[Choi Jun-young's Urban Pilgrimage] Memories of Seoul

Background of the April 19 Revolution in 1960
Sharp rise in Seoul housing prices in 1959, post-war urban reconstruction completed, companies losing competition forced out
Reduced capital demand and falling interest rates led to speculative demand surge
Common people's lives worsened, and this anger exploded in fraudulent elections

History is recorded mainly during periods that leave clear traces. Years marked by war or revolution are remembered as unique proper nouns. 1945 is remembered as the year of national liberation, 1950 as the pain of fratricidal war, and 1987 as a memory of democratization. However, the periods before and after these dramatically remembered times remain obscure like shadows. Few people remember what happened in 1944 or 1949. Yet, the periods preceding these dramatic memories involved an accumulation of time that created the background, and the result became a moment in history that we remember.

The year 1960 is remembered as the moment of the April 19 Revolution. It is common knowledge recorded in textbooks that the popular resistance against the fraudulent March 15 election under the Syngman Rhee regime led to the April 19 Revolution. However, as with all revolutions, political events alone do not collapse the existing order. In most cases, economic factors take root, and life in the city forms the backdrop. The black-and-white photographs of 1959 seen through the Seoul Photo Archive appear peaceful. Jungbu Market, still famous today as a dried seafood market, opened at this time, and Cheongnyangni Station was completed. Traces of war were gradually disappearing, and people seemed to be living their daily lives. Except for the 84th birthday celebration of President Syngman Rhee held at Seoul Stadium, nothing special seemed to be happening. However, Seoul in 1959 was experiencing severe conflicts and difficulties surrounding “homes.”

Housing prices in Seoul in 1959 were skyrocketing. In central areas like Sinmunno, prices rose more than 30% within a year, while in outer districts such as Cheongnyangni, Jeongneung, and Bulgwang-dong, prices increased two to three times. Around Cheonggyecheon, land prices surged fourfold. This rapid rise in housing prices, the first since liberation, made life difficult for ordinary people. Although more houses were supplied each year by rebuilding homes destroyed during the war, housing prices steadily increased after 1953 and escalated sharply in 1959.

The housing price surge in Seoul in 1959 was not simply due to a shortage of houses. Supply was provided by both private and public sectors and increased annually, but demand grew even faster, pushing prices up. As always, speculative demand for appreciating assets was present, but there was another reason. At that time, it was nearly impossible for individuals to borrow money from banks, so most transactions were private loans with interest rates typically around 10-15% per month. However, during this period, private loan interest rates plummeted to 3-6% per month. After the armistice in 1953, when everything was scarce, many people invested in or established companies. This caused explosive growth in demand for capital, and the emerging middle class secured capital income by lending their surplus funds. But as reconstruction settled and companies that lost in competition exited the market, demand for capital decreased, causing interest rates to fall.

The lowered interest rates were unsatisfactory to the middle class, who had initially expected high returns. They sought other investment targets and chose land and housing, which led to the rapid rise in housing prices. Additionally, plans for reconstruction housing and welfare housing?equivalent to today’s public housing supply?were underway, increasing demand for land and causing land prices in outer areas to soar in 1959.

At the time, the media analyzed the rise in land and housing prices unrelated to the real economy as a bubble, warning of a price drop and advocating for the policy-driven development of investment alternatives to real estate. They argued for fostering the stock market and activating indirect investments such as insurance and trusts, which could replace volatile direct investments. The proposal was to reduce housing demand by discovering and providing investment alternatives to real estate.

Following the real estate surge in 1959, the lives of ordinary people became more difficult, and relative deprivation and dissatisfaction grew. The fraudulent March 15 election in 1960, held amid these accumulated economic hardships and grievances, triggered an outburst of discontent, which ultimately led to the April 19 Revolution. Economic factors that had accumulated beforehand underpinned the political events.

People living in cities, where populations gather in limited areas, inevitably bear the burden of high land and housing prices. The rise and surge in housing prices, an essential good for life, are considered by some as asset growth and investment returns, but for others, they lead to a decline in quality of life. The continuation of this phenomenon inevitably brings conflict and dissatisfaction, leading to changes in cities and society. The 1959 Seoul recorded in black-and-white photographs appears peaceful, but beneath the surface, a whirlpool of conflict and discontent was raging. Our situation ahead of the 2022 election is different from that of 1959. We have transformed into a genuine advanced country with a balanced industrial structure and international competitiveness across various sectors. Yet, the feelings of people living in Seoul and other large cities today may be similar to the despair felt by Seoul citizens in 1959.

Legal Expert, Yulchon LLC