Busan served as the de facto capital of the Republic of Korea during the Korean War, from August 18, 1950 to August 15, 1953. The evacuated government used the South Gyeongsang provincial government building as its headquarters, and war refugees swarmed to this location. They had to start a new life away from home, not knowing when they would return.

Gamcheon-dong in the southwestern part of Busan is a village formed in the 1950s, when the followers of Taegeukdo, a new religion rooted in Daoism, moved in large groups to the hillsides. The terraced rows of houses on the hills and the labyrinthine alleys meandering through them an extraordinary landscape.

Busan’s title as Korea’s second largest city after Seoul is owed to one of the greatest tragedies in the nation’s history. The city’s population, which was about 470,000 in 1949, skyrocketed during the Korean War as refugees from all over the country flocked to the provisional capital. In 1955, two years after the war ended with an armistice, the population reached one million when most of the refugees settled down in the city.

The refugees struggled to survive day after day, living in temporary shelters. Jungang-dong, near the city’s main station and port, was filled with makeshift homes. Even today, this area and its distinctive 40-step stairway are steeped in an aura of the adversities and sorrows of that time. The sculptures erected here in memory of those difficult days depict the refugees as a cross-section of society: a young mother breastfeeding her baby, a peddler operating his grain puffing machine, or a porter taking a rest alongside his A-frame carrier used to haul heavy loads on his back. For these people, the stairway was a borderland between work and rest. In the area below the stairway, dayworkers, gum peddlers, longshoremen and other laborers would work their fingers to the bone; above was a shantytown of tents and shacks. During any spare time, the workers would sit on the steps, stretching their legs, napping, or perhaps shedding tears at the thought of their families that had been torn apart.

Another area associated with the pains of these war-stricken people is Yeongdo Bridge. For the refugees, much worse than poverty was not knowing the whereabouts of their own flesh and blood. They began putting up notices on the railing of the bridge in hopes of finding their lost family members, waiting for a reunion that might never come. Yeongdo, a small island to the south of Busan, was connected to the mainland when the bridge was built in 1934, the nation’s first bridge connecting an island to the mainland and its only drawbridge. As it was a landmark of Busan, the refugees dreamed of being reunited with their family on the bridge.

Temporary Seat of Government

This building served as the presidential residence during the Korean War when Busan was the provisional capital of the Republic of Korea. It was built in the 1920s as a Japanese provincial governor’s residence and was transformed in 1984 into the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall. © Busan Heritage Night

The bookstore alley in Bosu-dong emerged during the Korean War as a refugee couple from North Korea began selling old magazines and used books obtained from the U.S. military base and junk shops. The alley was occupied by over 70 bookstores in the 1960s and 1970s, but now about 40 stores remain dealing in both new and used reads.

The Seokdang Museum at Dong-A University testifies to Busan’s role in the turmoil of contemporary history. The building was constructed in 1925 when Japanese colonizers moved the South Gyeongsang provincial office from Jinju to Busan to make use of its port and transportation infrastructure. It then accommodated the evacuated central government during the Korean War, once more became the seat of provincial administration after the armistice, and finally was turned into the Busan District Court after the provincial government moved to Changwon. Since 2009, Dong-A University has used the building as a museum and a venue for historical education.

Recently, a street running from Dong-A University’s Bumin Campus to the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall was refurbished to commemorate Busan’s historic role as a wartime provisional capital. Along the street are sculptures depicting Busan in that bygone era, and a streetcar which used to operate there.

The building housing the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall was also constructed during the colonial period, as the provincial governor’s residence. During the Korean War, it served as the presidential residence for the central government in exile. Today, it is a memorial hall showcasing the city’s historic identity as the wartime base of the nation’s efforts for survival. The exhibition within features a life-size wax figure of the then President Syngman Rhee and a recreation of his office, as well as a range of items providing a glimpse of people’s lives at the time, including household articles, replicas of a shack, a classroom for refugee children, and stalls from Gukje Market.

Busan has an unusually large number of hillside roads, reaching a combined length of 65 kilometers. Back in the days of the war, more and more roads went up, scaling the hillsides as refugees in urgent need of shelter had to go higher and higher up to find space to set up their tents and shacks. These sites of hardship have been turned into popular tourist attractions.

Hillside Roads

Starting from Pusan National University Hospital, the road going up Gamcheon Hill opens on the right to a view of terraced rows of small houses in Gamcheon Culture Village. The village was first shaped by the followers of a new religion called Taegeukdo (meaning “The Way of the Ultimate Supreme”) who moved their headquarters there during the war. The locals used to call it the “train village” because the lit-up windows of the shacks aligned horizontally on the hills made the homes look like a train chugging through the night. The extraordinary hillside scenery, crowded with small houses with colorful roofs, looks as if it were d with Lego bricks.

Narrow alleys meander through the village in all directions, punctuated by steep stairways. The alleys connect the houses horizontally and the stairways vertically. Recently, the old village was remodeled into a creative community, with eye-catching murals painted and street art installed as part of an urban regeneration project. It has become a must-visit place highly recommended by foreign press outlets such as Le Monde and CNN.

The refugees living in the shantytown of Jungang-dong would go up and down the 40-step stairway every day carrying water jars on their shoulders. The sculptures erected here depict the lives of the war-torn people.

Open-Air Markets

Thanks to markets, war refugees sustained hope amid extreme adversity. Formed by people with all sorts of heartbreaking stories, the open-air markets provided a precious source of livelihood. Among others, Gukje Market and Bupyeong Kkangtong Market were referred to as dottegi sijang, meaning a “chaotic marketplace,” as they were jam-packed with makeshift stalls and shoppers.

Gukje Market emerged as the country’s powerhouse of fashion, selling secondhand materials sent from other countries as relief goods. The market earned the name Gukje (“International”) as it was known that almost any kind of foreign product could be found here. After the war, illegal transactions of military supplies took place in Bupyeong Kkangtong Market, Korea’s first public marketplace. The name Kkangtong (“Tin Can”) came from the fact that it sold a lot of canned food smuggled from the U.S. military base installed in the city during the war. The vendors dealing in U.S. military supplies here were called “Yankee merchants” and they profited greatly from the resale of drinks, cigarettes and food products bought from women living with American soldiers.

Some of the regional dishes of Busan were d at this market. Busan’s famous eomuk (fish cake) was born here, and so was its dwaeji gukbap (pork rice soup). In addition, merchants would prepare a sort of thick stew with leftover food taken from the U.S. military base, putting everything in a pot and boiling it all together. Called “piggy stew” or “UN soup,” it would have been the predecessor to today’s budae jjigae (literally “military stew”).

d by the United Nations Command, the UN Memorial Cemetery is dedicated to the UN Allied Forces who fought and lost their lives in the Korean War. Built in April 1951, the cemetery attracts visitors from home and abroad, with the flags of the United Nations and of the 21 participant countries raised all year round.

Bookstore Alley

The bookstore alley in Bosu-dong is a narrow backstreet with some 40 stores along its 150-meter length. During the war, college students gathered to continue their studies in temporary classrooms built with planks and tarp. These makeshift classrooms were built everywhere — on Mt. Gudeok, dotting the low hills behind Bosu-dong, and on the island of Yeongdo. The Ministry of Education used these facilities, integrating most of the Seoul-based universities into the “Wartime Union University.” The bookstore alley naturally formed in Bosu-dong as college students frequently passed through the area on their way to school.

With the publishing industry hit hard by the war, it was difficult for students to buy any books at all, let alone textbooks. Consequently, secondhand book sellers began to appear along the street. One by one, the street vendors set up shop. Impoverished intellectuals earned their daily bread by selling their treasured volumes. The books collected in this way turned the alley into a repository of knowledge and a cultural hotspot of present-day Busan.

The UN Memorial Cemetery is dedicated to the UN Allied Forces who fought and lost their lives in the Korean War. Buried here are 2,297 soldiers from 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Turkey and the UK. Just like the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan, the cemetery is a precious place that advocates the value of peace and liberty for everyone who lives with scars of the war in their hearts. The UN Peace Park, the UN Sculpture Park and the UN Peace Memorial Hall, all located in the vicinity of the cemetery, also promote the harmony of our global village and the peace and well-being of humankind.

Local Wartime Dishes

When asked to name their city’s more famous dishes, Busan locals do not hesitate to count milmyeon (wheat noodles) and dwaeji gukbap (pork rice soup) among them. In spite of their fame as foods local to Busan, these dishes do not have a long history; they were invented during the Korean War, adopting and integrating the varied tastes and habits of refugees from across the country.

Milmyeon, one of Busan’s specialties, was invented by refugees from North Korea during the Korean War. The noodles made with wheat flour and potato starch are served in cold meat broth. © Busan Metropolitan City

Milmyeon
This noodle dish is a variation of naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) that refugees from North Korea had eaten back in their hometowns. Because buckwheat flour was hard to come by while wheat flour was received as aid, buckwheat noodles served in cold broth were replaced by plain wheat noodles.

About half the price of naengmyeon, wheat noodles were initially considered an alternative for those who could not afford the original, satisfying two people for the price of one dish. The recipe changed over time with the addition of the distinctive flavors of the local cuisine — spicy, salty, pungent and rich — turning it into one of Busan’s specialties.

Although each restaurant has a slightly different recipe, milmyeon basically consists of noodles made with wheat flour and potato starch and a meat broth made by boiling beef leg bones, vegetables and assorted medicinal herbs. Just like naengmyeon, milmyeon is served either in cold broth or mixed with a spicy sauce. The former version, soaked in a cold broth frozen just until thin ice forms on the surface, is soft and chewy with a refreshing flavor. The latter, mixed with a spicy sauce containing chopped scallions, garlic and onion, is as hot as the temperament of Busanians. Spicy and sweet, the dish is a summer treat for Koreans who like to fight fire with fire.

Dwaeji gukbap is a famous local dish developed by adopting the varied tastes and habits of war refugees from across the country. Cooked rice and meat slices are served in pork bone broth with sauce on the side. © Busan Metropolitan City

Dwaeji Gukbap
Another famous local dish is dwaeji gukbap, which is cooked rice in a pork broth generously topped with boiled pork slices. With the addition of chives, garlic, red pepper, onion and kimchi to taste, a bowl of the hot soup with rice is a filling meal in itself.

The current recipe for dwaeji gukbap reflects the dietary customs of other regions. At first, it was served with the broth, rice and meat slices in a single bowl, but as more people from other parts of the country settled down in Busan, the recipe evolved to satisfy their tastes.

There are three versions of the broth: cloudy, translucent and clear. Produced by boiling down pork bones, the cloudy broth is rich and flavorful. It is similar to momguk of Jeju Island, a pork broth boiled with gulfweed, and tonkotsu ramen of Kyushu, Japan, noodles in a thick pork bone broth. The translucent broth is made by boiling a pig’s head and intestines. This is the original form of dwaeji gukbap, known for its deep flavor and based on a recipe developed by war refugees from North Korea. The clear broth, obtained by boiling only meat in water, is lean and light, its origin being the western part of South Gyeongsang Province.

Then there are a number of different ways of serving the dish. The basic version uses only pork meat for both broth and topping, while variations include a different assortment of ingredients: boiled pork slices and stuffed pig intestines (sundae gukbap); plain pig intestines (naejang gukbap); boiled pork slices and plain intestines (seokkeo gukbap); or boiled pork slices, stuffed intestines and plain intestines together (modum gukbap). The rice and broth may be served separately (ttaro gukbap); or rice, broth and boiled pork slices may be served as a set (suyuk baekban); and sometimes noodles replace rice in the broth (dwaeji guksu). This wide variety suggests that diverse regional recipes for cooking pork have been boiled down into this special Busan soup dish.