[The Editors' Verdict] Church Preservation or Redevelopment?

City Industrial Mission (currently 'Mimun's Workers' Church) exterior [Provided by the Incheon City Industrial Mission Preservation Citizens' Committee]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The redevelopment project of the area around 1-1 Hwapyeong-dong, Dong-gu, Incheon (Hwasu·Hwapyeong), a representative old downtown area of Incheon, is causing controversy. Like most redevelopment projects, this one had been at a standstill for over 10 years but recently gained momentum after selecting a construction company. As the area is densely packed with old and dilapidated buildings and urgently needed residential environment improvements, local residents generally welcome this development.

However, conflicts have arisen again between the redevelopment association and religious and civic groups over the demolition of the 'Incheon Urban Industrial Mission (currently Miumun Workers Church)' located within the project area. The positions clash between those advocating for preserving the church, known as a cradle of Korean democracy and labor movements and a historic site, and residents who want to secure business feasibility to revitalize the deteriorated old downtown.

The Incheon Urban Industrial Mission was established in 1961 by American missionary Pastor George Ogle, who purchased a thatched house in Hwasu-dong, Dong-gu. It began with pastoral activities in factories to counsel workers and improve labor conditions, later becoming a base for democratization movements opposing the Park Chung-hee Yushin regime and the Chun Doo-hwan coup regime. Many labor activists who led democratization, including the late former lawmaker Kim Geuntae, passed through this place. Pastor Jo Hwasoon, who served as the mission’s secretary general, went undercover to work at Dongil Textile and interacted with female workers, playing a role in creating Korea’s first female labor union branch leader.

Additionally, the church is famous as a refuge for female workers during the 1978 'Dongil Textile Manure Throwing Incident.' During the delegate meeting to elect the next union executive, opposing union members threw manure to disrupt the election. This incident is considered a representative case of union suppression involving state agencies.

More than 80 civic groups have formed a pan-citizen countermeasure committee to prevent the disappearance of this historically significant site, which is inseparable from Korea’s democratization and industrialization process, under the guise of old downtown regeneration projects. Pastor Kim Jeongtaek, who served as secretary general of the Incheon Urban Industrial Mission, has been on a hunger strike since the 22nd of last month, with relay hunger strikes and one-person protests continuing in solidarity by the committee.

In particular, the countermeasure committee is further protesting after Incheon City, which had issued a press release on the 18th expressing its intention to actively mediate to reach a harmonious agreement between local residents and the church, approved and announced the redevelopment project amendment the next day. The committee said, "We were stabbed in the back by Incheon City." The city explained that since the redevelopment maintenance plan was approved by the Urban Planning Committee, the announcement was unavoidable procedurally, but it intends to continue discussions to prepare a mediation plan between the association and the church.

The Incheon City Urban Planning Committee approved the Hwasu·Hwapyeong redevelopment project, including the church site, last month. It attached the condition that "a separate space, facility, or commemorative monument that can share the value of the church will be discussed with the church side." However, the church insists on preservation and holds a firm stance, prompting even the Incheon City Council to step in and try to mediate.

Assemblyman Namgung Hyung said, "Rather than the church 'building,' we want to focus on the symbolic meaning of the 'site' and try to find a cooperative governance model where the redevelopment association and the church can coexist." He cited the example of Yeongdeungpo District in Seoul, which is promoting the Yeongdeungpo Labor Complex Facility centered on the Yeongdeungpo Industrial Mission Hall, concentrating labor-related facilities.

The countermeasure committee urges Incheon City to actively recognize the historical value of industrial heritage and prepare preservation measures, using the controversy over the preservation of the Incheon Urban Industrial Mission as an opportunity. They especially criticize the city for neglecting buildings that are not designated as cultural assets or architectural heritage.

The Incheon Urban Industrial Mission has requested preservation from Incheon City and Dong-gu since redevelopment began in 2009 but was ignored due to being an unauthorized building. It remained unauthorized because the Yushin regime did not grant a completion permit when it was newly built in 1976. Although Incheon City conducted a large-scale basic survey of architectural assets from 2018 to 2019 and listed 492 architectural assets, it failed to find alternatives for unauthorized buildings.

The local community hopes that Incheon City will show efforts to protect every brick and stone of the Incheon Urban Industrial Mission so that nothing disappears from this historic site.