[Yeouido Renaissance] The Unknown Sand Island... From Obscurity to the Political and Financial Hub

It is hard to imagine now, but the Han River once had sandy beaches. To the north, they stretched widely from the current Dongbuichon-dong in Yongsan-gu to Dangin-ri in Mapo-gu, and to the south, from Noryangjin to near Yanghwa Bridge. The first record of the area of the Han River's sandy beaches was from the Japanese Army Survey Department in 1880, estimating it to be about 2.5 million to 3 million pyeong. These sandy beaches would appear during normal times but disappear beneath the water whenever floods came. However, there were two sandy beach islands that never disappeared, regardless of rain or snow. One was Bamseom, and the other was Yeouido. Both islands still exist today, but their appearance back then was very different from now.

◆The sandy island with more animals than people... becoming known as an airfield

Aerial view of Yeouido taken by the US Air Force in 1945 [Photo by Seoul History Archive]

Since the early Joseon period, Yeouido was mainly used as a space for livestock breeding managed by the state. During the reign of King Sejo of Joseon, the pavilion Apgujeong (狎鷗亭) built by Han Myeonghoe was originally located on Yeouido before being moved later to Dongho-ro. Although some families settled and lived on Yeouido for generations, it was only a very small, closed island community.

The island of Yeouido, which existed but was forgotten by many, was first officially mentioned in Korea after the country was taken over by Japan. In May 1920, two Italian Air Force planes flying from Rome to Tokyo temporarily landed at the Yeouido temporary airfield. The news that flying objects had reached Seoul was a sensation even then, and when the landing time was announced, about 100,000 Seoul citizens flocked to Yeouido. This was the first time so many people had visited Yeouido.

The Yeouido airfield, built by the Japanese as a temporary airfield, developed into a full-fledged airfield through World War II. After the Japanese left, the U.S. military used the relatively well-equipped Yeouido airfield as one of its air force bases. Until the 1960s, Yeouido essentially functioned as an airfield. According to the "Basic Land Use Plan and Preliminary Design Report for Flooded Areas (Yeouido)" prepared by the Korea Engineering Corporation in 1967, about 650,000 pyeong of Yeouido was used by the Air Force.

◆The beginning of Yeouido's new history: construction of Yunjungje

The Han River, which flooded whenever it rained, was a headache for Seoul. The flood of 1966 was especially severe. Public opinion grew that the Han River had to be controlled somehow. The fundamental solution was to build embankments along the Han River. In the second half of 1966, Seoul City commissioned two research reports. Both reports commonly pointed out that embankments should be built along the Han River and also on Yeouido to utilize the land for housing. Subsequently, through discussions between Seoul City and the Ministry of Construction, three points were agreed upon: ▲Yeouido would keep the Saetgang stream intact and build Yunjungje embankment. ▲The width of the main Han River channel would be maintained at 1,300 meters. ▲The height of Yunjungje would be 15.5 meters from the riverbed, and the embankment width would be 21 meters. The height of the land developed inside the embankment would be 13 meters from the riverbed.

Since the project started as a measure to prevent floods, it was important that building the embankment on Yeouido would not obstruct the flow of the river. To do so, Bamseom had to be removed. The section with Bamseom could not maintain the 1,300-meter width regulation of the Han River. Also, building the embankment required a huge amount of stone materials. Blasting Bamseom was a way to guarantee the river width and obtain stone materials nearby.

On February 10, 1968, Bamseom was blasted. About 114,000 square meters of rubble was extracted, equivalent to 40,000 truckloads. The construction of Yunjungje proceeded rapidly. Annually, 58,400 heavy equipment units and 520,000 workers were mobilized. Trucks carrying sand and rubble operated 24 hours without rest. Due to the dust from the trucks, headlights had to be turned on even during the day. There were even traffic accidents caused by truck drivers driving overnight. On June 1, 1968, on a drizzly day, Yunjungje was completed.

◆Kim Sookun's vision of the 'Dream Yeouido'

The Yeouido urban plan proposed by Kim Sookeun and others in 1969 [Image source=Seoul History Archive]

Filling the vast 870,000-pyeong land created by the construction of Yunjungje was another challenge. At that time, Mayor Kim Hyun-ok summoned architect Kim Sookun. The late Professor Son Jeong-mok, honorary professor at Seoul City University, said about Kim Sookun's design for Yeouido, "It was tremendous. Beyond being ideal, it was more appropriate to call it fantastic." To summarize that dream: ▲Yeouido as a linear plan connecting Seoul-Yeouido-Yeongdeungpo-Incheon ▲Yeouido where the executive, legislative, and judicial branches gather in one place ▲Yeouido with a 7-meter-high pedestrian-only artificial deck ▲Yeouido with a layered road system for high-speed, low-speed, and pedestrian traffic. Even now, these bold ideas faced much criticism at the time regarding feasibility and funding.

Kim Sookun's design lost a strong supporter even before it could take its first step. On April 8, 1970, a citizen apartment building in Wausan, Mapo-gu, collapsed. Thirty-three people were crushed under concrete debris. Mayor Kim took responsibility and resigned. Moreover, President Park Chung-hee's order to build a plaza in Yeouido destroyed Kim Sookun's original design. Kim's plan was to create a plaza in the center of Yeouido that organically connected blocks, but Park's order was for a "vast empty plaza." At that time, armed guerrillas like Kim Shin-jo had raided Seoul, and the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo was hijacked off Wonsan. The Yeouido plaza had to be a military facility where fighter jets could take off and land during wartime.

Kim Sookun's three-dimensional plan for Yeouido was changed to a two-dimensional plan in 1971. ▲Expansion of residential areas and reduction of commercial districts ▲The western side of the plaza designated as the city hall site, with the west side fully commercialized ▲All residential areas to be high-density and high-rise ▲The only area in Seoul where traffic restrictions were lifted. The multi-layered transportation network and organic connection between east and west areas ended as a daytime dream.

◆The barren land and Yeouido on the brink of bankruptcy... the turnaround brought by pilot apartments and the stock exchange

Yeouido

Although a new plan was introduced, Yeouido's future was bleak. The 24 pilot apartment buildings, started on September 15, 1970, and completed on October 30 the following year, had no tenants willing to move in. No buses came, and the surroundings were like a desert with blowing sand. However, the pilot apartments, boasting "the largest scale and best facilities," soon gained popularity. Central heating was introduced for the first time in Korea, and high-rise apartments with elevators were also a first domestically. The establishment of special school districts was a decisive factor in forming the Yeouido apartment complex. As apartments were built and residents increased, shops catering to purchasing power opened one after another, forming a cityscape. On August 15, 1975, the National Assembly building was completed, and the following year, the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) was completed. Dongyang Broadcasting, Munhwa Broadcasting, and Seoul Broadcasting also settled in Yeouido, turning the sandy plain into a broadcasting mecca.

The decisive turning point for Yeouido's rise was the entry of the Stock Exchange and the Korea Securities Dealers Association. At the end of June 1979, the 15-story Stock Exchange building was completed, and the new Stock Exchange opened on July 2. It was a historic day when Yeouido became the center of finance and securities. Then, on November 16, 1979, the Federation of Korean Industries building was inaugurated. Yeouido was reborn as the undisputed "Manhattan of Korea" in the 1990s. Starting with Korea Investment Trust (now Korea Investment & Securities) in 1993, followed by Daehan Investment Trust (Hana Financial Investment), Yuhwa, Dongyang (Yuanta), Seoul (Eugene Investment), Boram (Hana Financial Investment), Jeil (Hanwha Investment), Seonkyung (SK), and Ssangyong Securities (Shinhan Financial Investment) gathered near Yeouido Plaza's second securities town. It took only about 30 years for the once barren sandy island, harsh for 5,000 years, to be reborn as the center of Korean politics, economy, and finance.