The following series of photos show post-division prewar Seoul in the months leading up to the devastating Korean War that flattened most of the country and took the lives of millions of people.
Taken in 1949, they reveal quite a different country, a world away from the Seoul we all know today with many people still wearing traditional dress and not a high-rise or Starbucks for miles. The tranquility and relative calm in these shots is nearly the polar opposite of the chaos and carnage that ensued during the war.
From Daum:
Comments from Daum:
보험보다소중한샤이니:
These pictures make me teary..
아기태일♥:
There’s nowhere as nice as South Korea, but the education system is too hard on us…
수미수미수미칩존나맛있어수미칩:
Right, African countries were receiving humanitarian assistance just like us, but only we have succeeded so much, so proud
씅리인데접차:
By the way, how unlucky it must have been to have born at that time, not knowing the imminent war. Those who died in war, I wish you peace.
틆인데촹앓이함:
But having grown so fast, there are a few bad apples…. here and there
태극이:
Only in a few decades we have come this far… No wonder others call it the miracle of the Han river… Love South Korea
이소라6집[눈썹달]:
The civic consciousness that lags behind economic prosperity is the trap…
연세대학교경영학과:
Wow… Somehow very strange
주름이가튼내얼굴:
Advanced country for sure!! ke ke ke
＠햇똥우유:
Looking at the pictures, it’s so tranquil? Ah what is this feeling.. I like it, so fuzzy
경기대표교미:
South Korea is not an advanced nation, but somewhere between that and developing nation
죠리퐁듀이:
When I went back to South Korea for the first time in ten years, I saw old folks collecting used papers, and I still see poor people on TV, we are not the developed first-rate country. I wish the welfare improved.
않다니엘:
It’s not a bad place to live, but still not enough we are. The textbook says so but we are not.
규현은혁:
Mmm, looking at these peaceful photos and then suddenly a war, so maybe it’s still like that.. that worries me…
비빔국수:
But if it is 6.25 [25th June – referring to the Korean War], shouldn’t it have been summer…? They wear winter clothing still? Even the trees look desolate..
우리집에나무심음:
I miss those streets..
ㅋㅋㅋ부잉부잉:
Right-o, South Korea is really decent-living. We have it good ke ke. No other countries are as good as us. We can use all the water we want ke ke ke ke ke ke Anyhow, South Korea is good.
여성지지능만세:
Our citizens are not as developed, so that’s why we cannot be as developed….
누가바요:
Maybe we had gotten poorer after we had become free of the Japanese…? At that time… Those buildings… Japan must have built them when they ruled us… Before then there were only straw-thatched roof old houses.
안지랑:
Have you not studied the modern history of Korea? What makes you think it was a good time during the Japanese rule ke
39살아저씨:
South Korea is still at the bottom of the world. Not GDP or any of those indices but the quality of life. You think Spain and Greece are a laughing-stock? If you are unemployed in Spain they pay you unemployment insurance for 3 years, and they get to go home at 3 PM, and you get to have a month-long vacation. They have it hard compare to before, but South Korea is nowhere near Spain or Greece
