Citizens Tear Down Camp Wall by Hand... Daegu City Holds Ceremony to Commemorate Return of Camp Walker Site

Promotion of Construction for Main Library, Park, and 3rd Ring Road

Completion of Contamination Survey on Returned Site, Start of Environmental Cleanup

Camp Walker scene. Daegu City will hold the event "Breaking Down the 100-Year Wall with Citizens" on the 10th to commemorate the return of the Camp Walker site.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Daegu City will hold the event "Breaking Down the 100-Year Wall with Citizens" at 11 a.m. on the 10th to commemorate the return of the Camp Walker site.

Camp Walker is a U.S. Army airfield located in Daemyeong 5-dong, Nam-gu, named after General Walton H. Walker, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army and ground commander of the United Nations Command.

Walton H. Walker led the Incheon Landing Operation and the Battle of Nakdong River during the Korean War in June 1950 but died in an unexpected car accident in December of the same year.

Camp Walker, also known as Walker Base or Dongmyeong Airfield (東明飛行場), was built by the Japanese army in the 1920s and used as a light airfield, ammunition depot, and training ground. After liberation, it became a Republic of Korea Air Force base and once housed the Air Force Headquarters but has been underutilized since the 1980s.

Daegu City requested the Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Forces Korea several times to utilize this land as a key hub for southern region development, including the construction of the 3rd Ring Road, and secured the return decision last December.

At the event, symbolizing the return of a space that had been closed off as forbidden land for the past 100 years to the citizens, participants will pull a rope connected to the fence to break down the wall themselves.

After the agreement on the return of the site, the Ministry of National Defense conducted additional detailed environmental surveys, recently recalculated the exact contamination levels, and completed verification.

Once the fence is dismantled, environmental cleanup of the site will begin in earnest and is scheduled to be completed in 2023. Plans include constructing Daegu’s representative library, Daegu Peace Park, an underground public parking lot, and the 3rd Ring Road on the site.

Mayor Kwon Young-jin said, “I am pleased to break down the wall that hindered the city’s development and return the land to the citizens,” adding, “We will lay the foundation for the development of the southern region by utilizing the returned site and strive for balanced development throughout the city.”