Incheon City Announces Cultural Heritage Registration for 13 Artifacts from Japanese Military Factory 'Jobyeongchang'

Worker Dormitory Sangok-dong Yeongdan Housing Including Artifacts

Bayonet manufactured at Incheon Army Arsenal [Provided by Bupyeong-gu, Incheon]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Artifacts unearthed from the Japanese Army weapons manufacturing factory, Jobyeongchang, and the Yeongdan Housing for workers during the Japanese colonial period will be registered as cultural heritage in Incheon City.

On the 12th, according to Bupyeong-gu, Incheon City recently announced a preliminary notice for the registration of 10 artifacts from the Incheon Army Jobyeongchang and 3 artifacts from the Yeongdan Housing in Sangok-dong as registered cultural heritage.

The city will decide on the registration of the cultural heritage through the Incheon Cultural Heritage Committee's review after a 30-day preliminary notice period.

The Jobyeongchang artifacts include 10 items such as documents, bayonets, military ammunition pouches, and notebooks found at Jobyeongchang, while the Yeongdan Housing artifacts consist of 3 items including housing sales contracts, land transfer contracts, and registration certificates.

These artifacts are classified as materials that can verify the securing and operation of Jobyeongchang land, production of military supplies, and the realities of forced mobilization. In particular, notebooks and postcards discovered at the Jobyeongchang Skilled Worker Training Center are known to contain the realities of forced mobilization that took place there.

Documents related to Yeongdan Housing serve as materials supporting the history of Yeongdan Housing, which is currently slated for redevelopment, and record the process of the housing transitioning from state ownership to private ownership after liberation.

As evidence of the transition from Joseon Housing Yeongdan, the predecessor of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), to Daehan Housing Yeongdan, and the transfer of existing houses to the private sector, these materials are expected to contribute to the study of housing history in Korea.

The Incheon Army Jobyeongchang was a large-scale weapons manufacturing factory established in Bupyeong by Japan in 1941 to supply military materials for the Asia-Pacific War.

It was the only Jobyeongchang built by Japan on the Korean Peninsula. The Jobyeongchang headquarters and the 1st manufacturing plant were built in Bupyeong, while the armament manufacturing plant in Pyongyang was subordinated as the 2nd manufacturing plant.

In the early 1940s, Bupyeong, where Jobyeongchang was established, was regarded as the "largest military supply factory in Southern Korea (Namsun)." This was because not only Jobyeongchang but also its subcontracted factories were established around Jobyeongchang one after another.

An official from Bupyeong-gu said, "We will strive to ensure that the registration of this cultural heritage becomes an opportunity for the region's painful history to be established as a historical and cultural asset for the future."