridge

This is an old favorite of mine, the Seungil-gyo Bridge over the River Hantangang.

The history of this bridge is a source of controversy. One theory has it was started in 1948 by the North Koreans, with Kim Myong-yo, an engineering instructor at Cheorwon Agriculture College, doing the design. The initial construction was carried out by labor teams composed of local residents working five-day shifts. By the time the Korean War began in June 1950, the northern end of the bridge had been completed.
Of course, the South Koreans moved into Cheorwon in the later stages of the war. The ROK Army initially put up a temporary wooden span, but in 1958 (they even have a date — Dec 3), they finally finished the bridge. As you can see in the photos, the arches along the northern and southern spans are of different widths, a fact explained by the differing techniques used by North and South. It’s said the bridge’s name — which was originally the “Hangtanggyo Bridge” — comes from the “Seung” in Lee Seung-man (Syngman Rhee) and “Il” in Kim Il-sung, although the leading theory now is that it was named in honor of Col. Park Seung-il, a ROK officer who was killed in action as the South Koreans were pushing North.

While this is all very romantic, in may not, in fact, be true. In 2006, a website designer discovered an American website (since taken down) containing the journal entries of Lt. James N. Patterson of the US 79th Engineer Construction Battalion. The entries, dated 1952, detailed the construction of the bridge and included rare photographs of the bridge’s construction (a couple of which can be seen here). Like I said, the website is long gone, sadly, but I did find this at the Korea War Educator:

Cicur Memorial Arch Bridge
(Concrete Arch Bridge)

In April 1952, the 79th Engineer Construction Battalion was given the mission of completing the bridge across the Han-Tan River. This required the construction of a 50-meter arch ring, columns and deck slab. In May, 1952 the 79th was relieved of this mission by the 62d Engineer Construction Battalion. The forming for and placing of concrete in an arch ring of this size presented engineering problems not normally encountered by Army troops in the field. The magnitude of the project is best shown by materials which were consumed: approximately 18,000 bags of cement and 34,000 linear feet of reinforcing steel were used in one 50 meter span. The completed bridge provides a high level structure, 138.5 meters long, 6.8 meters wide and 18.20 meters high, capable of carrying 2-way Army loads.

Patterson’s diary also said the bridge was started by… the Japanese. Needless to say, this is a whole lot less romantic in terms of symbolism (which is perhaps why the Cultural Heritage Administration still has the former story on its homepage), although it is an impressive piece of military engineering. Not to mention the bridge just looks so damn good.

A Good Cup of Tea

Sorry…just a cup of Ssanghwa Tea (with egg, of course!) at a local dabang.

Tagged as: Cheorwon, Korean War, Nodongdangsa, Seungilgyo Bridge