Research on Seoul Research on Seoul GARIBONG-DONG GARIBONG-DONG
Research on Seoul Research on Seoul GARIBONG-DONG GARIBONG-DONG
www.museum.seoul.kr 1 Special Thanks to: Text Choi Eunyoung English Translation KISI Editorial Supervision Shin Jung Ho English Editing Park Jane Research on Seoul
The contents herewith are translated and summarized from the Korean versions of Garibong-dong that are published at Seoul Museum of History in 2013.
GARIBONG-DONG
Copyright © 2015 Seoul Museum of History
All rights reserved.
Financial support provided by the Seoul Institute
First published in 2015 by Seoul Museum of History 55 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03177, Korea Phone +82 2 724 0274~6 www.museum.seoul.kr
ISBN 979-11-86324-13-4 (03380)
Printed in Korea
2 3 he Seoul Institute is a research institution established by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 1992, tasked Foreword Twith analyzing and diagnosing Seoul’s myriad urban issues, as well as presenting policy solutions. In addition to responding to Seoul’s current issues, the Seoul Institute also develops long-term policies preparing for the future, to build Seoul into a city where people are happy. Seoul has become a global metropolis over the past five decades, a period of continuous rapid growth. As Korea’s economy expanded, Seoul experienced urbanization at a tremendous speed. Seoul has since been seeking to resolve the numerous urban issues arising from both economic growth and urbanization, by implementing policies to build infrastructure, supply housing, and improve the environment. The 21st century is often called the “Century of the City.” There are cities preparing for growth, cities that are growing, as well as cities that are gaining competitiveness. Asia’s many cities, along with many other cities around the world, are interested the experience and results of Seoul’s fast-paced growth. The Seoul Museum of History and the Seoul Institute began the Seoul Research Internationalization Project to expand the knowledge base for research of Seoul’s past and present, and to make the results available for distribution both in Korea and abroad. These two booklets are the first results of the two institutions’ joint efforts. They present the process of urban change in Garibong-dong and Changsin-dong, areas with unique stories as cultural amalgamations of Seoul’s people, industry, and culture. Many people contributed to this joint effort. The publication of these booklets would not have been possible without the vision and leadership of Director Kang Hong-bin of the Seoul Museum of History. The support and advice of the members of the Publication Committee, who immediately recognized the significance of this project, have also been instrumental. Most of all, I wish to thank the authors for their time and contributions on this very difficult topic. I hope these booklets will contribute to building a stronger knowledge base for the research of Seoul, as useful materials for everyone, including the world’s city experts interested in Seoul’s experience and transformation process.
November 2015 Kim Soo-hyun President Seoul Institute
4 5 ince its opening in 2002, the Seoul Museum of History has been devoted to the education, research, and exhibition Preface S of Seoul’s history and places. It has since become a leading institution for Korea’s urban history. As such, one of the Seoul Museum of History’s key research projects is the research of the life and cultures of Seoul and its people. This project involves the survey, research, and documentation of unique places and areas of Seoul that are under threat or disappearing. It covers the history and spatial form of such places, as well as the lives and stories of the people who occupy them. Given the diverse and unique character of Seoul’s neighborhoods, as well as the wide spectrum of academic perspectives on the city, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from urban anthropology, sociology, economic geography, architecture, and other fields was assembled to conduct this in-depth research. In order to expand the knowledge base for research on Seoul, as well as to promote international research, the Seoul Museum of History and the Seoul Institute have collaborated to publish English translations of the research outlined above as booklets for international readers. The first two results of this cooperative project are the booklets, Garibong-dong and Changsin-dong. Garibong-dong, best known as the location of Guro Industrial Complex, is also a symbolic place of Korea’s industrialization era. During that time, it served as a key manufacturing base for Korea’s export industries. Thus, it is a place that presents a condensed version of the dynamic history of Korea’s industrial economics, urban history, and labor history since the 1960s, as well as the changes that took place after the 1980s, including industrial restructuring and the influx of foreign workers. Changsin-dong is one of Seoul’s leading manufacturing areas, serving as the cornerstone of Dongdaemun’s fashion industry. More than three-thousand industry-related firms, such as sewing factories, are clustered in the neighborhood, which got its start during Seoul’s industrialization era in the 1960s and ‘70s. With the support of these unique industrial areas, such as Changsin-dong and Garibong-dong, Seoul has achieved great economic growth over the years and is today an economic powerhouse. I hope these two booklets, with their high academic value, will serve as useful material for international experts interested in Seoul’s changes and growth.
November 2015 Kang Hong-bin Director Seoul Museum of History
6 7 Foreword 4
Preface 6
01. Garibong-dong, an Unremarkable Island Surrounded by High-Rise Buildings: Contents A Birth Place of Korea’s Industrialization and Democratization 14
02. The Engine of Korea’s Industrialization 18 1) Garibong-dong the Old Village and the Guro Redistributed Farmland Incident 19
2) Construction of an Industrial Complex 25
3) Garibong-dong after the Opening of the Industrial Complex 28
4) The Lives of the Workers of Guro Industrial Complex 39
03. “Beehive” Houses 56 1) The Emergence of Beehive Houses: Unfamiliar Urban Space, and Living Space That was Even More Unfamiliar 57
2) The Structure and Facilities in a Beehive House 59
3) Changes in Beehive Houses after the Mid-1990s 70
4) Where “People Who Carry Luggage” Find Their First Home: the Korean-Chinese Immigrants 72
04. Korean-Chinese Settlement and Formation of a Multi-Cultural District 78 1) Living in the Second Homeland, Korean-Chinese Community and its Social Network 79
2) Marginal Labor Provided by the Korean-Chinese and Namguro Station Labor Market 89
2) 2013 Documentation of Street Scenes near Garibong Market: Gurodong-gil, Uma-gil, and Digital-ro 94
05. Garibong-dong, Land of New Hope 102
Seoul, Capital of South Korea
Namguro Station
Gasan Digital Complex Station Garibong-dong Guro Digital Guro Digital Complex Station Dobong Complex 1 -gu (Zone 1)
Eunpyeong Gangbuk Nowon-gu Gasan Digital -gu -gu Complex 3 (Zone 3) Gasan Digital Complex 2 Jongno Seongbuk-gu (Zone 2) -gu Jungnang-gu Dongdaemun Seodaemun -gu -gu Gangseo-gu Jung-gu Mapo-gu Seongdong Gwangjin Gangdong-gu -gu -gu Yongsan-gu Yangcheon-gu Yeongdeungpo -gu Songpa-gu Dongjak-gu Gangnam-gu Seocho-gu Gwanak-gu Guro-gu (Guro district) Geumcheon -gu Garibong-dong
Doksan Station
Map of Districts (gu) in Seoul
Map of Garibong-dong (2013)
10 11 View of Garibong-dong (2013)
12 13 aribong-dong was the hinterland serving the Zone 1 of the Guro Industrial Complex, which played a key role in Korea’s G industrialization—later dubbed the “Miracle on the Han River.” It was also home to Zone 2 and 3 of the Guro Complex. The history of Garibong-dong after the mid-1960s is in fact the history of the Guro Industrial Complex. The meaning of Garibong-dong as it is today has been formed and defined by the Guro Complex. Garibong-dong has always been at the center of rapid changes since 1965, when the construction of the Guro Complex began—until recently when it was transformed into the Seoul Digital Industrial Complex. Garibong-dong is a symbolic place where you can vividly examine the industrialization and urbanization processes since the 1960s, the industrial restructuring since the late 1980s, the introduction of foreign
View of Garibong-dong (2013) workers that began in the early 1990s, and the macro social and economic changes including globalization. In the 2000s, Garibong-dong became Seoul’s emblematic multi-cultural space with its heavy concentration of Korean-Chinese immigrants. Many people left the countryside for the cities in the 1960s to escape poverty. Many made Garibong-dong their first home. They came to Garibong-dong to work at factories, to start businesses, to let their children go to schools in Seoul, to take advantage of the great transportation infrastructure to commute to adjacent areas, or simply just by recommendations from people who were already here. Garibong-dong attracted people from all over the country, and it was not strange to hear, “who has not once lived in Garibong-dong?” Once a farmland with a very small population, Garibong-dong’s population exploded from 01 a huge influx of new workers, technicians, managers, and their families. As a result, Garibong-dong, once all farmland in the 1960s, soon became Seoul’s most populous dong (administrative unit) by 1975. This area that once bustled with people from all over the country has now been transformed into islands of high-rise buildings. Some people mistakenly comment that Garibong-dong, Garibong-dong has already disappeared, after parts of it merged together with Gasan-dong a few years ago. Garibong-dong an Unremarkable Island Surrounded by High-Rise Buildings: A Birth Place of Korea’s Industrialization and Democratization today is a place that everybody knows about, and yet also does not know about. It is because Garibong-dong is a special place with its thousand faces and stories. 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the Guro Industrial Complex, and its history is now becoming Korea’s legend. The Guro Complex was constructed by the government, and therefore there are plenty of records and documentations about the entire process. But what is remembered today about the history of early industrialization focuses on the numbers and policies, and lacks details about the living and evolving history, in the space that is Garibong-dong and its people who worked and lived here, as well as their network of relationships.
14 15 Unfortunately, time passes, and memories fade, despite our determination. But for some, there are moments in life that are Today, Garibong-dong’s legal administrative boundary is very clear. But on the other hand, it is not easy to delineate Garibong- remembered as if they happened yesterday, even after decades. And luckily Garibong-dong as a space contains accumulated dong’s extent as a historically defined area or a socio-economically integrated area. Garibong-dong’s spatial extent has always layers of history. We wish to talk about Garibong-dong, which is slowly being forgotten by collecting the unforgettable memories been evolving since its addition to Seoul in the 1960s. While this text will focus on Garibong-dong that is legally defined as of of many people and memories in its space. There are traces of history in the pockets of Garibong-dong, which changed from 2015, it will include adjacent areas related to the history of the Guro Complex. In particular, Gasan-dong and Guro 3-dong are farm villages that lasted hundreds of years to become the servicing areas for the new industrial complex, then part of the included, since they essentially shared the same farmland with Garibong-dong prior to the construction of the Guro Complex. complex itself. Its history can be found in the memories of the senior residents and the natives who watched the construction Prior to the Guro Complex, the villages Daechon, Golmal, and Moare were in the areas that later became Garibong 1-dong, of factories and houses on the ancestral farmlands, in the memories of young women workers who silently carried the flag 2-dong, and 3-dong, respectively. Garibong-dong’s administrative boundary has been greatly reduced today, after a large of the nation’s motto, “let’s prosper” and worked in factories, in the memories of people who dreamed of a new world where portion of its land area belonging to Garibong 2-dong and 3-dong were merged into Gasan-dong of Geumcheon-gu. hard-working people were given their proper respect, and in the memories of immigrant workers who came here in search of a better future.
Map of Garibong-dong (1980s) Map of Garibong-dong (2013)
Guro District Office Daerim Station
Yeongdeungpo-gu Guro IC Guro-gu Namguro Station Guro-gu Dorimcheon Seoul Guronam Yeongil Elementary Seobu Stream Elementary School Shchool Guro 3-dong Expressway Guro Digital Sindaebang Hana Bank Guro Digital Complex Station Complex 1 Namguro Station Station Guro Digital Gurodong-gil Garibong 2 Complex 1 Gyeongbu -dong Gwanak-gu Railroad (Seoul-Busan Line) Gasan Digital Garibong 1 Anyangcheon Gasan Digital Garibong-dong Complex Station -dong Stream Complex 3 Gwangmyeong-si, Uma-gil Gyeonggi-do Province Gasan Digital Nambusunhwan-ro Gasan Digital Complex 2 Complex 3 Garibong 3 -dong Entrance to the Garibong Market’s Garibong-dong Office Nambusunhwan-ro Cheolsan Station “Vegetable Street” Siheung-daero Gasan Digital Suchul (export) Complex Station Digital-ro Bridge Geumcheon-gu Gasan-dong Gasan Digital Complex 2 N N Digital Complex Five-way Intersection District line (1980~1994) gu (district) Garibong-dong boundary (1980~1994) Doksan dong Mario Outlet
0 500 1,000 Station 0 100 200 m m
16 17 The Engine of Korea’s
Industrialization Women workers of the electrical and electronics industries in the 1980s (Source: Korea Industrial Complex Corporation)
aribong-dong has been a farm village for hundreds of years, Garibong-dong Gand most people lived in and around the Daechon village. Small mountains and fields surrounded the the Old Village and the Guro village. The village has all disappeared 02 after the Guro Complex was constructed in the 1960s. But the long-term residents clearly remember when Redistributed Garibong-dong was a farm village. People remembered when clear water flowed along the Anyangcheon Stream and when the entire Farmland Incident Zones 2 and 3 of the Complex were rice paddies. They reflected on 18 19 the beautiful scenery created by the autumn winds, as the the historical relationship between Garibong-dong and the the land was redistributed to the farmers pursuant to the in 1961, many years prior to the construction of the Guro yellow rice danced like ocean waves as far as the eyes could Guro Complex, and it also reveals how and why the Guro Land Reform Law (of 1949). After the Korean War (1950- Complex, housing for the displaced, refugee housing for see. Complex was built here. In sum, to acquire land needed 1953), the Ministry of Defense argued that the land was in the homeless, and temporary housing for fire and other This Garibong-dong, with its long history was mired in for the construction of the Complex, the government used fact publicly owned. An official document was also delivered disaster victims were being built in this area. In total, 2,430 history after the World War II. The impact lasts to this day its prosecutors to declare the farmer’s lawsuit for the demanding that the farmers stop installment payments. But units of 8.3-sq. m. refugee housing (2.5 pyeong’s), 1,100 in an incident named, “Guro Farmland Incident” where the government to return their land fraud and detained and even during this time, the land was classified as farmland units of 13.3-sq. m. temporary housing (4 pyeong’s), and developmental state and the citizens collided head on. In tortured the farmers to coerce them to drop the lawsuit and on official property maps, so the farmers continued to farm 1,200 units of 22.2-sq. m. public housing (6.7 pyeong’s) were 2008, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined relinquish their rights. the land. However after the May 16 Coup (of 1961), the City constructed. Farmers were evicted from their farmlands that a proper investigation was needed. The official case The origin of the incident goes back to the Japanese of Seoul began a comprehensive urban redevelopment in the process. In February of 1964, the farmers filed a name was “Suspected Fabrication of Guro Redistributed colonial period, when the Japanese military expropriated focusing on demolishing substandard, unregistered housing lawsuit against the government, requesting transfer of Farmland Lawsuit Fraud.” The relevant area in the case vast amoung of land from the edge of Seoul to Anyang in structures including those along the Cheonggyecheon ownership. The government responded by manipulating the includes the sites of today’s Guro Hospital and Zone 1 of the south during the militarization period. But the lands in Stream. To accommodate the displaced residents in the witness statements of government employees who at first the Guro Complex. The details are as complicated as the the Guro area were never utilized for military purposes, process, the city began construction of housing for the confirmed that the land was in fact rightfully redistributed long case name, but this incident is significant in revealing and were farmed as before. After Korean independence, displaced in Guro area on September 1, 1961. Therefore, to the farmers. Eventually, the High Court ruled in July of
Dorimcheon Namguro Stream Golmal Gasan Digital Station Peach Farm Complex Station Youngil Elementary School Seoul Guronam Dorimcheon Hana Bank Elementary School Stream Seokbataengi Hill Guro Digital Complex 1 Golmal Daechon Nambusunhwan-ro
Garibong Market’s Seokbataengi Gasan Digital “Vegetable” Street Hill Complex Station Gyeongbu Daechon Railroad Gasan Digital Digital Complex (Seoul-Busan Line) Complex 2 Five-way Intersection Mario Outlet
Anyangcheon Stream
Anyangcheon Taekha Stream Taekha (Moare) (Moare)
Topographic map of Garibong-dong area (1919) Map of Garibong-dong’s old villages and major landmarks, based upon the residents’ memories
20 21 1968 that the government was to turn over the ownership of the land to the farmers. After losing the lawsuit, the government charged the farmers with fraud lawsuit charges in 1968, and requested a retrial. But the first indictment in 1968 moved through the courts slowly, due to the lack of evidence. In 1970, The Local Administration Office II within the Office of the President submitted a report titled, “Report on the Land Dispute in Guro-dong, Seoul” which described Prior to construction of a National Industrial Complex Old view of Daechon (Source: Korea Industrial Complex Corporation) the current status of public housing, temporary housing, and the Guro Complex on site, and the potential issues if the farmers ultimately win the lawsuit including the necessary demolition of structures, relocation of displaced residents, compensation, and prospects for future social problems from such collective actions of residents. President Park Chung-hee signed the report on May 13, 1970, and issued a handwritten memo instructing “the Minister of Justice to use all means to ensure that the government does not lose the lawsuit.” The Chief of Staff who received the memo signed, “Minister of Justice must be contacted” to ensure that he received this message. The Seoul District Public Prosecutor’s Office subsequently either booked or arrested more than 240 people between July 5th and July 7th, 1970 with fraud and perjury charges, initiating a comprehensive reinvestigation. The internal guideline was to free those who dropped the civil lawsuit and rights to property in the case, and arrest and charge those who refuse to drop the lawsuit or give up the rights to the land. The police raided the homes of the victims during the night, and the victims could not be contacted for the next few days adding to the enormous suffering of the victims and their families. The farmers who lived in Guro-dong had their land taken by the Japanese authority once, then once again by the military regime. This incident, which ruined many people’s lives, is an unfortunate episode that reveals the irrational development approach of a dictator regime in Korea’s recent history. The court ordered in 2010 to return the land to some original land owners, as it was determined that the government illegitimately used its prosecutorial power to detain and torture the landowners, to coerce them to relinquish their demands and rights. 22 23 Construction of an Industrial Complex
Sign at the Entrance of the Industrial Complex (Source: Korea Industrial Complex Corporation) he groundbreaking ceremony of Seoul Guro-dong T Export Industrial Complex took place on March 12th, 1965. It signaled the beginning of Korea’s economic development. At the time, no one believed fostering export industries in Korea was possible, due to the lack of capital, technology, and natural resources. In this context, the Guro Industrial Complex sought to attract Korean-Japanese business leaders in Japan to bring their experiences and technologies to boost Korea’s industries into the global market. Backed up by strong export-oriented policies for economic development, the Guro Complex was recognized as the forward base of economic development and the firms that relocated to the Complex received various public subsidies for many years. The construction of Zone 2 began as soon as Zone 1 was completed, and Zone 3 again was constructed as soon as Zone 2 was completed.
24 25 The Guro Complex in the 1970s directly reflected the external growth of Korea’s economy. As the economy expanded, the number of firms and export amounts greatly increased along 1970s with the number of workers. The export amount increased from 31 million USD in 1969 to 1,870 million USD by 1980, a 60-fold increase. The number of workers also increased from 2,000 at the end of 1967 to 114,000 in 1978. During the 1970s, the key export items of the Complex were 1) textiles, clothing, and sewing, 2) electric and electronic assembly products, and 3) wigs and miscellaneous everyday items which were also the Korean economy’s key export items in the 1970s. The Guro Complex symbolized the growth of Korea’s economy in the 1970s with its labor-intensive manufacturing and export. “Labor 70%, Machinery 30%” was a motto seen in the Complex at the time, precisely summarizing the Guro Complex’s status and strategy.
Workshop of a firm in the Guro Industrial Complex in the 1970s (Textiles, Sewing) 1980s However, the growth of the Guro Complex slowed down significantly in the 1980s. The Second Oil Crisis and the economic crisis in 1979-80 contributed directly, and the Korean economy recorded negative growth for the first time since the 1960s. Amidst global economic crisis, both production and employment decreased. But this was followed by the 1986 economic boom, boosted by the three low’s—low oil price, weak US dollar, and low international interest rate, leading to the Complex’s recovery.
1990s In the early 1990s, the decline of the Complex still focused on manufacturing became evident. There were two factors that led to the decline during this period. The first factor was the increasing labor cost. The organization of labor unions and demand for higher wages resulted in pressure from increased labor costs and loss of price competitiveness in the global market, leading to restructuring of the firms in the Guro Complex. The second factor was the imbalance in the macroeconomic environment following the mid-1980s economic boom and the three lows and the skyrocketing real estate prices. The increase in real estate asset prices across the metropolitan area increased the market demand for redevelopment of Guro area—one of the most dilapidated areas in Seoul at the time. In addition, government policies to relocate manufacturing companies which were deemed the sources of pollution in Seoul Metropolitan Area accelerated the decline of the Guro Complex.
26 27 N 0 300 600 Garibong-dong after the Opening m
Dorimcheon of the Industrial Complex Stream
s the industrial complex was built, people moved in and new Gyeongbu Railroad A neighborhoods began to form. In the 1963 topographic map, there are (Seoul-Busan Line) hardly any roads except the one linking Guro-dong in the north to Siheung- dong in the south (Today, these two roads are known as Gurodong-gil, from Anyangcheon Stream Namguro Station towards Garibong Market, and Uma-gil, also known as Sijang-gil). But in the 1968 map, a more extensive road network centered around the industrial complex begins to emerge. With the rapid population increase, a bus stop was added. Being located at Seoul’s edge, this stop was the bus route’s terminus. At the time when the buses first began running, the roads were still unpaved dirt roads. Garibong-dong’s long-time
N 0 300 600 m
Dorimcheon Stream
Gyeongbu Railroad (Seoul-Busan Line)
Anyangcheon Stream
View prior to construction of the industrial complex (Source: “Project White Paper on Urban Regeneration Promotion Topographic map for Garibong,” Guro-gu of Garibong-dong and Korea National Housing in the 1960s Corporation (2009)) (1963, 1966)
28 29 Namguro Station’s Exit #5 residents call today’s Namguro Station area the “former last stop,” because the bus stop was located here in the 1960s. For many residents, this “former last stop” still remains a major neighborhood landmark. A remarkable fact is that they could Former Last not agree on the precise location of the bus stop, while their memories easily recalled the locations of nearby Obong Police Bus Stop Namguro Station Station or the shared neighborhood bathroom. Some pointed to today’s Hana Bank branch location (across the street from Namguro Station’s Exit #2), while others recalled the location of former bus stop to be closer to the Hyeopdong Clinic (Exit #4) or Guro 4-dong Community Center (Exit #5). Fortunately, a 1972 aerial photograph shows buses at the stop, revealing the precise location of the former bus stop. It was at Namguro Station’s Exit #5, where Guro 4-dong Community Center is today. The former bus stop is visible in the 1972 photograph but not in the 1975 photograph. Therefore, the bus stop was probably removed between these two years. The reason that the former bus stop was viewed as a major landmark is that without a Hana Bank subway, the buses were the only means of transportation connecting Garibong-dong with other areas.
Seokbataengi Hill
Aerial photograph with location of the former last bus stop (1972)
30 31 The first road to be paved was the Gongdan-ro (today’s Digital-ro) that bisected the Zone 1, running from Dorimcheon Stream to Gyeongbu Railroad. Today, this road passes through the Mario Outlet intersection, over the Suchul (export) Bridge to the City of Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi-do Province. It passes through the center of not only Zone 1 of Guro Industrial Complex, but also the cores of Zone 2 and 3. The road near Nambusunhwan-ro (the beltway that runs through the southern part of the Seoul area), built during the Japanese colonial period, was also unpaved. Many residents recalled that this was an area in which “you can live without a wife, but not without rain boots.” One of the major changes that took place in the 1960s was that electricity and telephones became available in Garibong-dong. Some neighborhoods remained without power even until the late 1960s, but they were exceptions. Telephone service became available in March 1967; Before this, Garibong-dong was one of the areas lacking telephone service, along with 102 other neighborhoods (dongs ) in Seoul. In the early 1970s, Zone 3 was constructed, with Anyangcheon Stream as its western border. People flocked to Gwangmyeong across the Anyangcheon Stream in search of cheap housing. But the bridge connecting Zone 3 and Gwangmyeong was not built at this time. Since Anyangcheon Stream was normally shallow, the residents could pull up their pants and walk across it prior to the construction of Guro Complex. But after the completion of the complex, walking across the stream was no longer an option since the water was polluted with Wooden bridge crossing the Anyangcheon Stream in Haan-li emissions from the factories. (Source: The Kyunghyang Shinmun, June 14, 1978) Some business-minded civilians built temporary bridges with wooden boards and metal barrels, charging tolls for many years. A stepping stone bridge crossing the Anyangcheon Stream, Present day
32 33 Also, as Anyangcheon Stream was not properly maintained, Flood. Flooding occurred again in 1984, 1987, and 1990, as area, the road connecting Zone 1 to today’s Guro Station ran of Nambusunhwan-ro in 1973 and 1977. This road forms a frequent floods resulted in significant damage. The Zones well. Residents remember witnessing pigs and refrigerators across the field. At the time, most roads were unpaved so part of Garibong-dong’s border today. The opening of the 2 and 3 were built in low lands adjacent to the stream, floating in the water during these big floods. it was hard to walk on after it rained. Commercial districts road in 1973 refers to completion of the unpaved road, and it which had been rice paddies for hundreds of years. Lack of In the 1970s, Garibong-dong was connected to the subway formed along the road on which the workers commuted. was not fully paved until the 1977 opening. Nambusunhwan- sewage pipes and pumping stations ensured that the Zones system, and roads were expanded. The 1972 topographic The Seoul Subway opened on August 15, 1974, and the ro, which directly connected Sadang-dong and Guro-dong in 2 and 3 of the Guro Complex suffered flood damage almost map shows that the Zone 2 was built in an area which was temporary station built for the 1968 Industrial Expo event 1973, is significant in that this road was the first to directly every year. Strategies to eliminate the flood zones along the previously rice paddies. Here, the southern portion of Zone 3 became the Garibong-dong Station, fraught with the joys connect the Guro area to the Gangnam area without having Anyangcheon Stream were devised each year, and yet the is displayed as the Guro Industrial Complex, but the northern and sorrows of the factories workers. The station name was to travel through the city center. damage continued. The flood damage in 1977 and 1978 was portion is still marked as rice paddies. In the early 1970s, changed to Gasan Digital Complex Station in 2005. particularly devastating, with many dying during the 1977 when there were still significant farming activities in the There are two newspaper articles announcing the opening
Aerial photographs illustrating spatial changes in Garibong-dong area (1972) Aerial photographs illustrating spatial changes in Garibong-dong area (1977)
남구로역 남구로역 Seoul Guronam Seoul Guronam Youngil Elementary School Elementary School Youngil Elementary School Elementary School Nambusunhwan-ro Nambusunhwan-ro
Gurodong-gil Gurodong-gil
Guro Digital Complex 1 (Zone 1) Guro Digital Complex 1 (Zone 1)
Entrance to the Garibong Entrance to the Garibong Market’s “Vegetable Street” Market’s “Vegetable Street”
Garibong Garibong Station Guro Digital Complex 2 Station Guro Digital Complex 2 (Zone 2) Digital-ro (Zone 2) Digital-ro
Digital Complex Digital Complex Five-way Intersection Five-way Intersection Nambusunhwan-ro Nambusunhwan-ro
0 100 200 m 0 100 200 m
34 35 Since the construction of Nambusunhwan-ro began in 1976, drive about which some drivers felt uncomfortable. Today, it constructed Cheolsan Apartment in Gwangmyeong in 1981 a general hospital—crucial infrastructure for an industrial there have been a number of controversies. This road was is a major arterial road, almost always congested with cars. along Anyangcheon Stream—land which had been slowly complex where there is a high risk of industrial accidents— designed to bisect Garibong 2-dong into two halves, yet no In the 1980s, Garibong-dong’s urban area expanded improved since the late 1970s. The units were sold to the was only built in the 1980s after a loan was obtained from connecting paths or pedestrian overpasses were planned further, and its physical environment was improved. In tenant companies of the Guro Complex, with a condition to West Germany. Parks were built within the industrial for in the initial design. The road opened in August of 1977, the 1985 topographic map, the entire area of Garibong rent the units to workers for at least a year before its final complex at this time as well. Today, an old trifoliate orange after adding some pedestrian bridges and underpasses. is displayed as “urban,” with no major changes taking sale. Gwangmyeongdaegyo Bridge was completed in 1987, tree along the fence of the Carte Knit Factory in former Zone Nambusunhwan-ro eventually became a part of the Guro-gu place thereafter. After the 1980s, the urban environment connecting the industrial complex in Garibong-dong and the 2 next to the Nambusunhwan-ro is a remnant of the green boundary, when Geumcheon-gu was newly established out surrounding the Guro Complex—now having expanded residential area in Gwangmyeong, followed by the opening urban project. of Guro-gu in 1995. What was once a single neighborhood all the way to Gwangmyeong—was gradually improved, of Seobu Expressway in 1988. Seobu Expressway was built Garibong-dong faced a number of urban challenges, was now separated, both physically by a major road, and by and public welfare facilities were built. As the housing as a solution to the local road congestion problem, as the as more factories were built and its population greatly administrative boundaries. When the road first opened, it problem in the Guro Complex became a more serious freight transportation activities increased exponentially as increased. Industrial sewage severely polluted Anyangcheon was surrounded by rice paddies and fields—often a lonely issue, the Korea National Housing Corporation (Jugong) the complex’s export amount increased. On the other hand, Stream, and air pollution and other environmental
Aerial photographs illustrating spatial changes in Garibong-dong area (1972) Aerial photographs illustrating spatial changes in Garibong-dong area (1977)
남구로역 Seoul Guronam Seoul Guronam Elementary School Elementary School Youngil Youngil Elementary School Elementary School Nambusunhwan-ro Nambusunhwan-ro
Gurodong-gil Gurodong-gil
Guro Digital Complex 1 (Zone 1) Guro Digital Complex 1 (Zone 1)
Entrance to the Garibong Entrance to the Garibong Market’s “Vegetable Street” Market’s “Vegetable Street”
Garibong Garibong Station Station Guro Digital Complex 2 Guro Digital Complex 2 (Zone 2) (Zone 2) Digital-ro Digital-ro
Digital Complex Digital Complex Five-way Intersection Five-way Intersection
Nambusunhwan-ro Nambusunhwan-ro
0 100 200 0 100 200 m m
36 37 degradation became a serious issue. The substandard housing environment and housing shortage was a constant The Lives of the Workers social problem as well, as tens of thousands of factory workers lived in the area. Road, rail, and other urban of Guro Industrial Complex infrastructures were continuously improved and expanded following the construction of the industrial complex. On the other hand, service areas for the industrial complex (1) Low Wages, Poor Work Environment, and the Labor Movement expanded across the Anyangcheon Stream to today’s Many teenagers from the countryside (and from poor families) gave up school and flocked to the Guro Industrial Complex after Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi-do Province. its completion in the 1960s. Everyone had their stories to tell, working to provide for their families or to pay tuitions of their Water and air pollution first became a problem in the late brothers and sisters. A 12-hour work day was the norm; they worked in terrible environment at nights and often overnight. 1960s, and became a serious concern by the late 1970s. But Under these harsh conditions, these “factory girls and factory boys” (gongsuni and gongdori) became one of the major players even until mid-1980s, companies considered paying fines behind Korea’s modernization. a cheaper solution compared to operating anti-pollution facilities. Anyangcheon Stream, polluted with industrial waste, became a major source of pollution of the Hangang River. The newspaper articles frequently reported the seriousness of pollution in Garibong-dong from the mid- 1980s to early-1990s, along with the sufferings of Garibong- dong residents. Numerous factories operated in the Zones 1, 2, 3 of the Guro Complex. Eventually, some declared bankruptcy, some moved to other provinces or abroad, and some closed Workers of Guro Industrial Complex commuting to work illegally. They were replaced by new factories, and this (Source: “Project White Paper on Urban Regeneration Promotion for cycle continued for decades. But one factory that stands Garibong,” Guro-gu and Korea National Housing Corporation (2009)) out and remains in people’s memories is the Samlip Bread Delivery to franchise offices in three-wheeled “bread cars” (Source: SPC Group) Factory. Samlip Bread Factory was not located inside the While the government praised the workers as the “mainstay of the nation’s export efforts,” the workers suffered from low complex, but it was one of the earliest ones and one of the wages and alienation. A worker’s daily wage in the 1970s was only 980 won, and this situation did not improve even in the few large scale manufacturing factories that only closed 1980s. The workers from the countryside either rented cheap rooms or lived in the dormitories. Their wage was not even recently. Apartment buildings were often built on the sites enough to cover the basic living expenses. They called themselves “RIMS” (“Ramen is my staple diet”—or in Korean, “rabottae,” of relocated factories, since factories often occupied large ramyeoneuro botong ttaeunda ). Besides, the dormitories in the Guro Complex were often tiny and imposed strict disciplines enough parcels appropriate for building apartments. Doosan including limiting outside trips and staying outside overnight. At least five persons were assigned to one room and contained Apartment now occupies the previous site of the Samlip personal locker for storage and barely enough space to lie down. Bread Company. The work environment was terrible as well. Huge factories with almost non-existent heating and air conditioning meant that the workers had to fight heat in summer and cold in winter. In electronics manufacturing factories, the workers were exposed to pollutants that caused long-term diseases due to lack of adequate ventilation. The workers were often required not to speak during the work day, only focusing on work. There were many instances where the supervisors tracked the workers’ time spent in the restrooms. Women workers spent long hours in the factories just to meet the daily quotas. The factory workers faced low wages, work overload from working more than 10 hours a day, and harsh work environment. Also, the factories shut down and resorted to massive layoffs during the recession.
38 39 Under these circumstances, the Guro Complex’s labor than a year. The workers studying at night schools, student Daewoo Apparel’s 350 workers on June 24 was joined by movement in the 1970s focused on wage increase, activists, and the activists from the Urban Industrial Mission Hyosung Trading Company’s 400 union members, along with improvement of the work environment, and organization of participated in small group and other consciousness-raising 500 union members of Garibong Electronics and 70 union labor union. But labor union organization ratio remained activities. Finally at 7 pm on June 9, 1984, the organization members of Sunil Textile Company. The strike was widely very low until the end of the 1970s. This was due to lack of of the new labor union was announced by 105 workers. The supported by both the student movement and the minority workers’ participation, and also due to substantial efforts union set out to conduct an election of union delegates and party, and it quickly spread to other regions. But on June 29, of the business owners to obstruct union organization. began its activities including site visits by the union president Daewoo Apparel hired 500-member strikebreaking squad When there was an attempt to organize a labor union, many and the secretary to investigate issues and present potential that used violence to disperse the workers forcibly on strike. companies would set up and register a company-dominated solutions. The Guro Alliance Strike that lasted six days resulted in 43 union, hindering union efforts and causing conflicts. Daewoo Apparel’s labor union protest began in June of 1985 arrests, 47 detentions, and 38 bookings without detention. The labor movement gained momentum in the early 1980s, after three of its delegates were detained. The unions at Besides, more than 1,500 people were fired, disrupting many and many new labor unions were organized. At Daewoo nearby Garibong Electronics, Hyosung Trading Company, people’s lives. The Guro Alliance Strike was the first alliance Apparel, which imposed harsh working conditions on its and Sunil Textile Company joined the protest, signaling the strike in Guro area and is significant in that it led to a more workers, efforts to organize a labor union continued for more beginning of historical Guro Alliance Strike. The strike by active labor movement afterward.
Women workers of Guro Industrial Complex (Source: Korea Industrial Complex Corporation) Guro Alliance Strike (Source: Korea Democracy Foundation)
40 41 The labor movement groups inside the Guro Complex include the Guro Labor Counseling Center, the Labor Human Rights Center, and the South Seoul Worker Support Center—some are still in existence today. These groups supported the labor unions and conducted consulting, training, and research for workers.
After the June Democratic Uprising in 1987, numerous labor unions were organized in the Guro Complex. Between August of 1987 and the end of 1989, more than 95 new labor unions were organized over a period of two years and five months, adding 14,011 new members to the union. The impact of new labor unions was substantial. The wages went up, work environment improved, and most of all, there now was a platform on which the workers could speak their minds. There were some groups in Guro area that supported the workers and worker organizations. They can be categorized into religious and labor movement groups. There were more than ten so-called minjung churches (churches that also supported people’s social movements) inside the Guro Complex, running mission programs for the workers. After labor movement groups had been legalized in 1987, many emerged inside the Guro Complex, which somewhat reduced the role of existing churches.
Newsletter published when a labor union was formed Workshop on labor issues at the Guro Labor Counseling Center (1991) in Guro Industrial Complex (1988) (Source: Lee Bong-u, former Director of the Guro Labor Counseling Center) (Source: Labor Archive Material IHL-i18226, Korea Labor History Institute at Sungkonghoe University)
42 43 (2) The Garibong Market and Workers’ Daily Lives The Garibong Market was developed to serve the Guro Complex community, and its fate was intertwined with the Guro Complex. The market, located on both sides of today’s Uma-gil (also known as Sijang-gil), was built on lowlands with rice paddies. The market was developed relatively late compared to Garibong-dong’s other areas. The residents recall that the market grew organically on land where there is a parking lot today—this was where the Panorama Shopping Center was in the late 1960s. An examination of the
구로남초등학교 영일초등학교 남구로역
결혼식장 신탁은행 (현 하나은행)
가리봉2동 동사무소 고개다방 창대교회
의상실
유성다방 가전할인마트(DIGITAL) 한성유리 선비식당 진우수퍼 대지식당 정진호약국 육교 농협 Guro Digital Complex 1 진희의류남여토탈패션 축제다방 청솔약국 명동의류 로얄양복점 동네슈퍼 88메들리디스코장 신형균산부인과 백련다방 Nambusunhwan-ro 제일갈비 국일내과 다비어호프 은하 헤어샵 엘칸토양복점 전당포 축협 만화광장,용갈비 태양의류총판 가리봉시장 금산건강원 동경사진실 야채거리 입구 할매생선 진미곱창 대구상회 중앙지물 수향미용실 속옷 악세사리 가게 온양이불 호남곱창 가리봉정육점 성모의원 마부 안은정 패션 성모의원약국 Gasan Digital Complex Station 소망혼수방 가리봉1동 동사무소 영진의류 새공단마트 옷가게 통닭집 통닭집 이남경산부인과 로즈종합화장품 쌈바메들리나이트 팽대팽대 동사무소 태양극장 김의상실 제일은행 김부랑치과의원 나포리커피숍 Does not exist today 구림약국 Exists Today 가리봉의원 Garibong-dong boundary 벽돌공장 Digital Complex Five-way 0 50 100 m Intersection
Garibong Market from above Variety of stores lined up Uma-gil (After roof was added) aerial photographs showing the Garibong Market area over many years reveals that the area was rice paddies as late as in 1972. But by 1975, buildings can be seen on the right side of the Uma-gil. The 1980 photograph shows buildings on both sides of the Uma-gil. The Garibong Market was at its peak during the 1970s and 1980s, when it was also the heyday of the Guro Complex. At the time, the Garibong Market was filled with so many people that, “no one could move a step without bumping shoulders with others.” The
44 45 merchants note that in the 1980s, the Garibong Market was one of Seoul’s prime commercial areas. The goodwill money for a store almost reached 1 million Korean won. Newspaper advertisements for sale of stores from the years 1986 and 1987 introduce the Garibong Market as, “one of Seoul’s top five commercial areas—where 450,000 women workers and 400,000 residents live and work,” “where you are reminded of the Namdaemun Market,” and “a prime commercial area with no seasonal slowdowns.” Young customers who were mostly factory workers dominated these streets. The stores and street vendors sold cosmetic products, accessories, and clothing to women workers and the market was always filled with excitement. The young workers keen on keeping up with the latest fashion and style often purchased items in advance before payday. Before major national holidays, the market bustled with people buying gifts for family members in their hometowns. The largest group of customers in the Garibong Market during the 1970s and 1980s were, of course, the factory workers. There were many stores selling snacks such as Korean sausages (sundae) and fried foods, Entrance to the Garibong Market’s “Vegetable (Yachae) Street” after roof was added (2013) and side dishes such as tofu and vegetables. In addition, there were many stores selling everyday items, including bedding items, dishes and other kitchenware, and small furniture such as “bikini closet” (a lightweight fabric closet). But many old stores disappeared in the 2000s, as the market evolved to serve newly arrived Korean–Chinese customers. For example, Cheongsol Pharmacy—a landmark at the entrance of the Garibong Market—closed, as did many other stores. Many hospitals, banks, and daycare centers closed as well. Shin Hyeong-gyun OB/GYN clinic, which was large enough to operate in two floors of a building, and St. Mary’s Clinic and St. Mary’s Pharmacy—which were managed by the Franciscan Sisters and provided affordable access to medicines and healthcare—all closed. Nonghyup
46 Present-day pub alley 47 Bank at the market entrance, and Chukhyup inside the Myeong-dong alley and the eatery alley were lined with market, and Cheil (First) Bank located at Garibong-dong pubs and served Korean sausage soup and bone hangover Five-way Intersection all closed. Many stores that have been soup late into the night. Today, they are parts of a subdued open for more than 20-30 years still can be found in pockets neighborhood with names from their glorious past. The of the Garibong Market area. area that changed the most is the “pub alley.” One can find The “tripe alley,” “eatery alley,” tea houses, and pubs are hardly any trace of the past when the area was the heart of some of the popular places in Garibong Market that people Garibong Market, home to the Panorama Shopping Center fondly remember today. Many pubs sold chicken along with and shoe/clothing alley selling clothing and shoes in latest beer, and some would even slaughter live chickens in the style. store, make knife cuts, and fry the entire chickens. The tripe restaurants—its walls and ceilings were mostly made of temporary building materials—were popular but only two remain today: Honam Tripe and Jinmi Tripe. At its peak, dozens of stores including Haetae Tripe, Cheil Tripe, and Mokpo Tripe lined the “tripe alley.” Old stores at Garibong Market since 1970s Pork tripe was cheap and large-portioned, and it was a Garibong Market’s specialty that attracted customers from other parts of the city. For the young people who moved here from the countryside, Garibong Market, and Garibong Five-way Intersection area was a liberated zone where you relieved stress from hard work. Many provided venues for dating and entertainment, such as movie theaters, go-go club (where you can dance to go-go music), and DJ music cafes (where you can ask the DJ to play your favorite music). The workers enjoyed food and bought things in the narrow alleys of the Garibong Market. The workers could forget about fatigue from work, dressing in the latest style. Even now, long-time residents use the terms, “eatery alley” or “Myeong-dong alley.” These names are in sharp contrast to what had become of the Garibong Market. The Nambusunhwan- ro pedestrian overpass that connects the Guro Complex to the market was known to be crowded as Myeong-dong itself. The Garibong Market alley
48 49 Garibong Market
50 51 Garibong Market and gamjatang (pork bone soup) alley
The Garibong Five-way Intersection is another place Alliance Strike occurred, and is also called “Guro Alliance symbolizing the identity of Garibong-dong. The intersection Strike Intersection.” In 1988, 30-40 young dentists together is where the Gongdan-ro (today’s Digital-ro), Gurodong-gil, opened the Pureun Dentists Office. The Guro Workers’ and Nambusunhwan-ro meet. This was where the workers Literary Group was organized in the same year, to express from Guro Industrial Complex rested after a day’s work the workers’ joys and sorrows, regrets, and other emotions during the 1970s. There were many entertainment venues through literature. for the young people, and also came to symbolize the labor Many places disappeared, as time passed, and the number movement solidarity between the workers and the students. of factory workers declined. But not all have disappeared. Many workers’ protests took place at this intersection in The Guro Labor House was newly built in 2013 near the the 1980s, often supported by university students. Groups Garibong pedestrian overpass, to commemorate the lives supporting the workers and the local community found their of the people of the industrial complex. And the Woorine homes in Garibong-dong area as well. On the way from the Pharmacy, which opened in 1992, collected donations over intersection to the Guro Complex, there was the Gongdan almost a decade to open Guro Health and Welfare Center in Bookstore. The Mario Intersection was where the 1985 Guro 2000, which is still very popular.
Present-day pub alley
52 53 (3) Transition to Digital Industrial Complex and Labor Insecurity As the decline of the Guro Industrial Complex became pronounced, efforts to restructure the industries were accelerated. The 1997 Guro Industrial Complex Improvement Plan prepared by the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation called for promotion of four cutting-edge sectors—high technology, venture firms, fashion & design, and knowledge industries—to replace six labor- intensive sectors including metal assembly, textiles, and publishing.
Korea Industrial Complex Corporation in Zone 1 in the 1990s
Korea Industrial Complex Corporation in Zone 1, Present day
After implementation of the 1997 Improvement Plan, the workers were the majority. Another change was the makeup of firms in the Guro Complex completely changed, dominance of small companies. Compared to 1987, the both in total number and the type of companies. The key average number of employees in a manufacturing company industries shifted from manufacturing to publishing, films & decreased by 95%. broadcasting, information service, professional services, and Since the Guro Complex is made up of mostly small and other science & technology services. The complex’s external medium-sized companies, employment is perpetually appearance changed even more drastically. Office buildings insecure. In particular, manufacturing companies resort were built on the previous sites where manufacturing to subcontracting to respond to the fluctuating market factories operated. The Guro Complex, once a cluster of demands. Therefore, the change in production volume manufacturing plants is transitioning to a cluster of venture determines the level of employment. In this context, buildings called, “knowledge industry centers.” There protection of workers’ rights has often been ignored, and are around 100 venture buildings in Guro Complex today, labor unions have a difficult time even keeping a foothold in home to 9,964 firms according to Korea Industrial Complex the Guro Complex. Corporation’s official statistics. Manufacturing firms are still After 2000, the Guro Complex underwent a comprehensive in operation, but mostly at Guro Complex’s edges. restructuring process. Cutting-edge, technology-based, With new industries came new kind of workers. First, the knowledge industries came to replace manufacturing that total number of workers skyrocketed in the industrial symbolized the Guro Complex in the past decades. But from complex. The number of workers increased at least four a worker’s perspective, low and unpaid wages, insecure times, after having decreased to almost 40,000 during employment are constant factors for both traditional the restructuring process. Second, male workers came to manufacturing and more cutting-edge industries. dominate the workplace, unlike in the past when women
54 55 The Emergence of Beehive Houses: Unfamiliar Urban Space, and Living Space That was Even More Unfamiliar
A rooftop of beehive houses A tangle of electricity wires outside beehive house in Garibong-dong
eople moved to Seoul in the 1960s to escape persistent memories of the residents, and are often found in literary P poverty of the rural areas, as told in Lee Ho-cheol’s works. While most urban infrastructure and pollution issues novel, Seoul is Full (1966) published in Dong-A Ilbo. Many were addressed after the 1990s, the housing issues in and 03 of those who left their home villages chose Garibong-dong around Garibong-dong and the Guro Industrial Complex as their first place to live in Seoul. They often lived in shanty were never resolved until the Guro Industrial Complex houses built on hills or on land behind the levees located transitioned and became a hub of digital industries. near industrial complexes. A narrow space between a wall People who left the rural areas encountered extremely “Beehive” Houses and fence became a room, and sometimes a second floor unfamiliar spaces in Seoul, Garibong-dong, and its living was built with only wooden boards and plastic sheets. Any space could only be described as tiny. The workers who left empty space became a room, including the space under the their home villages and came to Seoul without any friends eaves and the tiny space under the stairs. Landlords rented or families had to live in dormitories or find housing, and out rooms even in their yards, equipped with only briquette inadequate housing was a serious issue from the beginning. furnace. One room was split into left-right-upper-lower The primary reason for the workers’ housing issue was spaces, and sometimes a small room even had separate that there were not enough dormitories. Factories began tenants for mornings and afternoons. Sometimes one room operating without constructing dormitories in the new was divided by a curtain to accommodate two families. Since industrial complex. Thus, the young workers who moved there was only one light bulb in the middle, when one family to Seoul and found jobs in the Complex flocked to nearby turned the light off, the other family’s space also fell into residential areas to find housing. darkness. Such unbelievable living conditions remain in the
56 57 The workers in the export industries with long hours and low pay preferred to live near work, to save both time and The Structure and Facilities transportation cost. This increase in demand naturally led to a large supply of private rental units. At first, older housing in a Beehive House units and temporary housing built for relocated residents were renovated as rental units. But with the expansion of the industrial complex and the demand for rooms exploding, rental units were constructed en masse. As the profitability of rental business became more widely known, residential typical “beehive” unit is usually made up with a room, a kitchen, and a shared units called the “beehive” were specifically built for renting A bathroom. Some newspaper articles often described them as, “decent from out in great numbers. It is an inconvenient truth that the the outside but claustrophobic inside with only 1.5 to 3 pyeong (approximately 5 workers necessary to keep the Guro Industrial Complex to 10 square meters).” The “beehive” also had other nicknames such as: chicken operating had to be accommodated in the subpar private coop, rabbit burrow, and pigeon loft. The shapes of these houses were usually rental units due to the government’s apathy. U-shape or L-shape. On the other hand, terminologies such as “affordable low-rise The Korean government, the Guro Complex, and the workers apartment” or “single-occupancy low-rise apartment” were also used to describe were all well aware of the housing problem’s seriousness. these subpar houses. Some government officials and housing experts also wanted Therefore, a series of announcements on the construction to call them multi-family housing or camp housing instead. However, as described and expansion of dormitories and rental housing units were rather sarcastically by the young workers who lived there, this house, where made in the late 1970s. But most projects never reached tens of workers head to work everyday, is no more or less than a beehive house. beyond the planning stage. The construction was often Sometimes the workers called them low-rise apartments as well. A second floor built with wooden boards delayed many years, or they were scaled back significantly. and plastic sheets
Guro in 1962 (Source: “Project White Paper on Urban Regeneration Promotion for Garibong,” Guro-gu and Korea National Housing Corporation (2009))
Second floor of beehive house 58 59 Second floor of beehive house (Stoned wall)
Alley elevation at 89 Garibong-dong
60 61 Beehive house with small grocery store Public toilets Houses Room “for rent”
62 “Beehive” 63 Beehive houses were only concentrated in Garibong-dong, and were different from the shanty houses in greater Guro area, which were categorized as temporary, public, or relief. According to a 1982 survey by the Guro-gu Office, 64% of all beehive houses (1,779 units) were located in Garibong-dong. Shanty houses were defined as houses that were illegally constructed on public or private land using wooden boards and other materials, whereas beehive houses had appearances of regular houses. But since beehive houses were either 1) illegally renovated houses, or 2) newly constructed as a beehive house after applying for a regular building permit, most of them did not fulfill the conditions of the building permit or even the basic conditions to function as a normal housing unit. From outside a beehive house, you can see an arch door, a side door, and a corridor. Sometimes these were very easy to distinguish, however at other times they just looked like regular single-family houses until you stepped inside. Along the streets of Garibong-dong’s market, there were also many houses with stores in front of them, but in the back were beehive units. Beehive houses were commonly found around the Garibong Market, and also in Saemaeul area to the east of Digital Road.
Former market room
Courtyard Main entrance Warehouse
Public toilets
Dizzying number of power meters outside a beehive house in Garibong-dong
Field record of Garibong-dong and surveyed floor plan (Ground floor) 64 65 A beehive house usually only had a front door, but sometimes a separate side entrance was a corner of my heart feels so hollow, and I am saddened when I ask myself whether I should go on living like this.” added for the tenants that remained open 24 hours. As you enter the house you would have Since the rooms were so tiny, tenants had to sleep on their sides to avoid bumping into closet and other objects in the room. seen a corridor and a door that led into the main unit. Inside the main unit there would be a Attics were utilized for storage, and people sometimes lived in there. With little space, laundry was sometimes hung to dry on kitchen and another door that lead into a tiny living room just big enough for two people. (Room the fence. People waited in long lines to use the shared bathroom every morning. Also, thin walls meant that you could hear size was about 1.5 to 3 pyeong, or approximately 5 to 10 square meters). Some beehive houses conversations and the TV from next door. Ventilation was terrible, and little sunlight reached inside. Therefore blankets in the (usually renovated Korean traditional houses, hanok) did not have kitchen, tenants had to cook rooms remained soggy during the summer rainy seasons, and the smell of coal briquette filled the entire house during winter in the corridor or in the yard. Some kitchens were equipped with a briquette furnace and a times. water faucet, while others did not have running water or even sewers. When existing houses
Side view of beehive house
Courtyard, tiny room, shared bathroom, and the stairs
were renovated into beehive houses, they only often had one water faucet for the entire house. Along with Korea’s rapid economic growth, Seoul’s land price increased drastically. The price in Garibong-dong also increased several tenfold over the years, becoming a major contributing factor to the workers’ housing shortage problem. Workers suffered from this problem more acutely in the late 1970s when inflation was rampant, and also in the late 1980s when the housing prices rose rapidly. Both rent and worker’s wage varied a lot—the rent was determined by housing size and quality, while wage was determined by a worker’s skills and experience. According to a 1980 newspaper article, wages for an experienced worker in his third year at a company with 48 hours overtime and 2 overnight work days was 59,000 won, while the monthly rent was 50,000 won. Workers could only afford the rent by sharing a room with others. Sometimes, rooms were shared by “morning” and “afternoon” tenants. Even on a joyous payday, there was little left after paying the rent, and some wrote “after paying the rent
66 67 The burden of rent was too high for some workers so they were evicted, even from such low-quality housing. The living conditions for low-paid workers were revealed in the testimonies of defendants. An Gyeong-hwan (age 27) and Jeong In-yeong (age 23) during the Daewoo Apparel case court proceedings. As stated, “All I wish for is to live like a human.” Jeong said that she tasted rice soup for the first time in prison, and also was addressed as “Miss Jeong” with respect for the first time in her life. At the time, “living like a human” probably referred to simply being able to enjoy pork barbecue and making a day trip to the mountains once a month. But a worker’s low wage was far from being enough to maintain a worker’s health and also afford the increase in housing rent. Some housewives commented that they felt pitiful for the women workers who suffered from low wage and bad working conditions who yet never lost their smiles while sacrificing themselves for their parents and siblings in the home villages and a better tomorrow. Workers saved on food and clothing to overcome their economic hardships and help their families back home.
Courtyard and the stairs
Stairs in beehive house 68 69 eehive houses are changing, adjusting to the changing “Room for rent” signs are found everywhere in Garibong- B demographic structure. According to the National dong, on utility poles, on fences, and on doors. This is a Census, the largest population group in Garibong-dong common practice found in other places, but in alleys you changed from female group, aged 15-24 years in 1970 to can also find white boards with handwritten room-for-rent Beehive house, before and after renovation male group aged 40-49 years in 2010. In 1970, the ratio of information. Some have memo pads with available room females aged 15-19 years was 13.6% and females aged 20- information. Placed on a door or a fence, this is Garibong- 24 was 9.0%. This ratio was significantly higher than other dong’s unique way of spreading information on room age groups and corresponding male groups. But in 2010, the availability efficiently. ratio of males aged 40-44 years was 5.5% and males aged Some beehive houses in Garibong-dong still use coal 45-49 years was 6.1%, and this ratio is relatively high but it briquette for heating, and some do not even have heating. does not compare to the figures in 1970. Also, the number The rooms are still tiny, with no extra space after rolling out of foreign-born population is increasing rapidly. Foreigners the bedding. Kitchens are still small, and the bathrooms make up 25.1% of total population, making it the 4th highest are often still shared. The attics would slightly provide more ratio in Korea and the highest in Seoul. As factories relocated space. in the early 1990s, beehive houses in Garibong-dong were forced to make changes. Vacancy increased, and both the people who owned the rooms and the people who lived in the rooms left Garibong-dong one by one. With enough empty rooms, beehive houses were often converted to regular single-family houses. Changes in Beehive Houses after the Mid-1990s
Tiny room with barely enough space for beddings, and dependent on coal briquette for heating
70 71 Where “People Who Carry Luggage” Find Their First Home: the Korean-Chinese ear the end of 1990s, the residents of beehive houses N started to change. Korean factory workers were Immigrants replaced by Korean-Chinese who came to Korea in search of work. In Garibong-dong, it is not easy to come across people carrying around luggage. As the area’s stores selling small household appliances and living necessities suggest, Garibong- dong functions as an initial settlement for ethnic Koreans from China. The shopkeepers of Garibong saw so many people lugging around their bags so it was easy for them to differentiate newcomers from the ones returning home. The stores that once sold zippered closets and silver-nickel tables to workers from farming villages started selling small rice cookers and fans. As of 2013, the vacancy problem at Garibong-dong was not as serious as it was in the 1990s as the beehive houses filled with Korean-Chinese immigrants. Just as the young women workers had exhibited strong wills to maintain their livelihood, Korean- Chinese who were the new residents of the neighborhood welcomed every employment opportunity, including even the most unpleasant kind. Eager to work not declining any job offers, the newcomers secured steady income and paid rent without delay even though the individual job opportunities were sporadic. After finding out that the Korean-Chinese are punctual in paying rent, the landlords lowered the deposit for the immigrants who had no large sums of money in their disposal. Living in a small and inadequate beehive house is uncomfortable even for the Korean-Chinese. In particular, the stifling summer heat was almost unbearable in these poorly built houses. The local residents think that with the passing of time, more Korean-Chinese will be moving to other neighborhoods for better-furnished one-room houses after becoming more financially prosperous.
A Korean-Chinese immigrant carrying a luggage 72 73 Singing room for Korean-Chinese immigrants Street of Chinatown
74 75 Chinese grocery stores in the market As of 2013, the vacancy problem at Garibong-dong was not as serious as it was in the 1990s as the beehive houses filled with Korean-Chinese immigrants.
76 77 he Korean-Chinese community was formed in Garibong- T dong because the area offers cheap accommodation along with convenient transportation. For a newcomer who chose to settle in Seoul, inexpensive housing and easy access to public transportation were huge merits, especially at the initial stages when they were on a tight budget. Seoul is notorious for its high housing expenses, but in Garibong-dong, you could find a room with just 500 thousand or 1 million won deposit with a monthly rent of 200 thousand won (approximately USD 170). The area has many bus routes and is in proximity of subway stations, lines 1, 2, and 7. Also, there is a large labor market near Namguro Station. So inexpensive rent, convenient transportation, and a large labor market Living in the Second were major elements that attracted the Korean-Chinese into this neighborhood. Homeland, Korean-Chinese The Korean-Chinese community did not start to emerge in Garibong until Uma-gil, Night Community and its Social the late 1990s. With the increased number of Korean-Chinese workers entering Korea, Garibong-dong became Network a center of ethnic Korean-Chinese that helped newcomers settle in. Moreover, Chinese groceries, restaurants, and singing rooms (noraebang) opened when 04 long-term residence became more common in the early 2000s. Later in 2007, the implementation of work and visit visas for Korean-Chinese without relatives in Korea led to an increase of Korean-Chinese Settlement employment agencies, travel agencies, and vocational training centers. Organizations for socializing as well as for protecting the rights and interests of Korean-Chinese were also established in and Formation the area. At first, it was difficult and expensive for a Korean-Chinese to enter Korea. So in many cases, just one family member would of a Multi-Cultural District enter, to earn and send back money. Recently, the conditions for entry has been eased, so there have been more cases of families of many generations living together or close to each other. Ms. Cho Sun-seung came to Korea and settled in Garibong-dong four months ago to live with her daughter’s family and looks after her granddaughter. Ms. Cho’s daughter, Yoon Son-ae came to Korea a few years ago. She had owned a Korean restaurant in Seongdong-
78 79 gu in Seoul, then moved to Garibong, recommended by her Garibong-dong is not just a place aunt who also lived in the neighborhood. She currently runs a Chinese restaurant there. Yoon lives with her husband of residence for Korean-Chinese and also with her parents, her sister’s family, and even her working in Seoul, but a capital aunt live nearby. They can all help out with the restaurant on busy weekends. About ten years ago, she left her only son that connects Korean-Chinese in China with a nanny; now she is returning the favor and nationwide. As a transnational taking care of the nanny’s daughter by allowing her to stay at her house in Korea. location, Garibong-dong area has The Korean-Chinese who came to Korea in the early phase four main functions. were most often referred to as Joseon-jok, which is the Korean pronunciation of Chaoxianzu. Consequently, the Garibong area was frequently called Joseonjok Street, Joseonjok Town, or Yeonbyeon (or Yanbian). However, Koreans later realized how contradictory it is to call Korean- Chinese Joseonjok, which is the official name of the ethnic minority group recognized by the Chinese government. Also there has been criticism that the name Joseonjok not only differentiates but also discriminates them. As the legal status of Korean-Chinese changed from migrant workers to overseas Koreans, expressions such as “compatriots Hana Bank putting up the banner saying in China” or “Korean residents in China” are now used. “opening an exclusive windows for Korean-Chinese” in 2004 Accordingly, names referring to Garibong-dong changed to Korean-Chinese Compatriots Town, Korean-Chinese Compatriots Street, Korean-Chinese Compatriots Village, names which emphasize that the residents are compatriots from China. Also used are the names such as “Chinatown” and “Little China” to accentuate the Chinese cultural (1) Social Network of Korean-Chinese Formed The area provides various services, ranging from amenities aspects. around Service Function such as Chinese groceries, restaurants, travel agencies, Recent transnational migrants connect the societies of hair salons, entertainment establishments, to various homeland and the settlement in the new country through administrative and information services related to visa familial, economic, social, and political ties to lead their lives application and immigration. Even after obtaining a Korean on a single social, arena that they have formed. Generally, citizenship, they still maintain a strong connection with immigration takes place through an immigration network China. Moreover, Korean-Chinese entering the country which refers to ties or connections between relatives, with short-term or long-term visas have to revisit China friends, or ethnic groups across the land of origin and regularly to have their visas reissued. Thus, Garibong-dong settlement. Garibong-dong plays the role as the nodal region offers various immigration services related to obtaining in the transnational migration network of Korean-Chinese in visa and citizenship. The area also has travel agencies that Korea. sell airplane and ferry tickets, currency exchange offices,
80 81 and a bank (Hana Bank Guro-dong branch) with an exclusive window for Korean-Chinese customers conducting financial transactions with China. In the past, there were many shops selling international phone cards but now those shops have been replaced with mobile phone stores. Also there are numerous newspapers available for Korean-Chinese community that cover news from China, in particular the three Northeast Provinces of China. In front of the Dongpo Town Newspaper building at the Garibong 3-way junction, there is a bulletin board that shares the latest news related to China. Most of these functions are not just for the residents of Garibong-dong, but for Korean-Chinese communities all over the country.
Office of a company and travel agency that provides immigration service
Hana Bank, 2013
82 83 (2) Social Network Formed around Employment hold more diverse range of professions. But the majority Korean-Chinese flocked to Garibong-dong not just for of people in Garibong area still work as day laborers. The the convenient transportation and small beehive-like labor market at Garibong supplies laborers not just to Seoul Namguro Station inexpensive housing, but also because it is easy to find and the Metropolitan Area but also to construction sites all work as day laborers. There is a large labor market around over the country even including Wando Island in Jeolla-do Hana Bank Namguro Station held every dawn, and there are around Province and Ulleung-do Island in Gyeongsang-do Province. twenty vocational training centers and a similar number Korean-Chinese who lived in Korea for some time have of employment agencies in the area. As the population of their employment connections, while newcomers pay a Gurodong-ro the community in Korea grew, Korean-Chinese started to 10-percent commission to the employment agency.
Uma-gil
Entrance to the Garibong Market’s “Vegetable Street”
Gasan Digital Complex Station
Employment agency Vocational training center
Distribution map of vocational training centers and employment agencies
84 85 (3) Social Network Formed around Institutions/ In the mid-2000s, the amendment of the Overseas Korean other immigrant volunteers. The community witnessed a Organizations Act and the implementation of working visit system stabilized steep increase of crimes and incidents related to public In the early 1990s, churches and religious organizations led the legal status of Korean-Chinese, resulting in an increase security and faced difficulties in handling the situation only activities supporting migrant workers, which stimulated of Korean-Chinese population entering the country as well with police manpower. Accordingly, the members of the Chinese-Korean groups in Korea. In the initial stages, as those obtaining Korean citizenship. During this period, local community cooperated with the district’s police station religious groups focused on the overall human rights of many non-religious Chinese-Korean organizations were to set up a volunteer organization and also provide linguistic all migrant workers including the Korean-Chinese. Then, actively formed, and the Federation of Ethnic Koreans from support. The immigrant community policing group patrols noting that the Korean-Chinese are compatriots, the groups China is the most representative organization established in the area with the police and also distributes brochures organized activities to improve the legal status and treatment Garibong area during this period. among Korean-Chinese to help prevent crimes. of Korean-Chinese. In 1996, the Church for Chinese-Koreans Another noteworthy movement was organization of was founded, followed by the House of Chinese-Korean in community policing group made up of Korean-Chinese and 2000. This contributed to making Garibong-dong known among the Chinese-Korean population as a safe place to start their life in Korea. Currently, there are numerous Chinese-Korean churches in Garibong-dong. Office of immigrant community autonomous security corps
A Korean-Chinese church (The house of Korean-Chinese)
86 87 (4) Social Network Formed around Fraternal Activities Marginal Labor Provided Various fraternal events are held in Garibong-dong, as more ethnic Koreans from China came to live in the neighborhood by the Korean-Chinese and the area became the central hub of the social network for Korean-Chinese in Korea. The fraternal events are usually held in entertainment establishments or Chinese and Namguro Station Labor Market restaurants. To Korean-Chinese, a Chinese restaurant is not just a place to fill the stomach but a place to socialize and (1) Marginal Labor Provided by the Korean-Chinese share the taste of home. Thus the restaurants are usually Since the establishment of the Guro Industrial Complex in the 1960s, Garibong-dong became home for people who left their named after places and symbols of the three Northeast home villages to find whatever means of livelihood. The only difference is that in the past, people coming to Garibong were Provinces of China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang), where Koreans from poor farm villages but now it is the Korean-Chinese leaving China to come and find work in their own or their most of the ethnic Koreans are from, and the signage are parents’ homeland. written in simplified Chinese. The patrons of Garibong-dong’s Chinese restaurants and (2) A Sketch of Namguro Station Labor Market entertainment venues are not only local Korean-Chinese At 4:30 a.m., Namguro Subway Station (of Subway Line 7) greets people going to residents. Ethnic Koreans from China come from all over the work. Minibuses form a long queue around the station exits, looking to pickup country to meet friends and relatives in Garibong-dong or to the day laborers. In the early morning, buses unload people at the Namguro attend church or parties during the weekends. Consequently, station and the nearby streets are crowded with traffic. Carrying their bags with the restaurants and venues are bustling on weekends with tools and work clothes, people gather around in front of the Hana Bank and the over half the guests coming from other regions. station’s Exit 5 where free meals are served from a food truck. Around the Namguro Station labor market, there are peddlers selling work clothes, cotton work gloves, and tools to day laborers. Shirts and pants are sold for about three thousand won (approximately USD 2.50) apiece. At the red food truck handing out free meals to the laborers, about 200 servings are prepared every day. Operators of the truck consist of volunteers from the Guro-gu Facilities Management Corporation and the Nuribodeum Volunteer Group. On the day of the visit, the food truck had already arrived at 4:30 a.m. and by 6:15 a.m. the team was preparing to leave as most workers had left for work. People going to work were eating at the six or seven blue tables set up in front of the food truck.
To Korean-Chinese, a Chinese restaurant is not just a place to fill the stomach but a place to socialize and share the taste of home.
Garibong-dong at dawn 88 89 Most of the laborers had left for work by 5:40 a.m. A person from a temp agency complained that “there were more temp agency people than actual workers.” After a futile search for workers, he called someone and explained, “Our people suffered from the heat yesterday and no one showed up today. We are so sorry but we hope you would understand why we were unable to keep our promise today. We promised to find you workers but it just was not possible. We are so sorry.” At around 6:20 a.m., a few men who could not find work were sitting in front of the Hana Bank and the sanitation truck and the street cleaners were cleaning the streets. Shortly afterward, everything was gone and the streets became quiet.
90 91 At around 6:20 a.m., a few men who could not find work were sitting in front of the Hana Bank and the sanitation truck and the street cleaners were cleaning the streets. Shortly afterward, everything was gone and the streets became quiet.
A stone bridge in Anyangcheon Stream these days
92 93 he Garibong Market that is frequently covered by the media is the area called “Yachae Street (Vegetable Street)” by the T market’s merchants because that part of the market had once been occupied by vegetable stalls. Currently, with a large Yeongil Elementary School Namguro Station signage at the entrance and an arch roof covering the market, the Garibong Market has a typical appearance of a Korean Seoul Guronam Elementary School Gurodong-gil traditional market. Outside the market, a very different scene unfolds at Uma-gil, also known as “Yanbian Street.” As the name hints, the street is concentrated with stores and venues for the Korean-Chinese population, namely Chinese restaurants, singing rooms, pubs, entertainment establishments, and Uma-gil Guro Digital Complex 1 2013 Documentation stores selling work clothes, shoes, and blankets.
Entrance to the Garibong of Street Scenes near Market's "Vegetable Street"
Garibong Market: Nambusunhwan-ro Restaurant Digital-ro Entertainment Gurodong-gil, Uma-gil, and Digital-ro Accommodations Articles shop Digital Complex Services Five-way Intersection Others Community facility Unoccupied Residential use
Distribution map of business category
The commercial activities in the area which were mostly since 2000. The primary type of business in the Garibong focused in Garibong Five-way Intersection (now called Digital Market area is food service, mainly Chinese restaurants. Complex Five-way Intersection) and around the Garibong Shops range from small stalls selling simple snacks such Market in the past are now shifting toward Namguro as Chinese pancake and twisted bread sticks to large Station. The change started when the Namguro Station was restaurants where weddings and large birthday banquets constructed and Korean-Chinese stores started popping up are held. After the inflow of Korean-Chinese in the 2000s, a in Guro-dong and Uma-gil, which connect the subway station large number of karaoke bars, pubs, and tea rooms started and Digital Complex Five-way Intersection. Field survey of to open around Uma-gil. Along with Chinese restaurants the commercial district confirmed that most of the stores and singing rooms, Chinese groceries were frequently between Gurodong-gil and Uma-gil opened after the mid- patronized by the Chinese and ethnic Koreans from China. 2000s. When the number of native Koreans decreased, most storekeepers left the area rather than changing their stores to cater to the Korean-Chinese customers. As a result, many of the stores that were operated by Koreans began to be replaced by the Chinese and Korean-Chinese shopkeepers Garibong-dong Market
94 95 (1) Gurodong-gil Gurodong-gil is a 4-lane street that offers convenient transportation with numerous bus routes as well as connection with the Namguro Station. Numerous businesses such as restaurants, bars, and cafes are located here to take advantage of the area’s convenient infrastructure, and a large number of customers visit the businesses both during the rush hours on weekdays and Gurodong-gil during the weekends. Today, Gurodong-gil, the road connecting Namguro Station with Uma-gil, is lined with various commercial facilities for the Korean-Chinese population. The stores serve more people who come from other regions rather than local residents. In particular, the large labor market in front of the Namguro Station attracts numerous immigrant workers and Korean-Chinese from other regions.
Youngil Elementary School Namguro Station
Gurodong-gil
Nambusunhwan-ro which bisected the original Garibong 2-dong, and its underpass
Nambusunhwan-ro Namguro Station
Restaurant Entertainment Accommodations Articles shop Services Gasan Digital Others Complex Station Community facility Unoccupied Business distribution around Gurodong-gil Residential use
96 97 (2) Uma-gil Uma-gil that extends from Gurodong-gil to Garibong Market is also known as Yanbian Street. Various businesses including Uma-gil Chinese restaurants, groceries, pubs, singing rooms, and stores selling blankets and dishes line up the streets serving the Chinese and Korea-Chinese customers. The store signs written in simplified Chinese and Korean or just in simplified Chinese are common in the area, revealing the multi-cultural characteristics of Garibong-dong. The streets are safer nowadays but in the past, numerous incidents of crime and Gurodong-gil violence among the Korean-Chinese population have taken Uma-gil place in the area’s bars and entertainment establishments. The patrons of Chinese restaurants, bars, and singing rooms at Uma-gil are mostly Chinese or ethnic Koreans from China. Since most of the business owners and employees are also Chinese or Korean-Chinese, some of the stores have no one who speaks Korean. The businesses serve the area’s Chinese population as well as people coming from other parts of Seoul and other provinces to attend events related to Entrance to the Garibong the Korean-Chinese population. Market’s “Vegetable Street”
Uma-gil, Night and day
Namguro Station Nambusunhwan-ro Restaurant Entertainment Accommodations Articles shop Services Gasan Digital Others Complex Station Community facility Unoccupied Digital Complex Residential use Five-way Intersection Business distribution around Uma-gil
98 99 (3) Digital-ro Digital-ro connects Digital Complex Five-way Intersection and Zone 1 of the Guro Complex. Compared to Uma-gil and Gurodong-gil, the road is located relatively far from the Digital-ro subway station so the road is less commercially developed. Old hospitals and pharmacies operate around the five- way intersection. Other stores in the area include cheap accommodations and stores that sell used electronic appliances and furniture—items for short-term living.
Guro Digital Complex 1
Digital-ro
Digital Complex Five-way Intersection
Nambusunhwan-ro Store for used electronic appliances and furniture
Namguro Station
Restaurant Entertainment Accommodations Articles shop Gasan Digital Services Complex Station Others Community facility Unoccupied Residential use Business distribution around Digital-ro
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rossing the Nambusunhwan-ro from Gasan Digital Complex Station to Garibong-dong is similar to traveling back dozens of Garibong-dong, C years in a time machine. Garibong-dong was a haven for people who came from all over the country to find work that would help them escape poverty. It was also the cradle of Korea’s industrialization and democratization as well as a base for labor Land of New Hope movement. Now, the Korean-Chinese have succeeded the joy and sorrow of life in Garibong-dong.
102 103 Garibong-dong is a place of tears and sacrifice. It is also a place of innovation and new starts, as well as a place of youth and hope. Garibong-dong stands upon the sweat and tears of countless people: Starting with the natives who gave up their ancestral farmlands to the industrial complexes, to the countless number of workers who died in industrial accidents or by the poisonous gas from charcoal briquettes used for heating, and to the young factory workers who suffered from long working hours with low wages. Also, Korea’s numerous “firsts” and innovations took place in Garibong-dong. Guro Industrial Complex is the first of its kind in Korea and where the first apartment-style factory was constructed. It is the first district to implement the computerized middle school allocation system without examination, and also where the first dried tofu factory was established to produce the type of tofu frequently enjoyed by the Korean-Chinese. Garibong-dong is a place where the joys and sorrows of youth remain to this day. The area attracted young people from farm villages in the countryside who came to the metropolis armed with no specific plans but just dreams and fantasy of achieving success in Seoul. It is where the hero of the film Peppermint Candy had spent his youth, a time he desperately wanted to return to. Guro Industrial Complex transformed into Seoul Digital Industrial Complex, and young people are still attracted to the streets of this area. Garibong-dong is for people who did not give up hope in difficult times.
Local residents held annual ritual in front of this 500-year-old oriental arbor-vitae, wishing for the village’s prosperity
104 105 Looking back, Garibong-dong has experienced dizzying changes over the years. The area itself has not changed as quickly, but the waves that greatly influenced society hit the area in full force. Industrialization and democratization came, followed by the wave of globalization. The people of Garibong-dong have endured the hard times, and will continue to meet the challenges of the era just as they have always done.
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