On Monday, I went to Tongmunkwan in Insadong, Korea’s oldest antique bookstore. The owner’s grandfather, Lee Gyeom-ro, took it over from a Japanese proprietor in 1934. As you step inside, you are instantly overwhelmed by the smell of old paper. I found two fantastic photo books! ImageImageImageImage
Choi Min-Sik was born in 1928 to a poor Catholic peasant family in what is today South Hwanghae-do, North Korea. He moved to Seoul upon liberation, and after the war he smuggled himself to Japan where he had dreamed of studying art
While working in a 2nd-hand bookstore, he found a catalogue for “The Family of Man,” a monumental photography exhibit curated by the influential Edward Steichen, Director of #MoMA. This aroused his interest in photography, and led him back to KR where he took it up professionally
His photos were unsellable and disliked by those in power for they showed the dark underbelly on the Miracle on the Han River. Choi was often harassed by the KCIA and was even barred for travelling to his exhibitions in 7 European countries w/ the state denying him a passport. ImageImageImageImage
Top Left: Busan, Gwangbuk-dong, 1964
Top Right: ^, 1962
Bottom Left, Busan Tent Encampment under Gupo Bridge, 1962
Bottom Right: Busan, Bumin-dong, 1963
In front of Yongsan Station in Seoul, 1957 Image
A downtrodden man at Busan’s pier in 1959. Image
Children at Yeongdo Bridge in Busan (1965), Children in Namhae, Gyeongnam (‘65), Labourer in Busan (‘65), Eating at Jagalchi Market (‘65) ImageImageImageImage
Was fascinated by this picture. What is the story behind it? The caption says it was taken at Busan’s Jagalchi Market in 1972. The uniform on the man on the right is very similar to those of staff at the Brothers Home who rounded up vagrants with the help of police. Image
The predecessor of the Brothers Home became a vagrant protection facility in 1971, four years before Interior Ministry Ordinance 410 so this could be the case.
All from Busan. Top left at the pier in 1967, top right is a beggar at the entrance of Yongdusan Park in ‘68. Bottom left is from ‘68 too and bottom right is from 1970. ImageImageImageImage
The anti-poverty measures carried out in Busan during the Park and Chun regimes were evil, and led to 100s of deaths. That said, these pics are truly helpful for my research on Korea’s anti-vagrant policies, helping me better understand the context in which they were enacted. ImageImageImageImage
Like Choi, Jeong Beom-tae was from what today’s DPRK . He was born in 1928 in North Pyongan. He passed in 2019, but worked as a photojournalist for over forty years, from the mid 50s to the late 90s, for a # of prominent newspapers including Chosun Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Segye Ilbo ImageImageImageImage
^ Clockwise from top left: Mapo-gu (‘57), Mapo-gu, Yeomri-dong (‘71), Mapo Ferry (‘59), Mapo-gu, Yeomri-dong (‘75)
1957 at Bukcheong Market in Seoul. A girl sits nonchalantly next to a set of steps filled with chicken feet, chicken heads, and fish heads Image
1960: A basket vendor at Eulji-ro Image
1974: Chungmu, Gyeongnam Image
This one, which won an award from the Asahi Shimbun in Japan, is just wow… A mother stands with her child before the Gyeonggi High Court of Military Justice for drug offences in 1961, soon after Park Chung Hee’s coup. Image
Namdaemun Lock Vendor, 1956 Image
Myeongdong, 1960 Image
Here’s another one that I wish there was a more detailed caption for. Almost twenty years after the end of the war… 1972 in Seoul’s Seongdong-gu. An orphanage perhaps? Image
Somewhere in my neighbourhood, Cheongnyangni, in 1955. Image
At Seoul’s Dobongsan in 1976 Image
Locksmith at Seoul Mapo-gu’s Gongdeok-dong in 1955 Image
Busan, 1970, Image
Seoul Station, 1961 Image
Seodaemun-gu, Ahyeon-dong, 1959 Image
Jongmyo Shrine, 1968 Image
Gyeonggi-do, Gimpo, 1960 Image
Dongdaemun Stadium, 1965 Image
Some sort of ritual with offerings of a pig and rice cakes at Taepyong-ro, 1960. Image
Eulji-ro, 1959 Image
Gyeongbu Line, 3rd class train, 1959 Image
Gyeonggi-do, Bucheon-si, 1957 Image

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More from @jackwgreenberg

Mar 20, 2023
#Trams were once the backbone of #Seoul's #publictransit system. The 1st launched on #Buddha's Bday in 1899 by Gojung, & the last ran Nov 30, 1968. The network was greatly expanded in the colonial era, & recently track laid in 1927 was uncovered in front of #Gyeongbukgung Palace ImageImageImageImage
This track was in use till ‘66 & buried during the construction of a pedestrian underpass at Sejongro. Seoul’s bulldozer’ Mayor Kim Hyon-ok was responsible for the trams’ demise. The cars were outdated, replacement + track repair was too costly, & the system disrupted traffic. ImageImageImageImage
Track was laid in the middle of the road, which made boarding a nuisance and forced all traffic to a standstill. In its final year, #tram ridership also dropped significantly even as the gov’t barred operators from increasing fares to maintain affordable service 4 passengers ImageImageImageImage
Read 6 tweets
Nov 19, 2022
Massive candlelight protest calling for #윤석열퇴진 (Pres. Yoon to resign), underway right now. Crowd stretches from Seoul Station to Seoul Plaza (City Hall). A pretty amazing sight that I can’t imagine seeing in 🇨🇦. Must be a several hundred thousand out. Young & old. #촛불행동
Some more photos of the crowds with their signs before the sun set. It was only six years ago that similar protests were held on this day, calling for Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment.
Defenders of the Yellow Envelope Act (#노란봉투법) which is facing amendment and prevents employers from making indiscriminate damage claims against striking workers.
Read 23 tweets
Nov 17, 2022
2022년 코라시아포럼에서 #이재명 @TheMinjoo_Kr 대표과 #김진표 국회의장은 축하를 연설했어요
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I am at the @hankookilbo’s 2022 #KorAsia Forum this morning. opposition Democratic Party leader @Jaemyung_Lee & Nat’l Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo just delivered congratulatory speeches ImageImageImage
Fmr. US SoS @mikepompeo joins virtually for a talk with ex-US Amb. An Hoyeong. On 🇨🇳 influence, he says it is already entrenched, & states worldwide must push the CCP back from inside their gates. Also, “🇨🇳 wants every nation to be a vassal state that pays it tribute & homage” Image
On North Korea, says that Trump failed to achieve denuclearization in the #DPRK, but the admin. delivered more certainty, which Biden has failed to continue.
Read 8 tweets
Nov 1, 2022
Many of the victims from this weekend’s tragedy in #Itaewon/#이태원 were in their 20s, which means they would have been in their tween/teenage years when the MV #Sewol disaster (#세월호 침몰 사고) happened on April 16, 2014.
I’ve been thinking about Sewol a lot over these days. I have memories of seeing it on the news and discussing it in my high school law class, but it was only after coming to Korea that I really understood the scope of what happened, the gov't's complicity, & social impact it had.
On August 17th, I travelled down to Ansan in Gyeonggi-do for a visit to Danwon High School and the Danwon High School 4.16 Memory Classroom. The memory classroom was designated on December 27, 2021 as National Archives of Korea No. 14 by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
Read 17 tweets
Oct 30, 2022
I just passed the scene of the tragedy that occurred last night in #Itaewon/#이태원 and I really have no words to express the sadness I feel. As of now, 151 people have lost their lives - many of them in their 20s just like me. #이태원사고 Image
Floral tributes for the victims have started to be left at the top of #Itaewon/#이태원 Station Exit 1 and posted on storefronts, such as Foot Locker’s, beside the alleyway where the stampede occurred. ImageImageImageImage
The authorities don’t know the cause of the stampede yet, and I won’t make assumptions. All I will say is that one of the alleyways in question appears to be no more than 5 meters in width, and that reports suggest the police presence was insufficient for the crowds present ImageImageImageImage
Read 7 tweets
Jul 6, 2022
Back in May, I joined the Architecture Archive Project for a short discussion and walk around the former HQ of the Chosŏn Land Trust Company (aka Hanil Building), a 3-story brick structure that was designed and built in 1929 by Japanese companies & boasted a lot of local history
The land on which the building sat until recently is now being redeveloped by Buyoung Housing with a 27-story hotel, which when complete will have 850 rooms. Initially the company was given a construction permit on the condition that the façade of the Hanil Building be preserved
However, when construction took off, a vehicle was damaged after building materials fell from an exterior wall that was being worked on. An assessment of the building's structural integrity was then conducted; this resulted in an "E" grade being given.
Read 8 tweets

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