Incheon City announced on the 9th that it has discovered an additional 548 related materials through the second phase of the Camp Market (formerly Bupyeong US Military Base) archive project.
The second phase, which has been underway since last April, involves uncovering records related to the Ascom City (US Army Logistics Command in Korea) area from 1950 to 1973. The city secured 548 items (3,396 pages) of materials from the US National Archives, the National Institute of Korean History, the National Archives of Korea, and other sources covering the period from 1950 to 1973.
Among the materials are aerial photographs of the Bupyeong area in Incheon taken by the US Air Force in the 1950s. The city explained that these photos vividly show the facilities of the Jopyeongchang (Japanese Army Weapons Factory) remaining in the Bupyeong area during the Korean War and the surrounding area's conditions.
Photographed on May 22, 1957. Aerial photo of the area around the 55th Supply Depot Command in Ascom City. Provided by Incheon City.
The city also collected headquarters institutional maps highlighting the largest military bakery in Korea located within Ascom City, stationed on the Jopyeongchang site after liberation. In addition, numerous materials were secured that reveal the construction process and facility utilization of Ascom City, including photos and videos taken by the US military and command reports from the US Marine Corps.
The Camp Market archive construction project began in July last year and will proceed in three phases until next year to establish the future heritage value of Camp Market. The project aims to collect various types and media of materials by period from the Japanese colonial era to the Camp Market return period, reconstruct the historical spatiality of Camp Market and the surrounding city, and systematically organize materials to establish regional identity.
The city plans to carry out the third phase of the project from January to September next year and subsequently build a digital archive system that allows citizens and researchers to access the materials anytime.
An official from Incheon City said, "Through this second phase, we have discovered basic materials that enable a multidimensional understanding of the historical and spatial significance of the urban space surrounding Ascom City and the relationship between the US military base and citizens," adding, "We will share the historical value of Camp Market by making the materials available to the public."
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