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SONGTAN HISTORY
1952-Present
Roads Surrounding K-55
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Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Jack Terwiel, Capt, USAF (Ret) of the Osan Retired Activities Office for photos of base (past and present) -- Dan Klopten, Robert Furrer, Robert Evilsizor, Ron Freedman, Harry Tezlaf and Ken Shallenbarger. Special thanks to Jackie Turner, 7th AF Historian, and John Okonski, 51st FW Historian, for their assistance with photos and guidance on the history of Osan AB. Thanks to Curly Knepp, Maj, USAF (Ret) for his photos and direction in uncovering the history of the area. Thanks to Don Tomajan for his comments, photos and assistance on the EAB history in 1952-1954. Thanks to Bob Spiwak for his narratives and photos of life at Osan AB in 1953.
Special thanks to Mr. Oh Sun-soo, Victoria Hotel, for his information on the early development of Songtan. Special thanks to Mr. Jim Price, AIG Insurance, for his sharing of his experiences during his long residence in Songtan. Special thanks to Mr. Yi Kyong Chu, Kasey Lee's Tailors, for his help and guidance in assembling this history. Thanks to Mr. Kim Sang-do, Electronic Repair Shop, and Mr. Jeong Tae-ho, Young Chon Hotel, for their help in providing information of the early days of the Young Chon Alley area. Thanks to Mr. Son Kwang-chil, Hanyang Kalbi, and Mr. Yi N.K, Korea Hotel, for providing information of the early days of the Milwal-dong area.
Special thanks to Ms. Jin Dal-lae and other staff members of the Jisan-dong Ward Office for taking the time to research and provide historical materials on Songtan and Pyongtaek City. Thanks to the Shinjang 1-dong Ward Office for taking time to provide information on the roads in the area. Thanks to the Seojong-dong Ward Office staff and Chief of the ward Office, Choi Yun-su, for their help in providing maps to unravel the confusing boundary issues. Much of the information on Pyongtaek City and the Songtan area was extracted from the Pyeongtaek City History, Pyeongtaek Si Sa. Thanks to the Songbuk Elementary School for permission to use their photos from their private collection.
View of Osan AB (USAF Photo)
THIS IS A WORK IN-PROGRESS AND FACTS ARE BEING ADDED/DELETED DURING THIS PROCESS. THIS IS NOT A COMPLETED HISTORY.
ROADS SURROUNDING K-55 For our history, it is important to understand the layout of the roads constructed by the Americans as they would impact on the growth patterns of Songtan in the coming years. The locations of MSR-1 (Main Supply Route 1) and the MSR-1 Bypass later laid out the grid that would later be used in turn to lay out the streets in the 1980s. (SITE NOTE: There still is some controversy as to when the MSR-1 Bypass was built. However, longtime local Korean residents state that the road was not built until the 1980s or 1990s. However, there are comments and photos that indicate the road might have existed as early as 1952. As of 2006, we will take the position that the road did NOT exist during the Korean War -- though we will continue to research the issue.)
Roads in 1980s The original MSR-1 was Japanese built and basically followed the Kyongbu Railway (Feisu Railway) all the way to Pusan. The minor stations of the Kyongbu route (Feisu) in the local area was the Osan-ni Station (Usan) and the Seojong-ni Station (Sojang) before Pyeongtaek Station. After WWII, the Occupation forces renamed it MSR-1 as it stretched from Kaesong to Youngdong-po to Taejon and then down Pusan. Most of the businesses sprang up along this wide dirt highway.
One of the first projects of the Park regime was the building of the Seoul-Pusan highway (Kyongbu Expressway). On 1 Feb 1968 the Seoul-Pusan Express Highway construction commenced. This highway connected the two largest cities of South Korea but at the time of its construction it served more of a symbolic purpose than a transportation need based upon benefits versus costs. (Source: Watkins: Park Chung Hee.) President Park Chung-hee on 29 Sep 1969 opened the Osan-Chon leg of the 270-mile Seoul-Pusan Expressway. For the Songtan area this meant that there was a quicker way to get to Seoul with the opening of the Osan Toll Gate was erected. (NOTE: The reason Osan was chosen as the Toll Gate was simply because it was the closest to the Kyongbu Expressway.)
NOTE: The Seoul-Pusan highway (Kyongbu Expressway) opened up on 30 Jun 1970. The $1.4 billion project for the 267-mile highway was a solely ROK project that took three years to build. The highway included four military aircraft landing zones to be used in military emergencies. (NOTE: One of these landing strips is between Osan and Suwon -- outside Suwon AB. Up until the late 1980s, the USFK and ROK would annually practice landings and takeoffs on the highways.) (Source: Eighth United States Army Chronology 1 Jan 1970-30 Jun 1970 and 1 July 1970-31 December 1970)
The Seoul-Pusan highway project is condemned by many cultural experts as a project that ran hell-bent upon completion without any thought of the possible cultural relics that would paved over. But on the other side of the coin, it is praised as the key to the industrialization of Korea in the 1970s. The World Bank advised against the construction of the road as there was no overwhelming need for the project and costs would outweigh the benefits. But Park pressed forward with the project as a means to stimulate economic activity. The project was a success as it launched the construction industry in Korea and served as the backbone of transportation infrastructure for further economic development throughout Korea.
It is also important to realize that the area around the Jisan Hill area (Songtan Park) was swamp and rice fields in the "bowl" that was created by a rise that started at the base of the hills in the Songbuk-dong area and circled around following the ridgeline until it rejoined at the base of the Jisan Hill area. The Jisan Stream (Cheon) flowed past the area where the Songbuk Elementary School would be built in 1955 and flowed along the route of the present Jisan Stream (Cheon) Road. The stream also filled the "sump" area created in the "bowl." Along Jisan Hill Park (Songtan Park) a reservoir was created that was later called Paradise Lake (Boduchang) and used as an park area. The reservoir was formed by the convergence of the Burak Mountain and Jisan Hill on the south end and Jisan ridge line on the north end.
This swampy area dictated the path of the original MSR-1 and later the MSR-1 Bypass Road along the west ridge line. It was only in the 1980s that this area was filled in and the new Route 1 bypass built that ran over the rise and along the base of the Buraksan Mountain to the east edge of the Paradise Lake area (dry ground). The low area between was filled by cutting into the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) and the Burak Mountain to provide fill for the area. The new Route 1 proceeded straight until it curved right to rejoin the original MSR-1 route in Jungang-dong.
During the 1970s, the invasion pipe that was used to carry fuel from Suwon to Osan-ni AB was removed. The Pohang-Seoul POL pipeline was completed in November 1970. The pipeline construction crews connected at Taegu in February 1970 and final tests made in Jan 1971. This pipeline was to become the primary means of moving petroleum around the country delivering 40,000-50,000 barrels a day. The pipeline was built by USAFEDE and a US-ROK construction company. This replaced the invasion pipe system from Suwon that had been used at Osan since the Korean War days. However, the pipeline also cemented the areas that future industrial growth would center on leading to claims of "T-K" (Taegu-Kyongsan) favoritism.
After Park Chung-hee mandated the construction of new roads in Songtan in 1975, massive construction of roads set up on the grid pattern cuts swaths through former shanty town areas or expanded existing streets. From 1980 onward, all new streets were laid out on a grid pattern -- though modified at times because of existing housing laid out under the older topographical layout.
ORIGINAL ROADS AROUND K-55 (OSAN-NI AB)
The Area around what would become Osan-ni AB Osan-ni was considered the largest town in the local area. The next major village was Seojong-ni. The entire area was mostly rice fields. Between Osan and Seojong the Kyongbu-son Railroad and the road that would become MSR-1 (Main Supply Route-1). The villages between Osan-ni and Seojong-ni along the MSR-1 was Kaltong-ni, Habung-ni (Habuk), Ojwa (now gone in Deogok-dong), Chwa-dong (Jwa-dong) and Chijang-ni (Jijang-ni). A side road running west from Habung-ni (Habuk) connected Chinwi (Jinwi), Masan-ni (Masan), Sang-ni, and Sanha-ni. A side road running east connected to Cholmal, Anmal. Hoehwa-ri and Hwangguji-ri -- all north of the Chinwi-cheon (stream) and east of the Hwangguji-cheon (stream) in Seotan-myeon. Hoehwa-ri's road connected to Kuman-ni which led to the MSR-1. A bridge crossed the Chinwi-cheon (stream) to the west of where Osan AB would be built. It connected Hoehwa-ri to the north of the Chinwi-cheon to the village of Chokpong-ni to the south of the Chinwi.
Osan-ni to Seojong-ni (1950)
Chokpong-ni was at the base of what would become "Hill 180" to the north -- in the main base area. This Chokpong-ni (Jokpong-ni) remained within the boundaries of the base during its construction in 1952, and then relocated to the south of "Hill 180" when the 5th AF arrived in 1953. This road from Hoehwa-ri ran from Chokpong-ni on the west side of Hill 180 to the MSR-1. There were five roads from Chokpong-ni. (SITE NOTE: There is still a conflict whether or not Hill 180 was actually the site of the bloody battle that won Capt Millet the Medal of Honor. Capt Millet's notes indicate a Ginko tree on the hill and there was only one in the area according to local authorities on Hill 180. However, the US Army does not recognize it as the site of the battle.)
- (1)
- (2) A road swung to the southwest to Kuong-ni, Nongso-ri to Hwangjogok. At Hwangjogok, it turned in two directions.
- (a) A road turned to the northwest through Kumgang-ni (Kumgak-ri). It continued on in a wide arc around the rice fields to Yari and crossed the Chinwi Stream (cheon) to Hoewari.
- (b) A road turned southeast to Turung-ni and on to Seojong-ni -- and reconnected to an offshoot west from Seojong near Kyeru-ri. This road the proceeded over the Chinwi River to Oyon-ni and Honsan-ni. This would later become Country Road 302 from Seojeong.
- (3) A road crossed the ricefields -- where the runway is now -- to Yari.
- (4) A road ran west through the area of what is now the Beta Gate to Sinjang-ni. Sinjang-ni is at what is now the end of the runway and near the Doolittle Gate. From Sinjang-ni the road led across the Chinwi Stream up to Taejong-ni and then to MSR-1. Also from Sinjang-ni a dirt road led up to the Kyongbu-son Railroad -- as shown on early 1951 photos of the area -- across the tracks to MSR-1. This is the basis of the road to the Doolittle Gate though it remained an undeveloped dirt road until the 1990s.
- (5) A road led over the hill through the valley between Hill 170 and Hill 180 -- the present Songtan Blvd -- to where the Main Gate is now. It continued straight ahead along the rice fields to the right to the railroad tracks and MSR-1 in the area of what is now Ichung-dong. At the same time there was a path from what is now the Main Gate to the Chwa-dong (Jwa-dong) area. Near this path a new road was built to the Main Gate from MSR-1 starting at the point near "Chwa-dong" on the map. This road was from MSR-1 through Chicol Village into the Main Gate.
Area to become Osan-ni AB (1950)
The area where Osan AB would be built was all rice fields in 1950. To the south of the Chinwi stream (cheon) was Yari and Sinya-ri (New Yari). These would be the first villages to be demolished when the airfield was constructed in 1952 and turned into sand pits.
At the east end of what would become the east-west runway was Sinjang-ni. There were two hills -- the ammo storage area of the base and the hill where the Catholic church is located. The low area between these two hills was all rice fields. People lived on the slopes of what is now the Beta ammo storage area (unused) and in the Namsan-teo area below Hill 170. It is assumed that the farmers who were relocated from the Beta area formed what became known as Chicol-ni (Shinjang 1-dong) as the area where the road to the main gate was sparsely populated.
To the south of Hill 180 was Makum-ni that is still located south of the Hill 180 Gate at the base of the slope. There was a footpath up what became Milwal-dong to Makum-ni (Hill 180 Gate area) and then over the hill down to Chokpong-ni. There appeared to be a reservoir between Makkum-ni and Kuong-ni in what became the base Golf course. Supposedly there was a village called "Enheng Jengui" after the Ginko tree planted in 1269 that is now on the Osan AB Golf Course. However, the 1950 map shows Kuong-ni approximately where "Enheng Jengui" was supposed to be located. A road from Chokpong-ni connected Kuong-ni to Nongso-ri and then Hwangjogok. To the west end of the base was a village of Changdung-ni where the base expanded to in the 1960s as an ammo storage area.
A small road to the east of MSR-1 connected to Chisan-ni (Jisan-ni) and Udong-ni (now gone). The road proceeded down until Chijang-ni (Jijang-ni) and then onto Seojeong-ni. To the southwest of Chijang-ni (Jijang-ni) was Ich'ung-ni (Ichung-dong). A path was at the base of Burak mountain that went from Ichung-ni (Ichung-dong) past Chijang-ni (Jijang-ni) and Chwa-dong (Jwadong) to the Songbuk-dong area bypassing the swamp area in Chisan-ni (Jisan-dong).
From Seojong-ni a road leading east connected to Kajae-ri (Kajae), Toil-li (Doil), Oegach'on-ni. To the north of Kajae-ri was Nae-ri which connected to Sanha-ni and on to Chinwi. To the south of Oegach'on-ni was Ch'irwon-ni; to the east was Chilgong-ni; and to the north was Chimun-ni, Sanjich'on and Songun-ni.
Original US Military Built Roads According to the Headquarters 931st Engineer Aviation Group Overview Drawing dated August 1951, there were four roads that connected to Route 1 (MSR-1). The roads shown on the map seem to vary slightly from what was constructed in 1952. NOTE: We do not have the south end of the base map so we do not know the south end roads at this time.
839th EAB Overview Map of K-55 (Aug 1951) (Click HERE for large drawing)
(John Okonski)
- Back Gate Road (See Back Gate Road) -- Originally this was a path from the village of Sinjang-n to the Kyongbu Railroad. This road crossed the Kyongbu (Feisu) Railway and proceeded to the area of Shinjang-ni. After Osan AB was built, on-base road connected to this off-base road -- simply as a maintenance road. The dirt road remained undeveloped. (NOTE: Though the Shinjang 1-dong office shows this road being built in 1980- 1983, a Photo by Robert Spiwak in 1953 shows this road coming down from MSR-1 to the Back Gate area. Remember that in 1952, the "front gate" was at the 839th EAB area ON BASE as villages were still on base.) After the Korean War this road fell into disuse by the base, but continued to be used by the Kujang-tau Village (Shinjang-ni on some maps). After the road was built to the Doolittle Gate in 1983, it remained unused by the base because of the railcrossing hazards. The overpass was completed in 1987. At that time the road to Kujang-tau Village was made to run parallel to the new road that ran up the grade to the Doolittle Gate. An underpass was cut to connect Kujang Village to the new Mokcheon Village Road just before the Bravo Gate in the 1987.
- Freight Gate Road (See Freight Gate Road) -- This road ran from the Kyongbu (Feisu) Railway between the Bomb Dump Hill and Hill 170 and connected to the on-base road running from the End-of-Runway area to the Bomb Dump Storage area on the southwest side of base. (NOTE: The railspur to the Hill 170 area ran along this route.)
- Shinjang Mall Road (See Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road)) -- This road was annotated as "Access Road Now Under Construction By "A" CCo." This road connected to Route 1 and crossed the Kyongbu (Feisu) Railway and passed over Hill 180 to the Quarry Area near what is the present day Commissary.
- Road from Chicol-ni leading south to MSR-1 -- We are uncertain of this dirt road, but there is only one path marked by the early development of houses in the Shinjang-2-dong area. From a 1950 map this road existed prior to 1950 dating to the Japanese occupation period. It was NOT a real road but simply a wide path. It started from the Chicol-ni (Main Gate) area that and cuts diagonally to where the Prince Hotel in now located. (An alleyway marks this route, crosses Shinjang Road and exits at the back of the Asia Hotel parking lot to the intersection of the Prince Hotel.) The road then ran along the side of the Milwal-dong slope above the rice fields in the low-lying area of Shinsong-Taegwang Middle-High School. It continued on the slope past Pokchang Elementary School (then a rice field area) and continued towards Seojong-ni.
- Road from End-of-Runway to MSR-1 towards Seotan-myeon -- This road is no longer in existence except for the on-base portions of the perimeter road. This road ran past the Kujang Village (Shinjang-ni Village) and crossed the Jinwi River and continued north towards Seotan where it would reconnect with the MSR-1.
- Road from End of Runway to Sand Pit Area -- From the junction point at the End-of-Runway, the road ran where the EOR was located through the north area of the base and then to the Sand Pit at Yari. This road was eliminated when the Perimeter Road was built.
- Road from Sand Pit Area near Yari and Shin-Yari -- Road crosses the Jinwi River and proceeds north to an unknown location. Yari and Shin-Yari were relocated when the Perimeter Road around the base was built. There is a country road in the general area shown on the map that winds and eventually comes to Seotan, but it crosses the Jinwi with an old concrete bridge at the south end of the runway. We believe this road is no longer in existence.
MAIN SUPPLY ROUTE 1 (MSR-1) What became known as Main Supply Route 1 (MSR1) -- now known as "Route 1" or "National Road 1" -- simply followed the general route of the Kyongbu train line down to Taejon and then onto Pusan. The route later called MSR1 (Main Supply Route 1) was actually laid out by the Japanese. Try to remember that in Korea at the time, the impoverished farmers made for the perfect coolie class -- disenfranchised from the land as tenant farmers and surviving as best they could. This labor pool made for large scale construction projects without heavy equipment possible.
The MSR1 ran from Yongdong-po down through Suwon to Osan-ni and passed in front of the Pyeongtaek Station on the way to Taejon. It was the pattern for the US Occupation forces after WWII to simply use the existing infrastructure -- and when the Korean War occurred, many people of the time using maps from the Occupation era were under the misconception that the infrastructure was built by the American Occupation forces. This unpaved road was a dust bowl in summer and a muddy swamp in winter.
This road was a two-lane highway over its entire length from Seoul to Pusan -- but "two-lane" is a misleading term when in the rainy season, large potholes made the passable surface a narrow twisting one-lane affair where one had to avoid the potholes to prevent from getting stuck. In the summer, it was a bumpy dust bowl that jarred the spine if you hit the ruts. After the Korean War, the roads were maintained by the US Army Engineer Battalions from Inchon to Taejon AB, but past Taejon the MSR-1 was supposedly maintained by villagers along the route as part of a tax arrangement. They didn't do a good job. In remained a mud-hole in the rainy seasons and a jarring dust-bowl in summer.
By the 1960s, the MSR-1 was paved from Osan AB to Seoul. Thus there are comments from people that the trip to Yongsan Commissary in the mid-1960s took 45 minutes -- something not possible on an unpaved road. The drive was not difficult as there were very few cars and trucks on the road. The road remained a two-lane highway all the way into Seoul to Yongdong-po and across the Han River.
Marshall Parker was with the 6314 Transron, Det. 1 (2nd Mule Train) of Osan from 1963-64. He wrote in Oct 2005, "As for the roads, the only black-topped roads went from Osan to Seoul, all the others were dirt and not in good shape. I was in the 2nd Mule Train, we hauled supplies from Inchon to all the bases in Korea, even out to the Islands, by way of LCU's run by the Army. Things are not the same there now." (NOTE: Transportation to the off-shore islands was limited to fishing boats or inter-island ferries that were strictly for passengers and small cargo piled on the deck. Any heavy equipment to US sites on the islands had to be transported by LCUs operated by the US Army. It surprises many that the Army even today still operates high-speed troop transport ships.)
Along with the paving of the MSR-1 to Seoul, the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) was also paved in the 1960s though the "sidewalk" remained dirt. After the mid-1960s, there were constant reports that poverty-stricken farmers would dig up the macadamized surfaces and use the tar-soaked mass for winter heating fuel. Supposedly it was easy to identify the culprits as the white ash-colored stone remains were used to surface the paths around the farm houses. This did not occur in the Shinjang area or downtown Songtan areas as there was an adequate supply of inexpensive charcoal. However, this practice was prevalent throughout Korea on smaller off-base side roads that were macadamized by the military. This reports of this practice of burning macadam lasted until the early 1970s when the practice disappeared.
Military personnel in the 1960s relate that the convoys over this road to Osan AB from the SOUTH was an arduous endeavor. With bandanas wrapped around their faces because of the dust, they sweated in the heat as they wound their way up the road. The pictures below are on the trip between Osan-Kunsan. The MSR1 connected to Taejon. At Taejon, the road split to follow the general route of the train from Taejon to Iksan (Iri). Then from Iksan (Iri), it connected to Kunsan. Though it connected the major cities of the country, the MSR-1 was not preferred method of shipping equipment and supplies because of the poor condition of the roads. Up until the 1970s -- after the Kyongbu Expressway was built -- military supplies were shipped by rail using "rail guards" armed with M-2 carbines because thefts of shipments were rampant. (NOTE: These "rail guards" were assigned randomly from a rotating tasking of the base/camp units. The use of "rail guards" dated from the Korean War.)
During the Korean War, there was only the MSR-1 running from Osan-ni. The first cutoff on MSR-1 to the construction at Osan AB (K-55) was a dirt road to the back gate area (Doolittle Gate area). This was used for the initial setup of construction, but after the Main Gate was opened in 1953, the usage of this road tapered off. By the 1960s, this road had fallen into disuse and appears to have only served as a road for the Shinjang-ni Village area north of the base towards Seotan-myeon. This village existed in aerial photos well into the 1970s.
MSR-1 Looking Towards Osan-ni (1954) (Dan Klopten) (NOTE: Sign on the left marks the Jinwi-myeon boundary. Notice the farmer working in his rice field to the right.)
MSR-1 Looking toward Osan-ni (1959) (Ed Stirling) (NOTE: This is from near where the road enters the downtown area of Songtan. It looks down the road to Jinwi-myeon at the base of the hill. The road then veered left to go to Osan-ni and Suwon.)
Looking down the same road in 1965 (1965) (Harry Tezlaf)
The MSR-1 continued through Jinwi-myeon to the rise near Ojwa (now gone) -- where the Songtan Fire Station is presently located -- and then it turned right to bypass the swampy area of what is now Jisan-dong. (SITE NOTE: This road is now known as the Tanhyeon Road and then becomes the Jwa-dong Road (Jisan Road) at the top of the ridgeline.) By the 1960s, there was a gas station that was on the left as you turned right to enter the "downtown" area. (NOTE: This is the same location as the gas station today, but we are not certain if it is the same owner.)
Up the street from the "Y" intersection on the MSR-1, the Intercity Bus Terminal was situated. The Kyungmin Bank is now on the location. The bus depot was behind where the bank sits now.
Intercity and Intracity Buses The intracity bus terminal (to connect Songtan to the outlying hamlets) was up on Milwal Road next to the Seojong Theater (currently the Capital Hotel location). (NOTE: To this day, the bus from Pyeongtaek to "K-55" (not "Osan AB") follows the original MSR-1 route straight past Seojong-ni Station and Market Road -- along the railroad tracks -- and finally to K-55. Even today, the intracity bus route makes their turn at the intersection of Milwal Road. Going to Pyeongtaek, the bus follows Route 1.)
The intercity bus station remained down by the Jaeil Theater (currently the Kyungmin Bank location). Up until the 1970s, it was nothing more than a bus stop with a shack where buses would stop to load passengers. Later it would move to its current location to the intersection of Terminal Ridge Road and Songbuk Market Road (MSR-1 Bypass in the late 1970s after the Shinjang Overpass and the MSR-1 Bypass was completed. In the Songtan area, there was only one terminal in Songtan and one in Seojong-ni.
In the early days of MSR-1, all the buses carried a spare tire on the rear as the road were in notoriously poor condition. It was not unknown for buses to run off the road during the rainy seasony. Though the villages were "taxed" with a levy to maintain the roads passing through their areas, it was not rigidly enforced and local roads were in varied states of repair. (NOTE: In the 1960s, the government attempted to use this "levy" system to have villages pave the roads near their villages, but it failed miserably. In the rural areas surrounding Osan AB, the roads remained dirt covered. Even the roads around the perimeter were all dirt until the local road expansions in the 1976-1980 period. In the mid-1970s, under the government New Village (Saemaul) programs, the effort was more successful in building up the infrastructure, roads and flood levees for the rural villages with the villages providing the planning and labor.)
Intercity "Kimchi" Bus Terminal (1961) (Jim Denman)
2005: Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) at the old intersection to the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road). (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (The road is heading up the ridgeline. The Kyungmin Bank is on the left. Behind the bank was where the bus depot was. One block up to the right behind the Woori Bank was where the Jaeil Theater was.)
Across the street from the Kyungmin Bank is the Woori Bank. Up the block at the florist, turn right and there is an empty area across from the Jungang Sauna used as a parking lot for the Woori Bank. This is where the Jaeil Movie Theater was located. The old Korean house in the parking lot area was there in the 1960s.
Jaeil Theater (1961) (Jim Denman)
Jaeil Theater (Jan 1978) (Harry Tezlaf)
 
(L) Old Jaeil Theater location (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (Notice the house in the background of old photo and the house in this photo.) (R) Old Jaeil Theater location (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
 
(L) Jungang Sauna across from the old Jaeil Theater location (Est: 1966) (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Jungang Sauna: Kim Jongsu; Yu Hwaechi; Noh Yongguk (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
These businesses continued to the top of the ridgeline. Businesses on the slope were constructed with the shops at street-level, but the living quarters were beneath the shops along the slope. Houses were crowded together on the slopes down to the railroad tracks. Prior to 1978, the MSR-1 continued straight ahead to the Jwa-dong area or turned left onto Terminal Ridge Road to connect to the MSR-1 Bypass Road (where the Express Bus Terminal is now located).
The road into the Jwa-dong area tapered off from a four-lane to two-lane road at the top of the ridge. There were two villages on the east side of the road on the ridgeline: Jwa-dong closest to the Terminal Ridge Road and separated by two ridgelines was Jijang-ni about at the point where the railroad again ran parallel with the MSR-1. These two villages predated Osan AB and existed in the 1950s. After the Shinjang Road Overpass was built in 1977, the road also turned right to the Main Gate.
The tapering of a four-lane road to a two-lane road indicates that the MSR-1 was primarily for Osan AB usage as the wide road stopped at the Terminal Ridge Road. The Terminal Ridge Road was constructed prior to the Shinjang Road overpass being built in 1977 to allow the traffic to use the MSR-1 Bypass Road. The through-traffic to Pyeongtaek and onward was along the MSR-1 Bypass supposedly built in the 1980s.
After the top of the ridgeline, various small businesses and bars sprouted up in the Jwa-dong area. Local residents state this area was primarily the location of Korean brothels in the Jwa-dong Village area. However, in the 1970s such bars as "Papa Joe's" started to cater to blacks in this area. This area became known as "Sut-kogae" (charcoal rise) but mispronounced by Americans as "Su-gokae" (cow meat). The end result was that the Shinjang Mall bars became strictly white, while black bars appeared in the Jwa-dong Village area. The 1970s was a period of racial tensions in America -- and spread to military bases throughout the world. After the race riots in Anjung-ni in 1976, as well as racial violence in Uijongbu and Itaewon, the base stepped in to issue its "policy" on the integration in the bars. Through the use of off-limits sanctions, the black bars in "Sutkogae" relocated into the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) area. The "Sutgokae" area then reverted to small hardware or repair shops -- and Korean brothels. This area extended west to the base of the ridgeline.
 
Old part of Jwa-dong Village area (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: Buildings circa late 1950s or early 1960s judging from roofing with transite and corrugated iron.)
Jijang Village area (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: Most older buildings gone from this area. Facing old MSR-1 and Hotel near Songtan Station.)
After the base of the ridgeline just past Jijang Village, the houses tapered off and it was mostly rice fields until one reached Seojong-ni. The sparcity of buildings remained this way until the 1980s. As was mentioned before, the growth of Seojong-ni and Songtan was independent of one another. After the mid-1980s, the low-rise apartments were constructed in the Seojong-ni area along the MSR-1 near the Jijang Elementary School -- and in the late 1980s the Jungong Apartments were built along the MSR-1 Bypass (Shinseon) near Songil Elementary School.
After the bottom of the slope, there was very few houses along the road and it was all rice fields until one got to Seojong-ni. Up until the early 1970s, Seojong-ni was simply clusters of mudwattle farm houses clustered around wells. This was located just above the Seojong-ni Elementary School that had been in operation since 1920 -- though the Pyeongtaek Si Sa (Pyeongtaek City History) only recognizes the school from 1945. The rail yard had one storage warehouse left from the Japanese colonial period for the shipment of rice to Inchon. There was a small business district that catered primarily to the agricultural community. (NOTE: The Songtan and Seojong-ni communities developed separately with very little interface. Songtan population exploded based on the K-55 (Osan AB) employment, while Seojong-ni struggled to survive supporting agriculture. Up until the 1980s, 70 percent of the population of the area was within 1 km of Osan AB.) (SEE Seojong-ni Background for more information.)
The MSR-1 (which ran past the Seojong Farmers' Market) and then reconnected with the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Shinseon Road). The road then continued to Pyeongtaek in a generally straight line. (NOTE: The MSR-1 Bypass Road (Shinseon Road) was constructed in the 1980s along with the expansion of apartment complexes along its route. Later when Route 1 was constructed in the 1990s, the original MSR-1 route would rejoin Route 1 in the Jungang-dong area and then continue to Pyeongtaek.)
After Pyeongtaek, the MSR-1 wound its way to Taejon and then onto Pusan. The MSR-1 along its entire route would best be described as a dust bowl in summer and a mud hole in the rainy season. It was NOT an ideal road to travel. (NOTE: It was not until the mid-1970s when a national program centered on the MSR-1 as the cornerstone of the national transportation system. After then, it was a paved highway from Yongdong-po to Pusan. The changes were obvious. The MSR-1 in the local Songtan area now sported painted center lines and crosswalks on the MSR-1 -- and traffic lights were installed. As an off-shoot of the MSR-1 construction, the local area roads also were paved at the same time.)
Ed Mullin was with the 354th Transportation Squadron at Kunsan in 1969 and periodically traveled on the MSR-1 to Osan AB. He commented on the pictures below: "The pictures of the muddy roads was typical in 69. Not many paved roads. And they turned into a sea of mud when it rained. This was on a trip from Kun to Osan with a deuce and a half." Later he wrote, "I once had to Bob Tail an M-52 from Osan to Kunsan. An M-52 is a military series tractor for hauling trailers. It has a fifth wheel, and is much like its civilian counter part, except for a lack of suspension and good seats. Bob Tailing is uncomfortable on paved roads. So by the time we got to Kun both rear view mirrors had vibrated out and my lower back was completely swolen. There was no happy medium, in the dry periods driving a convoy from Osan to Kun, you could see only 25 yds ahead, and breathing in the dust made you feel like you smoked 3 packs of Camels. We would take canteens of water and wet handkerchiefs and tie over our nose and mouth to keep the dust out. I mean when you got back to base your lungs were killing you. And on the other hand when it rained we would be getting stuck every couple of miles."
Muddy roads Kunsan-Osan trip (1969) (Courtesy Ed Mullin)
As the MSR-1 formed the basis for the national road system it was a sad commentary -- and explains why most of the freight was transported by train (with USAF airmen acting as train guards with M2 carbines) well into the late 1970s. Starting with the Osan-Chonan link, the Kyongbu line was constructed and connected Seoul and Pusan with the first reliable national highway. After this, the use of the rail system diminished. After that train guards were eliminated and most of the routine cargo was shipped via truck. At the same time, the use of the rail spur within the Shinjang Mall area was reduced to sporadic shipments -- and then eliminated completely. However, the spur was retained as a contingency element well into the 1990s when safety factor issues of Explosive Weight for munitions eliminated its further use.
The transportation infrastructure for the islands remained by boat. The military sites on the islands were serviced by shallow draft Army Landing Craft Units (LCU). J.C. Edson wrote on the Osan RAO site, "...I spent 13 months at K-55 back in '63-'64 with the 6314th Transron, Det. 1 (commonly called the 2nd Mule Train). We toted supplies and rations to the various small USAF microwave relay sites, both on the mainland and the offshore islands, such as Cheju do and P-Y-do. Loaded our AF trucks on Army LCU boats at Inchon Harbor (who'd have guessed the Army had a Navy?) Anyway, I enjoyed Korea, and was fortunate to see much of it, from Kangnung to Puson, and all points in between."
Army Landing Craft Units (LCU) to Outer Islands (1963) (Marshall Parker)
Army Landing Craft Units (LCU) at Pusan (1963) (Marshall Parker)
The MSR-1 road from Osan AB to Seoul was paved in the mid 1960s and the entire MSR-1 road system was paved from Yongdong-po to Pusan by the mid-1970s. By this time, the major transnational traffic was no longer using the MSR-1. (NOTE: The buses in the 1970s were much different than today. They carried a "bus lady" dressed in a uniform who would serve you tea on the trip and make announcements of the stops. It was also not unusual to have people from the country towns carrying live chickens on the bus to Seoul as well into the 1970s. The use of "bus ladies" was retained well into the late 1980s.)
For the Songtan area, the major change was the cutting of a new bypass for Route 1 at the base of the Buraksan Mountain in 1985 as the area prepared to lay the foundations for the movement of national/regional/local industrial parks into the area in 1990. In conjunction with this construction was the reclamation of the rice fields and swamps in the low-lying area just over the rise that would become part of Jisan-dong. These would become the apartments that lined both sides of the Route 1. (SEE Route 1)
Upon completion of the Route 1, vehicular traffic on the original MSR-1 was reduced to primarily local traffic only.
The following are the sections of MSR-1 in the Songtan-Seojong-ni area:
- (a) Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) At the Y-intersection, if one continued straight, this was the original MSR-1 up the ridgeline called Tanhyeon Road. Starting in 1976, the road was widened to a four-lane dirt road from the Y-intersection until the Shinjang Overpass Bridge. After 1977, at the top of the ridgeline one could turn right to the Shinjang Overpass Bridge and then to the Main Gate. If you turned left, you would go down the Terminal Ridge Road to the MSR Bypass Road.
Looking at Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) today, it is obvious that the main business center of the Songtan first developed at the intersection of the old Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) and MSR-1. This area, Tanhyeon Village, was also noted as the population center recorded as far back as 1756 with a population of 603. At that time it was Tanhyeon-myeon in Jinwi-hyeon. The area was known as rest stop along the road to Seoul. It later was referred to as Tanhyeon in Seotan-myeon with many kilns engaged in the charcoal trade as charcoal from the area was sent to the king as tribute. Also Kujang Village, near the north end of the runway, was the "old market" (ku-jang) for the Jinwi administrative area dating back to the Chosun Dynasty period. On the Aug 51 maps of the area, it was listed as "Shinjang-ni."
Along this road starting in the mid-1950s, buildings along both sides of the road started to appear. The center of the population for business was near the intersection of the Main Gate Road and MSR-1 -- and the Songbuk Achim Morning Market. (NOTE: There appears to have been some buildings along the MSR-1 prior to the Osan AB construction in 1952, but they were widely dispersed. The only two centers of population along the road were Jwa-dong and Jijang-ni) Though the Mokchon railroad crossing no longer exists, there is a large intersection at the old Main Gate Road that goes nowhere and dead-ends at the Kyongbu railway. The older buildings were built between 1970-1974 -- before the mass construction boom after 1977. This area is now used as a taxi-stand area for the shoppers of the Songbuk Open Market.)
- (b) Jwa-dong Road/Jijang-ni Road (MSR-1) After the Shinjang Overpass Bridge, the MSR-1 returned to its original two-lane configuration to the Seojong Open Market where it continued on to Pyeongtaek Station and then Taejon. The name changed to Jwa-dong Road and Jijang-ni Road.
- (c) Seojong-ni: Jeom Chon Road/Seojong-ni Market Road/Hyeomyeong School Road (MSR-1) After the Jijang-ni segment of MSR-1, it continued down to Jeom Chon Road that entered the Seojong-ni Open Market area on the Seojong-ni Market Road. It then passed through the intersection where the MSR-1 Bypass (Bukbu-Jungang Road-Shinseon Road) rejoined it. It continued on to Hyeomyeong School Road and then onto Pyeongtaek. (NOTE: Hyeomyeong School was founded in 1953 at St. Theresa's Catholic Church and moved to its present site a few blocks away in 1955.)
MSR-1 BYPASS ROAD
MSR Bypass Road This project was started in conjunction with the expansion of Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1). The first phase was in 1972 when the Y-intersection was made to build the first segment with the Y-intersection and the construction of the Songbuk Market Road up to the Jisan park area. The MSR-1 Bypass Road was constructed in the early 1980s to intersect the Seojong Tourism Road (leading to the new City Hall) and the new construction taking place along its route starting with the Foreigners Apartments on Buraksan Road and the new apartment complexes in the area.
Three longtime Songtan residents Lee Kyong-chu (K.C. Lee Tailors), Shin Chan-ho (Nolboo Restaurant), and Kang Shin-kol (Universal Art) -- and other Korean residents have stated that the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road) was not built until the 1980s -- though the specific date is unknown. There is logic to accept this opinion. In 1978, Park Chung-hee approved the expansion project for the Songtan area. The Milwal Road was expanded and a railway overpass finished in 1978. Roads were being laid out in a grid pattern and if one looks at a map of the area, one can see the grid patterns indicating 1980 construction. Prior to 1980, the housing was dictated by the topography and led to winding alleyways and dead-end streets. After the Milwal construction was completed, the crews moved to the Jwa-dong area and started cutting the roads into a grid pattern. The road at the base of the Jwa-dong and Jijang-ni areas (Bukbu-Jungang Road) was straightened and ran directly to Seojong-ni (Shin-seon Road) where it turned right to rejoin the original MSR-1 at the Seojeong-ni Market Road.
Songbukdong -- Jwadong -- Jijang-ni & Jisan dong
The roads on both sides of the original MSR-1 (Tanhyeon Road) fit the classic Korean pattern of haphazard layout of houses that followed the topography. The current streets on a grid pattern were cut at a later date. The same applies to the original MSR-1 (Jwadong Road and Jijangdong Road). Overlays indicate that the roads originally followed the topography, but at a later date, the roads were cut on a grid pattern. THUS it would be reasonable to assume that the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road) (green) was cut in about the 1980s -- AFTER the construction in the Shinjang area had been completed. Look at the map above. The pink areas are the old areas of the Songtan area. Using the color codes of the roads on the map, the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) (green) was rebuilt between 1976-1978, Songbuk Market Road (green) and Terminal Ridge Road (green) were constructed about the same time between 1979-1980. Then the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Bukbu-Jungang Route) (yellow) was constructed at the same time the Route 1 (yellow) to Pyeongtaek was under construction starting in the 1980s and completed in the 1990s.
The parallel construction would make sense. The Jisan-cheon (stream) was being rerouted and the Life Apartments was being built along Route 1. The Paradise Lake was being drained to build the Kunyong and Hyundai Apartments along Route 1. Part of the Jisan Park area was quarried for dirt to fill in the swamp areas -- and the quarried area became the Jisan Elementary School. At the same time, part of Burak Mountain was being quarried and this became the Songtan Middle School. In mid-1985 the Foreigners' Apartments and the low-rent apartments were built near the new Songtan City Hall. The Seojong Tourism Road was under construction joining the MSR-1 Bypass with the Route 1.
In 1955, the children would attend school at Songbuk Elementary School that opened with three buildings. The children would walk either with using (1) the dirt path that followed the Jisan Stream past Are Konjini or (2) along a path at the base of Jisan Hill that would then connect to the Burak Mountain side and then to the school. Mr. Kwon Oh-hoon remembers Are Konji-ni being "across" from the Songbuk Elementary. Mr. Kwon was born in Taegu in 1954, but his mother's family was from Jinwi and his family moved back to the area in 1955. He attended Songbuk Elementary starting in 1968 and he used the Jisan Hill path to get to school. (Source: Verbal Conversation Kalani O'Sullivan and Mr. Kwon Oh-hoon, owner of Dongsung Realty, on 23 Aug 2005.) Mr. Kim Jae-won remembers walking to Songbuk school on what is now Burak Mountain Road and noting the large number of kilns that were used for making kimchi pots. He then proceeded to school along the base of the Burak Mountain. (Source: Verbal Conversation Kalani O'Sullivan and Mr. Kim Jae-won, owner of Asia Hotel, on 26 Sep 2005.)
Intersection of MSR-1 and Road leading to Main Gate (1954) (Robert Furrer) NOTE: If this photo is of the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road) everything fits. One would have come out of the Shinjang Road at the Police Station and gone across the road to what is currently is a one-way road. This road would lead to the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road). To the left is Osan City and to the right is Seojong-ni. The line of hills in the distance is where the current road Route 1 to Pyongtaek runs. The village to the right is Are Konji-ni (Lower Konji Village) is where the Dongbu Apartments now stand. Mr. Oh Soon-so, owner of the Victoria Hotel, identified Are Konji-ni in the photo. His old ancestral family home was in Are Koniji-ni. (Source: Verbal Conversation Kalani O'Sullivan and Mr. Oh Soon-su, owner of Dongsung Realty, on 23 Aug 2005.)
The intervening space is rice fields with what appears to be a dirt path with sluice gates. This would be the present road that connects the old houses at the base of Jisan Hill to the Jisancheon (Stream) Road. (SITE NOTE: OPPOSITE OPINION: If one believes that the photo is of the original MSR-1 (Tanhyun Road), the path would have later become the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road - National Route 1) The 1952 aerial photo we have of the area does NOT show the area in question as it is just off the edge of the photo so we do not have conclusive proof whether the area was rice fields or had buildings. However, we do know that by the late 1950s the Songbuk Market area was already filled in. By 1961, the first express bus terminal was located on the original MSR-1 (Tanhyun Road).)
In the 1960s, the land on both sides of this path crossing the rice fields was gradually filled in and new construction took place spreading from the area of MSR-1 Bypass Road veered right. The growth started in this area as Songbuk-dong pushed east. Soon there were buildings from the path leading to Ojwa-dong and Are Konji-ni (now the Jisan Cheon (Stream) Bottom Road) and extended to the area of what is now the Jangmi Apartment Road (continuation of Terminal Ridge Road).
In the 1960s, the area between the future MSR-1 Bypass Road and the path was filled in to make room for expansion. The demarcation line for the 1960s expansion would be to the road east of where the Songbuk House Office is now. The buildings covered the area to the Songbuk Market Road to the east and Jangmi Apartment Road to the south and the Jisan Cheon (Stream) Bottom Road to the north. The areas above this area and towards Seojong-ni remained rice fields.
In the mid-1980s, the remainder of the rice paddies were filled in to create usable land for expansion into Jisan-dong. The hill to the right became the Jisan-dong park area.
SITE NOTE: On 17 Sep 2005, we met Bob Furrer at Osan AB. He stated that he remembered only ONE road leading to Pyeongtaek. He would turn right and go straight to Pyeongtaek. The problem is that this is MSR-1 -- NOT the MSR-1 Bypass. He did NOT remember going up the grade that is to the right even after we drove him over the grade. However, the ridge to the right of the intersection starts about a three hundred feet from the intersection and is not shown in the photo. (See the 1952 MSR-1 blowup photo above and note that to the right there is land immediately opposite the MSR-1)
Widening Access Road (Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road)) (1952) (Robert Evilsizor)
A 1952 photo of the widening of the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) just before the intersection shows the hill in the background that does not appear on Bob's photo. We believe this is the hill is the Terminal Ridge Road hill. This small hill would be slowly chopped away as the Koreans used the hill as fill for reclaiming the rice paddies that are shown in Bob's photo. The lower telephone poles mark the Kyongbu Railroad and the upper telephone poles mark the MSR-1 about 50 yards away. The MSR-1 veers to the right slightly and then goes up the ridgeline of which only the tip can be seen on the left.
On 1 July 1981, Songtan-eup (town) became Songtan-shi (city). Once completed, it was envisioned that the "center" of Songtan City would move to this area. Until the Songtan Bypass (Route 1) was completed, this bypass road would serve to connect the community to the City Hall under construction while the through-traffic would continue to use the MSR-1. The Route 1 project was finally completed in the mid-1990s. The following are segments of the MSR Bypass Road:
-
(a) Songbuk Market Road (MSR Bypass Road) The road was started in about 1972 and completed In the early 1980s. If one took the left cut-off at the Y-intersection, this was the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road). To the west of the Songbuk Market Road area in the 1950s was all rice fields and swamp. By the 1960s, the fields were filled in to make way for new housing. By the 1970s all the land from the Y-intersection to the Terminal Ridge Road area had been filled in to the right. To the left of the Songbuk Market road was still rice fields. There was a path in the rice fields that ran north-south that connected the Are Konji-ni (Lower Konji Village) area with the Jisan Hill farm houses. (SEE Robert Furrer's 1954 photo above for an illustration of this path.)
In 1972, the MSR-1 (Tanhyeon Road) underwent a renovation and widening of the road. At the same time, the "Y" intersection was created and Songbuk Market Road. The MSR-1 Bypass Road went past the Songbuk Achim Morning Market and continued on to where the Express Bus Terminal now is. It stopped there as the primary purpose was to provide for the needs of the expanding city in the areas reclaimed from the rice fields. It stopped until 1976 when Park Chung-hee approved the expansion of roads in the Songtan area. At this time, the construction of the Bukbu-Jungang Road was started.
- (b) Bukbu-Jungang Road (MSR Bypass Road) After the Bus Terminal that was moved to its new location in 1976, the Bukbu-Jungang Bypass Road was started. This was started in conjunction with the laying of a grid pattern for roads in the Jwa-dong and Jijang-ni area. MSR Bypass Road then changed its name to the Bukbu-Jungang Road and continued straight to Seojong-ni where one turned right to rejoin the original MSR-1. (NOTE: In the 1950s the intercity bus stop was on the original MSR-1 route near the where the Kukmin Bank is now. This MSR-1 Bypass Road is also referred to as "National Road 1" on some maps which has caused some confusion.) Much of the land along the sides of the road was was rice fields as it ran along the base of the hills leading to Seojong-ni. It ran past the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) and continued straight until the Seojeong-ni where it turned right to rejoin the original MSR-1 route near the Seojong-ni Opern Market.
Map of Jisan Hill and Jangmi Apart (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office) (NOTE: The green line in the middle is the Kyongbu Train line. The pink area shows the developed area in the 1970s. Below the Kyongbu line is the Shinjang area - stretching from Mokcheon Village on the north to the Milwal-Road area on the south. The area above the Kyongbu line stretches along MSR-1 Bypass road from the "Y" intersection area of MSR-1 and MSR-1 Bypass on the north to the end of Jisan Hill to the south. Above the MSR-1 Bypass Road, the development followed a path that stretched from the Jisan Stream Road (path) to the Bus Terminal Ridge Road junction.)
OTHER SONGTAN ROADS
(1) Jisan Stream Road The MSR-1 road from Osan-ni proceeded into the downtown area of Songtan until it came to a "Y" intersection. We believe that in 1952, there was also a small dirt road (path) near the "Y" intersection that led to Are Konji-ni (Lower Konji Village) and followed the Jisan Stream (Cheon). After 1955, this dirt road (path) also connected to the Songbuk Elementary School -- the first school in Songtan. After the stream was channeled through an underground culvert, it became the Jisan Stream (Cheon) Road. (SEE Jisan Stream Road) There was another route to Songbuk Elementary that followed the base of the Jisan Hill and Burak Mountain to the Jijang-ni area.
 
(L) Truck passing the arch at the Y-intersection. (1974) (Ken Shallenbarger); (R) Y-Intersection in "downtown" Songbuk-dong area. MSR-1 Bypass Road to left and old MSR-1 to right. To the left is known as Songbuk Market Road and to the right is Tanhyeon Road that led up the ridgeline. The sign is written in Chinese characters and there is a Lions Club shield in the center. "Songtan" is written in hangul (Korean) on the lower right leg of the arch. (1984) (Mike Dunnagan)
(2) Terminal Ridge Road ( The Shinjang overpass bridge was completed in 1977. In the late 1970s, the Terminal Ridge Road was cut in order to connect the Bypass MSR-1 (Songbuk Market Road-Bukbu Jungang Road) to the original MSR-1 (Tanhyeon Road-Jwa-dong Road). At the top of the ridgeline it then went down the ridge to the MSR Bypass road complete in the 1980s. The movement of the bus terminal was to relieve the congestion along MSR-1 near the entrance of the old Main Gate Road. In addition, new apartments were being built in the Jijang-ni where the new Songtan City Hall was under construction.
(3) Jwa-dong and Jijang-ni Roads ( From a historical standpoint, the Japanese adopted a Grid-pattern for their cities and towns in the 1880s. They used this pattern during the colonial period on any of the new construction throughout the country. However, there was NO pattern of this type of grid being used in the Songtan-Seojong area in the 1950s. Instead it followed the Korean pattern of following the topography ending up with meandering trails along the hillside. In 1977, the Korean government cut a grid pattern on the side of the hills from Jwa-dong to Jijang-ni. Many buildings were razed and its occupants had to move.
MSR-1 Intersection with Main Gate Road (Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road)) (circa 1953)
Blow up of MSR-1 Intersection with Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) (circa 1952) (51st FW Archives)
In the blowup of MSR-1 from the 1953 aerial view, MSR-1 runs from right to left. The intersection of the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) with the MSR-1 is to the right. The Terminal Ridge Road can barely be seen to the far right heading to the MSR-1 Bypass. If you follow MSR-1 up the ridgeline, you will see development of buildings along the MSR-1 right after the Terminal Ridge Road in the area of Jwadong Village. Brothels sprang up in this area. This would later become the "Sutkogae" area with its black-only clubs in the 1970s. The road proceeded down the ridge line and past the Jijang-ni Village area east of the MSR-1 (middle bottom of photo). Then there is no development along MSR-1 until the road reached Seojong-ni.
At the Main Gate area, Chicol-ni had already started expansion and the houses are spreading up Milwal-dong. However, along the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road), the houses only line the road because there is a sharp drop to the rice fields below on each side of the road. The rail spur intersects Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) and heads to the right. There is a small road that joins it from Sinjang-ni (near the Doolittle Gate side of Bomb Dump Hill). This is at the base of the present Songtan Catholic Church and was where the "Freight Gate" was located in 1953 (Beta Gate area).
(4) Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) The road was created by the Engineer Aviation Battalions (EAB) to connect to the old road from Chokpong-ni at the base of Hill 180. The road was built up of earth and elevated about 20 feet above the rice fields below. Slowly ramshackle houses of cardboard and ammo cans were built along the sides of this road. To the right (looking at the gate) were the original farmers in Chicol-ni. To the left (looking at the gate), sprang up the "cushion houses" (makoli houses). North Koreans started to cluster on the hills of Milwal-dong and soon spread to other the south side of the base.
Starting in the mid-1950s, there was a marked railway crossing at the Mokcheon intersection with a signal -- the present location of the Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass. In the 1960s, the road from the Main Gate to the MSR-1 was paved with macadam, but the MSR-1 remained a dirt road. Later in the 1970s a manned railway crossing was established across the tracks to connect to the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road). (NOTE: In 1977, the Shinjang Road Overpass was built and the crossing was closed. A block down, the Mokcheon underpass was constructed in the starting in 2000 and completed in 2004. The Mokcheon Road Pedestrian Underpass constructed in 2004 at the end of Shinjang Mall is sited at this former crossing.)
If you look at where the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) joined the MSR-1 (Tanhyeon Road) at an angle, there is development to the east of the road. This is the location of the intercity bus terminal where the present Kukmin Bank is located. To the west is a small development area where the Jaeil Theater would be built behind what is now the Woori Bank.
At the intersection, the first Police Box was established in the 1960s on this route at the "Y"-intersection. (NOTE: The Songtan Police Box is located to the right of the intersection today.) It was also here that the first traffic lights were installed after the MSR-1 was paved in the mid-1970s. Instead of directing traffic from a police box, they controlled it from the sidewalk by controlling the lights.
 
(L) Police Box at Intersection to Main Gate on MSR-1 (1978) (Harry Tezlaf) (R) Police Box at Intersection on MSR-1 (1978) (Harry Tezlaf) (NOTE: This is now the Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass area.)
Songtan Police Box in Songbuk-dong. Located near the Police box location in 1960s-1970s. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
ROUTE 1 (SONGTAN BYPASS) In the 1970s, Korea started a massive project to improve its mass transit systems. Subway work and highway construction started everywhere. By the mid-1970s, the Pusan-Seoul highway was complete and branches were being constructed off of the main highways to connect the nation.
By the 1980s, the highway system was complete and travel was relatively easy to move around, but there still was not an abundance of cars clogging the highways. Unlike Seoul, the traffic in Songtan still remained minimal as the explosion of automobiles in the Korean society still had not occurred in the country side. But the population in the Songtan area continued to grow. On 1 July 1981, Songtan-eup (town) became Songtan-shi (city).
By 1985, Korea was starting to be a major exporter of cars and domestic production was increasing rapidly. The cars were affordable and soon the traffic jams seen in the cities were being experienced in the countryside. More and more cars were starting to appear on the Songtan streets and soon parking became a problem in the once open streets. In the Songtan area, the original MSR-1 and MSR-1 Bypass were becoming bottlenecks.
Also in the mid-1980s, the infrastructure in the area was being improved in anticipation for the building of the national/regional/local industrial parks that would be moving into the area. The over-crowding in Seoul made the Korean government initiate a program to encourage factories to move to the Kyonggi-do areas surrounding Seoul -- of which the Songtan, Pyeongtaek, Anjung, Ansong and Hwaseong areas were slated for industrial parks. The Miracle of the Han was about to move into the area and this required some radical changes for the community.
The first step was to ensure the area had the infrastructure to support this development of industrial parks in the form of rail, roads and ship traffic. One of the major links in the 1980s was the Osan Toll Gate link to the Kyongbu Expressway so the highway infrastructure needed to be expanded. Route 40 to Pyeongtaek and Route 50 to Suwon were upgraded. (NOTE: There was a minor bottleneck in Osan City enroute to Suwon, but this was considered minor as the primary industrial park traffic was to be funneled to the Osan Toll Gate.) The West Coast Highway (Seohan Highway - Route 15) was started down in Sochon 22km from Kunsan in 1992 and would expand in both directions -- north to Seoul and south to Mokpo. Construction of the major routes in the area were undertaken. Construction on the Pyeongtaek Bridge along Route 15 was started in 1990. Pyeongtaek Harbor started work on the expansion of its piers, the rail systems were improved; and the roads were upgraded and expanded. In 2000, it was designated one of the five national harbors.
For the Songtan area, the removal of the bottleneck along the MSR-1 and MSR-1 Bypass Roads was required. (SEE MSR-1 and MSR-1 Bypass Road.) A new bypass route was laid out over the rise along the base of the Buraksan Mountain and stretched to the end of the Jungang-dong where it rejoined the original MSR-1 which then ran straight to Pyeongtaek.
It is important to remember that the area around the Jisan Hill area was swamp and rice fields in the "bowl" that was created by a rise that started at the base of the hills in the Songbuk-dong area and circled around following the ridgeline until it rejoined at the base of the Jisan Hill area. The Jisan Stream (Cheon) flowed past the area where the Songbuk Elementary School would be built in 1955 and followed the basic route of the present Jisan Stream (Cheon) Road. The Jisan Stream also filled the "sump area" created in the "bowl." A reservoir was created that was later called Paradise Lake (Boduchang) and used as a park area. The reservoir was formed by the convergence of the Burak Mountain and Jisan Hill on the south end and Jisan ridge line on the north end.
It was only in the late 1980s that this area was filled in and the new Route 1 bypass built that ran over the rise and along the base of the Buraksan Mountain to the east edge of the Paradise Lake area (dry ground). The low area between was filled by cutting into the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) and the Burak Mountain to provide fill for the area. After the area was filled, the construction of low-rise (10 story) apartments were built on both sides of the Route 1 for lower-middle income families. The bulk of these apartments were completed by 1990.
Route 1 becomes Symbolic Merging Point for Songtan and Seojong The Route 1 cut through the meeting point of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) and the Burak Mountain. It was at this point that the merging of Seojong-myeon and Songtan-eup to form the new Songtan City in 1981 brought about a symbolic change as the center of the city was now shifted to along this route.
The new City Hall was built along this route and the new center of the city in Ichung-dong was planned. (NOTE: The Songtan City administration first wanted to build the new City Hall atop the Jisan Hill, but the owner of the property would not sell. Therefore, the construction took place on the present location at the base of the Burak Mountain.) To the west, the new Seojong Tourism Road was built to become the financial and business center of the area. This was a massive undertaking as they were literally constructing a new center of the city. The Shinjang area near the base was not a good location with its congestion. The old Seojong-ni area was too far away from the established business center of Songtan along the MSR-1 on Tanhyeon Road.
Air Force Village looking towards Songtan City Hall (1986) (Frank Schreier) (NOTE: Songtan City Hall is to the right in background. The first row of the Segyong Apartments (5-story) are going up.)
Air Force Village looking towards Pyeongtaek (1986) (Frank Schreier)
Between Burak Mountain Road and the Seojong Tourism Road, low-rise apartments were built to house the new influx of workers to the area. The first apartment complex was the Foreigners Apartments (Miguk Apatu) built under a lease agreement with the Korean National Housing Corportation (KNHC) for the USAF. Osan AB referred to this as "Air Force Village" but in actuality only about half of the area was used for the Air Force with the rest rented to Koreans because of the lack of full occupancy by the USAF. The second apartments to go up was the 5-story Segyong Apartments closest to the City Hall, followed by the 5-story Dongsan Apartments to the west. After these were constructed smaller three-story apartments were built across the MSR-1 Bypass Road along with the Jijang Elementary School.
The Ichung-dong area was planned to house the upscale apartments for Songtan City. The Kyungmoon College was established in 1983 and the Eunhae Girls Middle School was erected across from the college. The new Civic Center and the Leports Sports area was constructed.
The Route 1 was now a four lane highway from Osan City that expanded to an eight-lane highway after it entered Songtan. The new Route 1 proceeded straight until it curved right to rejoin the original MSR-1 route in Jungang-dong. In addition, the side roads into the countryside where the industrial growth would take place were improved to connect the industrial areas to Route 1. (NOTE: The back roads of Route 304 in Jinwi-myeon and Route 340 through Seojong-ni would have to wait another twenty years before any improvements were seen.)
Housing along Route 1 In conjunction with this expansion of the road systems, there was a move to ensure the adequacy of housing for the increase in worker populations. In the Songtan area, the change involved the reclamation of the rice fields and swamp land in low areas near the MSR-1 Bypass Road and the building of apartment complexes on the reclaimed areas. The first of the new apartments was the Foreigners Apartments funded by Pyeongtaek-Gun to meet the off-base housing needs of Osan AB. However, the building was considered substandard by American standards -- and overpriced for Korean standards. Other apartments were the Hondo Apartments along the Jwa-dong section of the MSR-1. However, most Osan AB personnel living downtown found housing near the base with house rents in the $200-250 range -- with single room apartments much cheaper. At this time, 70 percent of the population of Songtan resided within 1 km of the base.
After the reclamation of lands along the MSR-1 started, the first "new" were the Life Apartments after the Jisan Stream was diverted into an underground culvert. Construction complete in late-1980s. Then the Daelim and Dongbu Apartments across from the Songbuk Elementary were erected along the Upper Jisan Cheon (Stream) Road with construction complete in early 1990s.
The first of the apartments in Jisan were the Jangmi Apartments (followed by the Jaeil Apartments) near the Jisan Hill (Songtan Park). After the Boduchang Reservoir (Paradise Lake) was drained, the Kunyong and Hyundai Apartments were built. However, on the reclaimed ground, the apartment height was restricted to only ten stories because the land was previously swamp land. Construction was complete in 1990. In the areas that were carved out of the Jisan Hill, the Miju and Jisan Hanming Apartments were built, along with the Jisan Elementary School. Construction complete in 1995.
But soon other apartment complexes began to go up as the land was reclaimed along Route 1. The Miju and Aju-1 Apartments near Songbuk Elementary were the first on the Burak Mountain side of the road. Construction complete in 1990. The Songtan Middle School was created in the area carved out of Burak Mountain.
During the same time as the apartments were going up, the construction on the new Route 1 continued. Curley Knepp remembers that in 1989 some airmen were using the graded (but still unpaved road) as a landing strip for their model airplanes.
After these apartment complexes were completed in 1990, the work started on the Ichung-dong area as the new administrative center and "middle ground" between the Songtan and Seojong-ni areas. The first was the Ichung Kunyong Apartments, followed by the Buyong 1, 2 & 3 Apartments and the Miju Apartments. The Ichung Elementary School was constructed in the midst of the apartment complexes.
The construction started on the Route 1 began in the mid-1980s using fill from the hill near the Songtan Registrar's Office. The Songtan Branch Office of the Pyeongtaek City Hall was constructed in the Ichung-dong area in the mid-1980s. (NOTE: The City Council Assembly Hall and City Office buildings would be constructed in the 1990s.) At the same time the City Hall was being constructed, the new "Air Force Village" or Foreigners' Apartments (Miguk Apartu) were being constructed along the Burak Mountain Road. The construction was complete in 1985 -- but only half of the village was occupied so the KNHC allowed half of the facilities to be leased to Koreans. In 1985, the construction of the 5-story Segyong Apartments were started followed by the Dongsan Apartments to the west. After the construction was complete in 1990, the new construction along Seojong Tourism Road was started.
After the complexes were complete in the area of the Songtan City Hall, the construction started between the MSR-1 Bypass Road and the old MSR-1. Low-rise apartment complexes (3-story) were built in the 1990s and the Jijang Elementary School constructed.
Low-rise apartments were built in the Seojong-ni area along the MSR-1 Bypass (Shinseon Road). The Jungong Apartments and Songil Elementary were constructed in the late 1990s.
The face of Songtan City was changed from a bar-row town into a rural city. At the same time, the construction in the city was going on, there was work and planning going on at the national, provincial and local areas to set up industrial complexes to attract factories and plants to relocate to Pyeongtaek. In 1990, the construction of the local Songtan Industrial Complex in Jungang-dong at the southern boundary of Songtan was started. Drawn by attractive tax incentive packages many companies relocated to the complex in 1991-1992. The complex was officially completed in 2000.
On 10 May 1995, Songtan City was incorporated into the urban agricultural city of Pyeongtaek City and the Songtan started to lose its identity as a separate entity.
By 2000, both sides of the Route 1 were lined with apartment complexes and new construction for the large scale apartment complex in the Jungang area was started with a completion date in 2006.
Industrial Areas along Route 1 When Songtan City was formed by combining Seojong-myeon and Sontan-eup in 1981, the plans were already in the works to local factories to the Kyonggi-do outlying areas as Seoul was becoming overcrowded -- taxing the highways and infrastructure to the limits. The Seoul government was in work to move the industry out of the Seoul area.
At the same time, the new Songtan City wanted to distance itself from its old image of dependence on Osan AB on its economy -- and the resultant sordid image of a "bar town." Songtan embraced the idea of forming a local industrial area to attract factories and new business to the area. The Songtan Local Industrial area along Route 1 in Jangdang-dong was started in 1990 just before Songtan City was incorporated into Pyeongtaek City. After the incorporation, Songtan-dong was formed as a new administrative unit by changing the name of Dongbu-dong on 19 April 1996 by Pyeongtaek City Ordinance No. 197. Taewon dong was joined to Songtan-dong and split off Mokgok, Chilgoe, Gajae, Changan, Chilwon and Doil to be developed as industrial areas.
Construction is in progress to extend the network of roads to connect the industrial plants to major arteries of traffic and upgrade the small country roads. The area extends up to the Songtan Interchange and includes the Pyeongtaek-Songtan Local Industrial complex. The areas affected:
- (a) Mokgok-dong Pyeongtaek-Songtan Local Industrial Complex south of Seojong-ni -- Abuts Jangdang Local Industrial complex)
Songtan Industrial area (Mokgok-dong)
- (b) Chilgoe-dong (part of Chilgoe Local Industrial Area south-east of Songtan Industrial area)
- (c) Gajae-dong (south-east of Songtan Industrial area)
- (d) Chilwon-dong (part of Chilgoe Local Industrial area southwest of Seojong)
- (e) Doil-dong. (southwest of Seojong)
ON-BASE ROADS
The on-base roads that were laid out in 1952-54 have not changed dramatically. Though new buildings have been added and old ones destroyed, the same basic routes laid out at that time have been followed. The major construction period in the mid-1970s by the 554th CESHR Det 1 "Red Horse" added a few roads but the main routes remained the same.
Blowup of Main Base area from 1952 aerial view of area (51st FW Archives) (NOTE: Presence of Chokbong Village on Hill 180 where the 18th FBW billets would be built indicates this was taken in mid-1952.)
The blowup of the base in 1952 shows that the original road from the Main Gate to the 839th EAB area ran basically on the same route from the Main Gate to the Commissary area. This route had been graded to make the route passable and the earth used as fill for Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) construction. To the left of the Main Gate as you entered the base was the helicopter pad. Behind this area the road led to the Anti-aircraft batteries at the highest point on Hill 180. This is now a soccer field for the ROKAF.
The road proceeded over the hill to the Quarry area (decomposed granite used for runway fill). This is the present location of the Osan American High School and Commissary. It jogged to the right following Texas Street and then down until the 839th EAB area (Broadway) where the road proceeded straight ahead to the airstrip (MAC Terminal Road). (NOTE: The road actually started out at Alabama Road when the 839th started to excavate the north tip of Hill 180 for fill. Working on three tiers, it was chopped back to a little past Texas Road. The hill was then sloped to build the 18th FBW Officer billets at the top of the hill with swimming pool, chapel and service clubs below it and finally enlisted barracks at the base. This area on Hill 180 was the former location of Chokbong Village.)
After the quarry area, the road jogged right along what is now Alabama Road. The 841st EAB was on both sides of the road until they left for Kunsan (K-8) in late 1952-early 1953. Texas Road was the primary earth hauling road from the quarry operations and ran straight down into what is now the MAC Terminal Road that ran to the airstrip. Railspur and Broadway intersected this road. The 839th EAB occupied the area where the Base Movie Theater and Tumuli Lodge are now located.
Osan AB Road Map (1999) (AAFES)
SITE NOTE: The Bravo Gate is where the original 839th EAB entered the area while the Hill 180 Main Gate road was being constructed. (NOTE: The EAB tent-city was located near the AMC ramp and Red Horse area.) The road to the left of the Doolittle Gate would be part of the original Perimeter Road where many small hamlets to the North of the base were cleared. Prior to the Osan AB construction, there were villagers living along this hillside which became the Beta Ammo Dump area. Shinjang-ni at the end of the runway is an original village with many of the Japanese style structures still standing today.
The road to the right comes to an intersection. If one turns left, this is the Bravo Gate area. To the left is Bomb Dump Hill and to the right is the "dimple area" of Namsan Village offbase. The rail spurs split at the base of Hill 170 with one going straight ahead until it joined it came to the Supply Warehouse (still standing). The second spur followed the base of the hill until the POL tanks on Hill 170.
The road that goes straight ahead leads up to Hill 170 where the Signal Company set up their antenna farm. Continuing to the right the road swings around the base of Hill 170 and the POL tanks up on the sides of the hill.
The road then swings south and straightens out. The 841st set up their billeting to the right and left of the road just after it swung south in the area of the Challenger Club today. (Ed McManus: "The road then took a right hook down between Hill 170 and Hill 180 to the Airfield Area." "The 841st cantonment area was to the right and left of the road with some elements located on the southeast side of 170." In 1952, there still was a Korean village on the Hill 170 (on-base).)
The road continues till the intersection of Broadway and Headquarters Road. It was along this stretch that the 839th EAB was located. (Ed McManus: "The billeting area was to the left toward Hill 180 and the catonment area to the right toward the flightline.") During the Korean War, the headquarters area developed in the area where the current BX is located, but these quonset huts burned down in a large fire in early 1970s. The enlisted lived on the lower levels of Hill 180 or in compounds next to their duty sections. The BX, Chapel and Library were located on the next tier up. Above this area were the officer billets (a mixture of Jamesway buildings and quonsets huts). The Officer's club was on the hill but each flying squadron had their own squadron bars near their squadron areas.
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The enlisted barracks were built at the base of the hill near the work areas. The enlisted barracks were initially plywood prefab Jamesway buildings. The roofs were corrugated iron and were sandbagged down to keep the sheets from blowing off. Sides were normally covered in layered wood slates, but the ones at Osan appear to be completely covered in corrugated iron sheets.
Jamesway with corrugated iron siding (1961) (Jim Denman)
Broadway and Headquarters Road (Songtan Boulevard) (1958): Up until Mustang Village and the Commissary was built in the mid-1970s, there was no road over the hill as it is today. The road went up the hill to the officer billets and ended near the top of the rise.
To the left in the photo below is the Supply warehouse -- Osan's first permanent building. The two hangars that were used by the fighter units and later by the 310th Missile Squadron is behind the Supply buildings. Next to the hangars is the Base Ops ramp with parked C-47s. The "C" Diamond is still distinct in this photo, but would later become simply a hardstand off the picture with the AMC ramp towards the taxiway. There were two hangars on "C" Diamond and two hangars on "A" Diamond back.
The Headquarters buildings are in the foreground. These structures burned down in a massive fire in 1971. This is now the Library area. The road that runs behind these quonsets is Headquarters Road. (NOTE: The Korean village of Chokbong used to sit in this area in 1952.) The old 839th EAB area is to the right of Headquarters Road which ran up the hill. Later it would be renamed Songtan Boulevard.
Alabama and Texas Roads (1958): In the photo below, the POL tanks and the antennas atop Hill 170 remain from the Korean War. Just below the POL tanks is the road from the Back Gate area (Doolittle Gate). Atop Hill 170 is the "antenna farm" for the communication units. At the juncture of the road running down from the "antenna farm" and the road at the base of the hills is the intersection that splits to the right and becomes Broadway Street and continues down to intersect with Headquarters Road.
Directly below the antennas are a row of quonset huts. Just below these huts is a road that runs and then curves down. This is the road that now has the Challenger Club and the old McPherson Recreation Center where it intersects with is Alabama Road. Alabama ran east and turned right when it reached the quarry area (now the Commissary). Portions of Alabama Road can be seen to the left and right of the picture. (NOTE: Originally Hill 180's northern tip was at Alabama Road. The 839th EAB cut into the nose and used it as an earth fill quarry for the runway construction. This quarry was operated with three "benches" (or tiers) until it cut the nose back to a little past Texas Road. This quarry was only for earth fill. The stone quarry was located near the South Gate of Suwon.
The 841st was located on both sides of Alabama Road and Texas Road was used to carry the earth to the runway. The road running past the 554th CESHR building (Terminal Road) was the original road used to carry the quarry materials to the runway.
The next street down is Texas Road which continues to the left and right. Texas headed east and ran into the quarry area. The next road in front of the Jamesway buildings on the left and extending up past the swimming pool is the Headquarters Road. The swimming pool marks the boundary of the BOQ area.
At the same time, the road to the Main Gate was constructed as fill from the hill side made the road's incline more managable. (NOTE: The road up the hill (Headquarters Road) ended in the officers billets at the top of Hill 180. The side to the Commissary was undeveloped until the mid-1970s with the construction of Mustang Village and Commissary area. The Commissary area until the mid-1970s was a sump area that required over fifteen feet of fill to be built up before the Commissary could be built.)
The next road down intersects with the road coming from the right. The left road is one that ran behind the Headquarters about a block down the road. The road on the right the is curving down to intersect with the road behind the HQ buildings about a block down the road. The road coming down from the right is the road that runs below the Officers Club and then heads up to the Hardened Communications Center on Hill 180.
Looking towards Hill 170 (
The new barracks were poured concrete slabs on the ends with prefab walls and floors. These structures were susceptible to fire because of the prefab construction materials. One end was the entrance and the other end was a fire exit with a ladder fire escape. Latrines were at the end.
New concrete structures with prefab sections and walls (1961) (Jim Denman) (Note: The comments of Hill 180 are an urban legend. See "1951" above for story.)
The northern tip of Hill 180 was next to Texas Road. The quarry operations started at this point. Notice how this Texas Road comes straight down and then crosses Broadway and heads diagonally to the flightline. This is the road used for the fill operations of the runway that ran next to the 839th EAB heavy equipment parking area. (Ed McManus: "The quarry was located on the northern tip of 180. After the overburden was removed by pan, the quarry/Rock crusher was started about 200 yards south of the main road. After the nose of 180 was uncovered, we started the quarry first one bench, and then two. Before I left we were ready to start a third bench." (NOTE: A "bench" is a tier to quarry at multiple levels simultaneously.))
The quarry was dug into the Hill 180 by the 839th EAB carving out the area of the Osan American Highschool and then working into the area of the present day Commissary. The tip of the Hill 180 was slowly cut back until it was nearly in line with the road that presently comes over the Mustang Village Hill. This quarry was only used for fill. Co. B of the 839th EAB maintained a stone quarry just outside of Suwon.
(NOTE: After the Korean War this quarry area was only good as a sump area where the "Turtle Pond" (after the Yi Taehyun "turtle) stele) was situated. In the mid-1970s Det 1 554th CESHR (Red Horse) undertook to fill the area and raised the level fifteen feet with fill to provide the level land that the Osan American High School and Commissary are now built upon. At the same time, the Mustang Village was constructed under Korean contract for dependent families.
 
Turtle Monument and Turtle Pond near CE Compound (1965) (Harry Tezlaf) (SEE "2000" for details of stele.)
The first road to the Main Gate from this area took a four-wheel drive to navigate it in 1952 according to Don Tomajan making it a dangerous route at first. However, the quarrying operations cut the hill down until by mid-1952, the road was a more navigable route and the Main Gate became the primary gate for Osan AB (K-55). (NOTE: Until the Main Gate was opened, the entrance was through the "freight gate" that came in through the present Bravo Gate area.) After the Korean War, the area to the left of the Main Gate as one entered the base had been returned to the ROKAF when they assumed the air defense (anti-aircraft duty) for the base. The area to the right became the USAF family housing area -- primarily for senior officers. The road continued down the hill and veered right. The old housing Jamesway Housing (plywood and corrugated iron) billets on Hill 180 were abandoned in the 1960s for the newer two-story cinderblock barracks structures built along Alabama Road. In the 300-area, two 1960s buildings remain: the McPherson Recreation Center (1963) and EOD Building (1962).
The base of the Hill 180 area was the primary headquarters, supply and support areas. (SUPPOSITION) The upper level of Hill 180 in the area where the present Officer's Club is located was the location of the officer billets. Along Headquarters road leading up the hill across the street from the Officer's Club Parking lot was the swimming pool.
The road then continued down Broadway and made a curving loop turn along the base perimeter. (Ed McManus: "The road proceeded north and east running around Hill 180, parallel to the runway/taxiway with the warehouse and parking diamonds in the area between to the 840th Bn area that was scheduled to be the second wing housing area and support activities Motor Pool etc.") At the extreme end of this road is a ROKAF soccer field. This is where the anti-aircraft unit for Hill 180 was stationed and the Hill 180 Gate was opened.
When the construction for the second wing started in this area, the 840th EAB was sent to Seoul. This second wing never appeared as the Armistice was signed and the area eventually became the golf course area. (NOTE: The roads in this area have been reworked extensively after the 1970s for expansions, dormitory constructions and improvements to make the Golf Course into an 18-hole course. Besides the perimeter road and ROKAF areas, there is very little left of the original roads graded by the EAB remaining in this area.)
The first road was from MSR-1 to the back gate area (Doolittle Gate). The bomb dump had the munitions stored in the earthen revetments dug into both sides of the hill. (NOTE: This area is now known as the Beta site area for the on-base storage area. Half of the hill next to Shinjang-1 dong has been returned to the ROK.) This road was only used temporarily until the road to the Main Gate over Hill 180 was completed. As the 839th EAB proceeded to construct a massive concrete warehouse and the long supply building -- along with proceeding with the runway construction, other crews were busy constructing a road from MSR-1 to the Hill 180 side. After this road was completed, the back gate road fell into disuse.
The bombs were hauled to the Bomb Dump Hill area by trains that ran from the Kyongbu line through the Jae Yok-dong area (Shinjang-dong) into the freight gate located at the tip of the bomb dump hill to the right of the picture. (The freight cars with munitions are seen in front of the revetments.) This rail spur then went around the base of Hill 170 were it split. Then one line went to the POL tanks at the base of Hill 170 and the supply warehouse at the base of Hill 180 now across from the BX. Heavy equipment for the 839th EAB was also brought into the base by this rail line. (SEE Freight Gate Road.)
First Permanent Building on K-55 (1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: The village of Chokpong is seen in the foreground before it was relocated. The 839th EAB area is to the right. The road leading over Hill 180 (Headquarters Road) is at the base of the village to the right. Heading up the hill the vegetable fields are to the right and EAB area to the left. The intersection at the warehouse (Broadway) is now the intersection of the BX and Movie Theater with Headquarters Road. Incidentally, Headquarters Road was named for the headquarters buildings that were situated where the BX is now located that burned down in a massive fire in the early 1970s.)
839th EAB Seal at Bldg 817 (Jul 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
A large number of rice paddies were situated where the runway now lies. During construction, the water-table being so close to the surface created many problems. A grader actually sank into the mud during construction -- though it only sank up to its wheels according to photos in 1952. A levee on the north side next to the Chinwi River and drainage culverts had to be dug to drain the water.
Ed McManus, Col, USA (Ret) wrote to Don Tomajan (June 17, 2001):
"...Field was to be capable of handling F-86s and C-54 Cargo Aircraft.We had just about everything drop in. Our first customer was an F9J from MAG 33 at Pyongtaek that made an emergency wheels up landing in the Jun/Jul timeframe when the RW was under construction. The conrete lanes were 25 feet wide, 6 for the RW which was 150 feet wide. The paver had to be modified to handle 25 foot lanes from its normal 20 ft capability. The haul for river run was 22 miles round trip from 839 borrow area.
Construction sequence for the RW fill was first a sand pad hauled from the river just north of base by D-8 and Pan and until the turnadozers arrived this was followed by fill, earth either trucked from borrow pits Hill l70 and l80 or brought in by dozer and pan. When the turnadozers arrived this was their primary function. Next came the River run and crushed rock from the quarry at Anyang (by rail) or from my quarry on hill 180. The design met CBR requirements and this was topped with an 8 inch unreinf(orced) concrete pavement w/const and expansion joints.
The big problems were the water table, flooding from river north of RW (large drainage ditches, protective dike/bern, pumps,dragline) spare parts, operator training (heavy on OJT and hard on equipment maintenance) supply of construction materials, lightsets/generators for night operations and weather conditions-monsoon rains, heat,cold. My big problems at the quarry were the loss of drill steel due to fissures in the granite wall, explosive availability, replacement engine and jaws for the 150 ton primary unit. We wore that baby out with continuous two 10 hour shifts per day.
My dynamite came from Japan, when it came. I got a boxcar of frozen dynamite that we had to defrost - a dangerous operation. My demo people were not authorized demolition pay and we blasted every day were as the AF EOD/Bomb people on base got it. One of the minor irritants that proved SCARWAF were neither fish nor fowl as far as the AF was concerned.
When we ran out of dynamite we resorted to the use of black powder and C-4 demolition blocks scronged from the Army. The bore holes we drilled were round and the C-4 blocks were square so it was necessary to shave the corners off the length of each block so we could slide them in the hole. The chemicals in the C-4 turned the skin of my demo people yellow -- I mean bright yellow all over -- looked like they had a very bad case of jaundice. The black powder and primer cord didn't work too well, after every blast the area might be covered with unexploded black powder pellets. But we had to keep up production otherwise it meant a 22 mile haul or rock by rail from Anyang. ..." (Site Note: The "sand pit mentioned was near the villages of Yari and Shin-Yari which were relocated during the construction of the perimeter road.)
Ed McManus, Col, USA (Ret) wrote to Don Tomajan (July 13, 2005):
"At the time of construction, the main road came off Rt 1, east across the RR Line and thru the 839th Area which straddled the road. Hqrs etc 839th on the left. cantonment area on right."
839th EAB Area (1952) (Robert Evilsizor)
"The road then took a right hook down between Hill 170 and Hill 180 to the Airfield Area. The 841st cantonment area was to the right and left of the road with some elements located on the southeast side of 170. " (NOTE: This "right hook" would be the road leading down into the MAC Terminal area.)
"There was a small village located adjacent to our camp on the 170 side of the road, north of us. We had two companies on the left side of the road, B&C with hill 180 to their back." (SITE NOTE: The small village noted by Col McManus are the houses on Hill 170 (on-base side) that Robert Evilsizor, Commander of Co. A, 839th EAB, took home movies of when they were disassembling the thatch roofs of the houses and transporting them off-base to the south via oxen along the taxiway. These villagers were part of Chokpong-ni.)
"The road proceeded north and east running around Hill 180, parallel to the runway/taxiway with the warehouse and parking diamonds in the area between to the 840th Bn area that was scheduled to be the second wing housing area and support activities Motor Pool etc. (This is why the 840th was the first Bn scheduled to move from Osan because their area was needed for construction.)" (SITE NOTE: The village of Chokpong situated just above the long Supply Warehouse was also relocated. The 840th EAB was transferred to construction projects in rebuilding the infrastructure of the Seoul area. The second wing never appeared as the Korean War Armistice was signed in July 1953.)
Early Preparation of Runway Construction (1952) (Robert Evilsizor)
"There was a levee on the north side of the base to protect the area from the flooding river. In addition we built a main drainage ditch that isolated the airfield proper." (SITE NOTE: (SUPPOSITION) There is a possibility that the back gate road that was initially used to move equipment to the base might have been a levee. On the Map of Shinjang 1-dong area the back gate road shows hash marks that indicate a levee. However, on another 1950 map, there were only two levees to the northwest of the base along the Chinwi Stream. This requires research.)
K-55 Runway (1952) (Don Tomajan) (NOTE: To the lower left corner is the Doolittle Gate area with the road running to the perimeter. The villages to the lower left is the Shinjang-ni village area. Over the Bomb Dump Hill in the "dimple area" of Hill 170 is the Namsan Village.
The path of the Hwangkoji River has been redirected. It used to twist like a coiled snake, but now its path is much straighter after flood control projects. The Jinwi River continues to run to the north of the base almost perpendicular to the runway and but now the Jinwi River path is farther away from the base perimeter. The Jinwi River connects to the Hwangkoji River up near the upper right hand corner of the picture and then runs to the left top of the picture. At the south end of the runway, there is a bridge over the river that connects to Seotan-myeon. The entire area to the west of the base (top left) has been turned into rice fields and is uniformly flat. There is only one village located in the area about half-way down the runway. A road now runs parallel with the perimeter on the south end to the Jinwi River. At the south end of the runway, the entry to the base is blocked by ROK riot police.) |
Osan AB Runway Map (Circa 1952) (NOTE: This is from the south end of the runway towards Seotan-myeon. The Diamond A-D well shown. Note that the Jinwi River is actually touching the base perimeter and would later be redirected.)
Osan AB Runway Map (2000) (NOTE: The ill-fated F-84s Fighter Interceptors are from Suwon. Sent to escort the B-29s over the north, though they had an advanced radar system, the system proved so unreliable that the SAC commanders asked the F-94s NOT be used. Instead, they requested the exclusive use of the VMF-513 E-3Bs. In fact, the only MiG kill for an F-84 came when it collided with a MiG because it had a radar lock problem.)
Osan AB Runway Map (2000) (NOTE: Diamond A-D and AMC ramp areas.)
"The first railroad spur was built from the main line on the west side of 170 that led to the warehouse area which was used to bring in construction materials primarily the cement for the airfield paving. This was on the north side of the Drainage ditch to the south side of the taxiway. My company put in a raised spur on the south side of the drainage ditch between the ditch and hill 170, into an area that was designated a class IV yard. I don't know wether or not this splitting of the spur into separate lines is causing the question about the spurs." (SITE NOTE: We had raised the question in Jul 2005 of the possibility of two spurs OUTSIDE the base because of comments in an article. Col. McManus response ended the discussion as it was apparent they were referring to two ON-BASE spurs.)
"We constructed a fence between the Class IV yard and the village area referred to above as located to the north side of the 841st backing on hill 170." (SITE NOTE: This is the perimeter fence line that exists today in the Namsan Village area.)
"It should be noted here that we altered the topography of both 170 and 180 since these areas were the source of the fill for construction of everything above rice paddy level. the north point of Hill 170 was the location of the signal antenna farm, POL Storage tanks and the Base Water plant and storage tanks."
"The Bomb dump at that time was located on the west side of the railroad spur and hill 170 before the spur split into the north and south branches around the tip of 170. Where the hell is Doolittle Gate located? It is after my time."
"The quarry was located on the northern tip of 180. After the overburden was removed by pan, the quarry/Rock crusher was started about 200 yards south of the main road. After the nose of 180 was uncovered, we started the quarry first one bench, and then two. Before I left we were ready to start a third bench." (SITE NOTE: The northern tip of Hill 180 at the time was at what is now Alabama Road and in-line with the Mustang Village. This was the quarry fill area. The first photos show a "S" shaped road going around the tip. After the Korean War, the Commissary area was nothing but a sump area -- not usable for construction. In the mid-1970s, the 554th CESHR raised the level over fifteen feet to make it usable terrain for the Osan American Highschool and Commissary.)
"After the AF moved into the first wing housing area and the main PX was established near the road we were still blasting away twice a day for rock for the remaining two parking diamonds (early 53)."
"Additionally an anti-aircraft outfit moved in and wanted the top of 180 for gun positions and their battery areas." (SITE NOTE: This is now the location of the ROKAF Air Defense elements. If one drives on the perimeter road around to the top of Hill 180, one comes to a soccer field. This is the area the EAB cleared for the anti-aircraft units.)
"Blasting operations were restricted due to AF objections to once a day and the PX manager only had to refill his shelves once a day after the blast shook everything off." (SITE NOTE: The quarry is where the commissary is now, while the PX (Post Exchange) was located in a quonset hut in the area of where the Officers Club is today.)
"After I left May53, the rock crusher and quarry was shut down, The crusher was moved with the 841st to Kunsan (K-8) leaving only the 839th at Osan." (SITE NOTE: The 841st completed the new North-South runway at Kunsan when it took over operations from the 808th EAB in Nov 53.)
"I do most of my recollection using the plot plan for the Airfield on the general east-west orientation with hills 170 and 180 , route 1 and rail line on a north /south heading. I don't know if this helps in clarifying the questions you have. Let me know if I can offer additional clarification or muddy the waters further. ... There was a road that ran adjacent to the rail spur- led to 919th Maint and 934th Gp Hq , bomb dump and hill 170." (SITE NOTE: See "Freight Gate Road" for details.)
The Main Gate opened in 1952 -- along with the "Freight Gate" just below the Songtan Catholic Church. The first Main Gate was supposedly up near where the present base service station is now. However, by 1955, the photos indicate the main gate shack was directly at the road that proceeded straight ahead to MSR-1 through the Shinjang Mall area. The "Freight Gate" would be closed to vehicular traffic after the Korean War. Thus after the Korean War, the primary vehicular route was on the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) to the Main Gate.
Osan-ni AB (K-55) (1952) (NOTE: Outside the gate, there were buildings in the Namsan Village area below Hill 170 and along the perimeter towards the Main Gate. The Chicol-ni area (or Chongmun-eup) had not spread too far from the Main Gate at the time and buildings were starting to spread along the Milwal-dong area. In the photo, Chokbong Village can be still seen on the hillside where the construction for the 18th FBW billets were to be built. (This places this photo in mid-1952.) In the middle of the photo, there is a line going from the main base to the southern perimeter -- this is the Hill 180 Gate. At the gate on the left of the photo, the rise leading to the gate drops off sharply off the picture -- this is Makum-ni.)
The Hill 180 Gate opened in 1953 -- but in reality, it was simply an open area where military personnel walked off-base to the prostitute village of Makum-ni. Makum-ni was one of the original villages of the area -- and with the arrival of the US military, the little farming village became filled with prostitutes. By 1954, the area had expanded with tightly packed housing and the gate was used primarily by ROK civilians for entrance to the base for work. After the Korean War, the ROK Army took over air defense (anti-aircraft positions) with an ammo dump off base and the Hill 180 Gate reverted to ROK control.
There are other access gates along the perimeter but they are not opened for general use. For example, there are riot police guards at the end of runway gates on both the north and south ends of the runways. Also on the west side of the base, there are gates to be used for the transport of ammunition stored off-base at the Alpha Site.
The back gate (Bravo Gate area) was closed after the Korean War and there were on-base roads from this area around the Bomb Dump Hill (Bravo site) to the Freight Gate in the Shinjang area. Roads from the Hill 170 area also ran down to the Freight Gate. The Doolittle Gate was opened in 1983 after the Overpass was built. At that time, the idea was to move the Main Gate to reduce the congestion in the Shinjang Mall area -- but its soon became obvious that the Main Gate was the preferred entrance. The Bravo Gate was added in 1990 as a contingency gate when the road connecting the Overpass Road to the Doolittle Gate connected to the Namsan Road. Later in the 2000s, under the Land Partnership Program (LPP) the portions of the Bomb dump hill and freight gate were returned to the ROK with the promise of added land upon the movement of troops from Yongsan.
(NOTE: For an excellent slide show on the roads on the base, see Retired Activities Office by Jack Tierwell. This site is probably the most comprehensive site available for the Osan AB community dealing with a myriad of matters and provides complete and up-to-date information on everything from shopping to slide show tours of the area.)
SHINJANG 1-DONG AREA
The Shinjang 1-dong area runs from the Kyongbu Railway on the east to Osan AB on the west. The Doolittle Gate Road to the north and the Shinjang Shopping Mall Road to the south. (NOTE: The start of the Doolittle Gate Road is in Seotan-myeon.)
K-55 Back Gate Road (Beta Gate) The Beta Gate area was one of the original exit points dating to before 1950. The dirt path ran from Chokpong-ni (at the base of Hill 180) to the low area between Hill 170 and the Beata area ammo dump. This existed atleast from the Japanese Occupation period.
The 839th Engineering Aviation Battalion (EAB) cut the first road using a grader from the MSR-1 to the base along the same route as the current road to the back gate (Beta Gate) in 1952. Don Tomajan of the 839th EAB, stated, "I was told by Ernie Harper (deceased), a former Hv Eqp (heavy equipment) operator with the 839th EAB, that he was the Cat bulldozer operator that made the initial path for the road into the area that would become K-55 from Rte 1." Don went on to state that the "Main Gate" was at the EAB area. (Source: Email from Don Tomajan in Jun 2005.) This means the "back gate" at the Beta area was the first entry area in 1952 as Hill 180 was still under construction and the only way to get over the Hill 180 was by 4-wheel drive vehicles. Remember that during the early days of Osan AB, the EAB area was where the AMC ramp is today. The Beta Gate is a direct shot to the AMC Ramp. Photos taken by Bob Spiwak of the bomb dump in 1953 shows a road that leads up to the MSR-1 to corroborate Don's story. In the HIll 170 photo, the road intersects the Kyongbu Railway and then joins the MSR-1.
In 1952, the "front gate" was in the 839th EAB catonment area on-base -- where the base movie theater and Tumuli Lodge are today. The road over Hill 180 still required a four-wheel drive to get over it. The north tip of Hill 180 was used as fill and the quarry operations in the area of the present Commissary. The road leading to the Main Gate was cut down and the fill used on the runway. Up until 1953, the passage over Hill 180 was a treacherous route requiring a four-wheel drive vehicle. All EAB heavy equipment was brought in by train. Other supplies came in through this back gate (Doolittle Gate) road until the Main Gate entrance was completed. (SITE NOTE: We use the term "Doolittle Gate" for reference point purposes only as the Doolittle Gate was not opened until 1987. Some Koreans simply say "Duri Gate.")
The 51st Wing Historian, John Okonski, 51st FW Historian, provided an Aug 51 map that clearly shows the dirt road that was already leading to the base from MSR-1. This road was built up to bring in all the initial equipment and materials required to construct the base. The railway spur was then built. We theorize the Back Gate Road followed the original dirt path to the Kujang (Shinjang-ni) Village that was in the area. (SITE NOTE: This village is listed on the Aug 51 map above and shown on aerial maps up until the 1970s. In 1952, it was actually a collection of hamlets, but by the 1970s there was only one main village.)
Map of Doolittle Gate road and Namsan Village area (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
 
Shinjang 1-dong from the Doolittle Gate Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
However, after the Korean War this road fell into disuse and was forgotten. It probably remained a dirt road for the Kujang Village -- noted as Shinjang-ni on Aug 51 overview drawing by 931st EAG. This village was one of the oldest villages in the area serving as the market place for Jinwi during the time when Jinwi was the prominent administrative town in the area. Immediately after the Korean War, the base population dropped off and the 58th FBW left. There was no major unit assigned except the TDY elements standing nuclear alerts. As such only the Main Gate was needed for the base, while the Hill 180 Gate was turned over to the ROKAF. This road -- which starts in Seotan-myeon -- now was used for the Kujang (Shinjang-ni) farming village and shown in aerial photographs well into the 1970s. After the mid-1960s, the "back gate" was once again put in use, but the route was through the Mokcheon residential area. (NOTE: In the 1980s when a road was built to the Doolittle gate, it was built along the side of the Bomb Dump Hill. However, the road to the Kujang Village (Shinjang-ni) runs parallel to the uphill road.)
Because this road "disappeared" after the Korean War, Jim Price, first assigned at Osan in 1963, and other longtime Korean residents stated that there NEVER was a road to the MSR-1 in this area. In addition, Pyeongtaek historical information through the Shinjang 1-dong house office stated the road was built between 1980-1983, though the photographic evidence in Robert Spiwak's photo (1953) and the 931st EAB Aug 51 drawing that shows otherwise. (SITE NOTE: A copy of the photograph of this road was given to the Shinjang-dong House Office on 12 Jul 2005. This disparity may be due to the road being an undeveloped dirt road at the time, but it still requires resolution.)
See Namsan Village Road below: In the 1953 picture of "Hill 170 View of Bomb Dump and Namsan-Village Area", the road exiting the base is on the left of the picture and leads to MSR-1. The present back gate (Doolittle Gate) is at the tip of the bomb dump hill on the left just off the picture. In 1952, though, the "front gate" was in the EAB compound area, and the base was still wide open. Each unit built their own compounds with fences, and Koreans were still occupying portions of the base as the base was being constructed.
If you blow the photo up, you can see where the Kyongbu Rail Line intersects this road, but detail is very poor. The valley area in the top left of picture leads to Jinwi-myeon. (NOTE: In 1951, the Kyongbu line was referred to on US drawings as the Keifu line from Japanese.) On the Aug 1951 overview drawing of the base construction, one can see the existence of a dirt road to the Shinjang-ni village area. This is the road that was graded by the 839th EAB.
MSR-1 is clearly shown in the distance behind the low-lying bomb dump hill coming from Osan-ni to the left and taking a diagonal jog down on the right into what would become the Songbuk dong area of town. (NOTE: At the diagonal jog -- where the present Songtan Fire Station is located -- the road goes straight ahead then up over ridgeline to Seojong-ni Station and then straight to Pyeongtaek.)
In the 1980s, the Doolittle Gate was created with the idea of eliminating the congestion at the Main Gate. The ROK signed off on the idea and the road to the Doolittle Gate was built between 1980-1983 according to the Shinjang 1-dong House Office. At that time, there was no overpass to the base and the base hired a gate guard to man the rail crossing of the Kyongbu Railway line. This crossing guard remained until the overpass was completed in 1988. Normal traffic was NOT allowed into the Doolittle Gate and the Main Gate remained the entry to the base. However, according to long-time residents, the road was blocked off until after 1989.
The overpass to the Doolittle Gate was not built until 1988. Construction was started on 18 Jun 1987 and completed on 28 Dec 1988. The span is 450 meters long and 15.5 meters wide. (Source: Marker on Overpass.) The overpass has an ideal view of the End of Runway for takeoffs and landings.
 
(L) Marker on Kyongbu Railway Overpass on Doolittle Gate Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan); (R) Overpass on Doolittle Gate Road. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
 
(L) Jisan Stream with one branch leading to Jinwi and other from the Jisan Stream (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan); (R) Marker on the Jisancheon Bridge leading to Doolittle Gate. Marker erected by Gu San-il. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
We also have some problems with the completion of the road as the marker in Hangul on the Jinsancheon (Jisan Stream) bridge shows that the bridge was constructed in 1986. The hangul on the marker states that the bridge was built during the Songtan City period. The marker was erected by Gu San-il. (Source: Marker on Jisancheon bridge.) At this time we believe the bridge was expanded in 1986 to a four-lane bridge when the construction on the road to the Doolittle Gate took place. (NOTE: In 1951, the Jinsancheon was shown on the Aug 51 931st EAG map as part of the Jinwi River. In 2005, there was construction as a new road is being built adjacent to the stream that will pass through the Mokchan and run parallel with the railway tracks.)
At the Y-intersection, the road to the Doolittle Gate goes up hill and runs along the side of the Bomb Dump Hill. In the 1980s, the road was elevated as shown by the overpass at the Kujang (Shinjang-ni) Village. At the intersection, there is a parallel road that runs into the Kujang (Shinjang-ni) Village. There is an overpass for the road to the Doolittle Gate with the underpass leading from the village to the Mokchan Village Road prior to the Bravo Gate. (NOTE: "Kujang" means "old market" and "Shinjang" means "new market." The village area was the market for the Jinwi administrative area in the Chosun Dynasty.)
 
(L) Overpass leading to Kujang Village. (NOTE: This road connects to Mokchan Road.) (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan); (R) Old house in Kujang Village. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
The Doolittle Gate was built under contract, but there is no marker to indicate which company built it. The entry control point was built by the 554th CESHR "Red Horse" and their seal is at the base of the entry door. (NOTE: The Doolittle Gate was renovated under contract in 2004.)
Namsan Village Road In the 1950s, there was no road to the right of the Main Gate leading to the Namsan Village area. The village below Hill 170 became the first bar areas for Osan AB, but soon returned to being a farming village once the Main Gate opened.
Hill 170 View of Bomb Dump and Namsan-Village Area (1953) (Robert Spiwak)
In the 1960s, this area was sparcely populated with farm houses along the hill near the perimeter. To the right of the main gate as you entered the base was the village of Chicol-ni. It extended until the Namsan-ni village area and it consisted of mudwattle farm houses scattered along the hillside. The Haesong Dance Hall -- the first large building to the left as one exited the base -- was located in this area in 1957. As more population moved into the area, mud brick and stucco houses were built starting from the perimeter down to the rice fields in the low-lying areas.
Namsan Village (1968) (Bill Bayless)
Namsan Village farmhouse (1968) (Bill Bayless) (NOTE: This is the house with the wall on the middle right in the picture above.)
| In the 1968 photo above, the mudwattle houses (choga-chip) in the center area are those from the 1950s. Notice that the older houses are grayish in color, while the newer stucco houses are lighter in tone. In the 1953 photo the house on the left with a wall when seen from the rear is located on the right. By 1968, it was still there, but some new houses to the area. The area had returned to being purely agricultural. By 2005, the mudwattle houses were gone and the place they were at was now an open field. However, the two houses at the bottom of the photo still remained occupied by the original residents. The house to the right cares for a small farm patch planted where the original homes once stood. |
 
 
 
| Top R: Daycare Center Top of Hill 170. In the 1968 photo above, the paths converge at the top of the hill just below the hilltop -- this is the present location of this building.; Top L: Road looking up towards Daycare Center. In the 1968 photo, the path leading down from the top on the left is this stretch of road.; Middle R: Apartments under construction. These apartments are at the base of the path.; Middle L: Last two houses from 1960s. These houses are seen in the 1968 photo at base of hill. Bottom R: Rooftop of 1960s house (Note the transite roof and construction of mudbrick covered with stucco used in the area houses in the 1960s when concrete and wood were scarce commodities. The mud bricks were made in an open air "factory" in the Songbuk dong area.) Bottom L: The second 1960s house but note that additions were made over the years. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
In the Chicol-ni area along the hill below the perimeter was mudwattle houses. Slowly these choga-chip farmer houses were torn down and converted to more modern houses for the military personnel who lived off-base and for housing for the influx of people moving to the area to seek employment on base. In the 1960s, the low lying areas were still rice fields, but soon the rice fields were filled in and new houses were built. By the 1970s, the housing spread now from the Chicol-ni side outside the gate to the Mokcheon-ni side near the railroad tracks.
 
| (L) Hillside from Perimeter looking down on Hillside area towards Jinwi (1965) (Harry Tezlaf) (NOTE: Mokcheon Village in distance to left with Jinwi hills in distance. Railroad tracks are marked by telephone poles. Path closest to foreground became Namsan Village Road.) (R) Hillside along Perimeter to the left of Main Gate looking from the rice paddies to the perimeter (1968) (Bill Bayless) (NOTE: The path at the base became Namsan Village Road. The houses are a mix of mudwattle thatch roof and mudbrick/stucco with transite roofs.) |
In the 1970s, there was no road. The area to the side of the Main Gate towards Namsan Village contained the Haesong Dance Hall which then became a pool hall. In the 1960s, there was a two-story hotel located very close to the perimeter wall. In the 1970s, the Romance Club was situated there. Then the Osan Club was moved in. From 1983-1989, the Osan Hotel owned by Yi Hak-jin was located there. However, by the 1970s, the houses that were between Hill 170 and Hill 180 in tiers were gone, though the tiers were still there pending the construction of new houses and apartments on the hillside. Namsan Road would be the road running in front of the bottom tier of houses.
In the mid-1970s during the major reconstruction in Shinjang, Jae-yok Road was built to the Namsan Village area. Small apartment buildings on the Chicol Village side of the road were built for the military living off-base and the area started to become tightly packed with housing. Housing started to move up the hills of Namsan Village in the areas closest to the base. These houses were accessible through Aragon alley to the Jeyok Road area and then up the hill to Namsan Village.
View of Namsan Village on opposite side (1971) (Harry Tezlaf) (Notice: The farm houses present in 1953-1968 under Hill 170 still present, but the farm houses in the middle on the tiers present in the 1968 have been removed because of pending construction.)
In 1993, the Namsan Village Road was built -- though some claim it was done in the late 1980s. From the Main Gate the Namsan Village Road proceeded straight then jogged left at the perimeter wall across from the Jae Yok Road. Along this area, apartments for the military personnel sprang up on both sides. The roads were constructed on the "tiers" up to the perimeter wall following the original paths to the farm houses in the 1950s. The first 3-building apartment complex was built in the 1990s for the growing population in the area as well as one down by the tracks in the Mokcheon area.
Then Namsan Village Road then straighted out down the slope until the base of Hill 170. However, the road did not extend up the hill whose paths still remained dirt covered. In the late 1990s, the small road up the hill in the Namsan Village area was paved with concrete.
Between 1980-1983, the road and rail overpass to the Doolittle gate was built and the back gate (Doolittle Gate) opened. However, the overpass of the tracks was not finished until 1989. There was a manned rail crossing until 1989. In conjunction with this construction, a new road (Mokcheon Village Road) was cut from the new access road to the Namsan village road in the 1990s. In the early 1990s, a large scale USFK program to return unused or under-utilized lands to the ROK while obtaining new lands for the relocation of forces was initiated. This would later be called the Land Partnership Program (LPP) termed as a "win-win" situation at the time. The Korean War Bomb Dump Hill had lain fallow for sometime. The area near the Doolittle Gate was still in use as the "Beta Site," but a large portion of the hill was unused. The last buildings on the hill appear to have been constructed in the 1960s and used by USAF Security Police personnel for training. Thus half of the hill was returned to the ROK -- extending from the Bravo Gate to the Songtan Catholic Church building where the freight gate was located. (NOTE: This was part of the move to relocate Yongsan Garrison under the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding. At the same time, a large portion of land was set aside for the use of the USAF forces. The move to relocate portions of the Yongsan Garrison actually was surfaced in 1984. When the move was stalled by the ROK, the Pyeongtaek City government demanded the land be turned over to them. At this point the Ministry of Defense hastily transferred the lands to the ROKAF to build AFOC (Air Force Operations Command) building.)
This road passed the Bravo Gate and then proceeded to a Y-intersection where one turned left to the Main Gate.
In the 2000s, this road was expanded and new apartments built on the hill. By the mid-2000s, other apartment complexes were being added in anticipation of the influx of personnel when the Yongsan Garrison was scheduled to close.
Back Gate to the Mokcheon Village area The Mokcheon Village area was between the Bomb Dump Hill and the railroad tracks and extended to the Back Gate Road. The housing area was clustered close to the Shinjang side, while the area near the Back Gate Road was almost entirely rice fields.
Mokcheon Area (1976) (Harry Tezlaf) (NOTE: This multi-story construction and cinderblock walls. In the 1970s, the street seemed spacious, but in 2005, the same street with cars parked on both sides now is very congested with room in places for only one car to pass at a time.)
After the Korean War, the back gate road to the MSR-1 fell into disuse as all vehicular traffic was through the Hill 180 gate. By 1963 when Jim Price was stationed at Osan AB with the 6134th Advisory Group, there was no road to the MSR-1 from the back gate (Doolittle Gate area). (Source: Verbal conversation Kalani O'Sullivan with Jim Price, July 2005.) There was nothing but ricefields in this area until the late 1970s. There was a narrow country road off-base from the back gate (Doolittle Gate) to the Main Gate (Hill 180) but used primarily by farmers or military personnel living in the Mokcheon area.
From the Back Gate (Doolittle Gate), the road proceeded straight ahead until where there is presently the fork where the road that leads to the Bravo Gate. This road wasn't there in the 1960s, but if you drew a line from the back gate road straight across the rice fields you would notice that it would connect to another country road which is barely wide enough for two cars. This was the road that the old back gate road connected to. The road went straight ahead to towards the Kyongbu railway tracks then veered right until it was following the railway. This area was all rice fields in the 1960s.
Most of the houses were clustered at the base of the bomb dump hill on the Namsan Village side and the road went through the rice fields and entered the Shinjang Mall area of present-day Shinjang-1 dong as it neared the Kyongbu railroad tracks.
Mokcheon Area (Circa 1970) (NOTE: This new type of housing was for the American married personnel who lived off-base. This road runs parallel to the Kyongbu Railway.)
When the road was in line with the tip of the bomb dump hill, it turned right and ran parallel with the rail lines. It continued parallel with the tracks, past the location of the present Mokchun Underpass until it was in line with what is now the Shinjang Mall. It then made a sharp right. It crossed over the rail spur leading to the freight gate -- and ran the road directly to the Main Gate of K-55 (Osan AB). (NOTE: The road to the Bravo Gate was not built until the 1990s. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hotel was located where the road is now. There was nothing behind it but houses.) (Source: Verbal conversation Kalani O'Sullivan with Jim Price, July 2005.)
Mokcheon Village Road In 1990, the road was cut after the completion of the Back Gate (Doolittle Gate) Road from Route 1 with an overpass of the Kyongbu Railway. The road connected at a "Y" where the right road went to the Doolittle Gate and the left road would connect to the Namsan Village Road.
The road cut the Bomb Dump Hill in half and the Beta site was reserved for Osan Air Base use while the other half towards Shinjang was returned to the ROK. On the west side of the Bomb Dump hill where the train spur entered the base, the "Bravo Gate" was built as a contingency gate.
Road to Bravo Gate (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
SHINJANG 2-DONG AREA The Shinjang 2-dong runs from the Shinjang Shopping Mall Road to the north. The road from Milwal Road to Jijang-ni Road just below the Taegwang Middle-High School marks the southern boundary. If you follow the arc of this road up until it meets the Osan AB perimeter, you have the southern boundary. The base perimeter is the western boundary and the eastern boundary is Kyongbu Railway.
Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) This is the first cutoff to the main gate constructed by Co. A, 839th EAB in 1952. It made the turn-off from Osan-ni at the Songbuk Farmers' Market. When the base was being constructed the railway crossing was unmarked, but by 1959 there was a crossing signal at the tracks.
Widening Road to New Airstrip (Jan 1952) (Robert Evilsizor)
Access Road Construction (Jan 1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: Looking from MSR-1 side to the base in the distance. The rail spur was not constructed at this time.)
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Access Road Construction (Jan 1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: Cutting the road to the Kyongbu Rail lines (tracks seen) and MSR-1 in the distance.)
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Access Road Construction (Jan 1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: Looking towards base. Chicol-ni village to right. In distance where Main Gate will be situated.)
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Access Road Construction (Jan 1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: Graders next to Chicol-ni Village and Main Gate area.)
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Initial Widening Access Road (Jan 1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: Next to Kyongbu Railway (telephone poles). MSR-1 marked by second set of poles in rear.)
Sloping Hill Access Road (Mar 1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: Hill near Kyongbu Railway where Hanil Church now located. Railway location marked by telephone poles. White line to right side is MSR-1 to Osan-ni.)
Access Road (1952) (Robert Evilsizor) (NOTE: To the right the cut through the hill is where the Hanil Church is located today. Railway location marked by telephone poles in background. The faint white line at the base of the mountain is MSR-1. Village to right is the Songwang Village area where the Songwang Church (Onnori Church) is today.)
Aerial View (1952) (51st FW Archives)
In the photo above, MSR-1 is the white line that stretches from left edge to right in the photo. The Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) joins the MSR-1 to the right of the photo. Following the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) to the left, it intersects the Kyongbu railroad before it runs the base. The rail spur that intersects the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) appears as a faint line.
Railway Crossing to Songbuk Farmers Market (1959) (Ed Stirling) (NOTE: The train is in the distance heading to Osan-ni. Note the closest crossing is marked (signal bar on right side of picture). The next unmarked crossing is what became the Mokcheon Underpass road that enters directly into the Farmers Market. In the distance is the Mokcheon Village to the left of the picture. Further down is the original road that was built to get the equipment initially onto the base. By 1959, it was simply a road to Kujang-ni Village (Shinjang-ni Village) on the Seotan-myeon side of the base.)
By the late 1950s, there was also an unmarked pedestrian crossing of the railway in use by the residents of the Chicol Village area. (See 1959 photo above.) In the 1970s, a small manned rail crossing was added for people and vehicular traffic.
 
(L) Pony Cart in front of Han Song Tailor Shop located three shops down towards the Main Gate from the Stereo Club. (Circa 1960) (NOTE: Shops are on an incline. Mr Hwang Song-gi, employee of the Asia Hotel, stated he worked at the shop for a year. Mr. Son Kwang-chil, owner of Hanyang Kalbi, stated his father was head of the "union" of these "delivery" men who were North Korean refugees. His father had seven ponies used in his business.) ; (R) Used Lumber Yard in Shinjang area (Circa 1960) (NOTE: Lumber of any sort was a precious commodity. Many of the new stores were being built with the scrap lumber. According to Kwon Oh-hoon the major salvage yard/garbage dump was in Ojwa-dong (Ojwa-gaol) behind Are Konji-ni. (Source: Verbal conversation Kalani O'Sullivan and Kwon Oh-hoon, 24 Aug 2005.))
Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) near where the Stereo Club is today. Seoul Barbershop, Shoe Repair Shop and Mijin Custom Shoe Shop (NOTE: Mr. Sun Shing-Chyi, Tae Ho Lou Restaurant owner, identified this as being in the Mall area near the Stereo Club. Mr. Lee Kwang, Barbershop owner, also stated it was in the Mall area. Residence above Shoe Shop made of recycled wood and corrugated iron roof. Stovepipe next to Barbershop sign. Electric pole in rear of barbershop indicates more buildings in rear.) (Circa 1960) (51st FW Archives) |
MSR-1 leading towards Osan-ni (NOTE: Jinwi-myeon hills in distance as road curves and goes down incline towards Farmers' Market. Electric poles to rear of buildings indicate that other buildings were behind the stores on left. Use of stones to construct stores on right indicates availability of concrete.) (Circa 1960) (51st FW Archives)
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Drugshop and Tai Kuk Bakery. (NOTE: Mr. Sun Shing-Chyi and his wife identified this drug shop and bakery being near the intersection of the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) and the MSR-1. However, the Drug shop construction indicates it is built on an incline with the drugshop at streetlevel with the living quarters to the rear. Most likely this was on Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) probably near the Main Gate.) (Circa 1960) (51st FW Archives) |
Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road). (NOTE: Though the road at first appeared too wide to be Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road), local residents confirmed it was a two lane road. This appears to be the curve near the Main Gate that before the straight length. The hill where Hanil Church is now can be seen in the distance.) (Circa 1960) (51st FW Archives) |
After the Korean War, the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) was paved from the Main Gate all the way to the MSR-1 intersection. On base, the side walks were paved (not concrete), but However, from that point on it was a two-lane dirt road. By the mid-1960s, the MSR-1 was paved from Seoul to Osan AB. (NOTE: To the south towards Pyeongtaek, the road was unpaved and remained a two-lane dirt road in poor condition in many areas.)
Just Outside the Main Gate (NOTE: Paved road with dirt sidewalk areas) (1963) (Marshall Parker)
When the Shinjang Overpass was built in 1978, the crossing was blocked. The Mokcheon pedestrian underpass -- built between 2000-2004 -- the connects to Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) across from the entrance to the Songbuk Farmers' Market. When the Mokcheon Underpass was built, a road was constructed to the top of the hill to the Shinjang 1-dong House Office and Jungang Church.
Railway Crossing on Mokcheon Road (Circa late 1970s) (51st FW Archives)
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Railway Crossing on Mokcheon Road (Circa late 1970s) (51st FW Archives) |
Railway Crossing on Mokcheon Road (Circa late 1970s) (51st FW Archives)
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Train southbound on Kyongbu Line (1974) (Ken Shallenbarger) |
In the 1990s, the Shinjang Mall area was converted to a pedestrian traffic only area to create a true shopping mall with parking lots surrounding it. Movable blockades were erected at the rail spur (Plaza Road) and near the Main Gate at the Phoenix Hotel. The street remained basically the same though it was upgraded. However, the biggest changes were in the back roads.
Jeyok Road that intersects Aragon Alley and Young Chon Alley connected to the top of the hill. In the process, the famous Hilltop Club was torn down on Young Chon Alley to make way for the road. On the other side of the mall, the Jungang Market Road was built to provide access to the shops along that side of the mall. When it was constructed, the houses that were in the way were torn down creating some concerns amongst those who were forced to relocate. Rodeo Alley cuts across the Shinjang Mall area. This whole process supposedly cost $10 million dollars in total costs -- right-of-way easements, compensation for condemned buildings, and reconstruction costs -- but we have not substantiated this amount. According to some shop owners, this conversion of the Mall benefitted only those along the mall as business dropped off significantly for those in the other back areas of the mall.
Mokcheon Underpass from Songbuk-dong side (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
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Mokcheon Underpass Tunnel (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
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 Marker on Mokchan Underpass (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Construction on the underpass officially started on 10 Feb 2000 and was completed on 1 Apr 2004. It was constructed by the Chalto Rail Construction Company. The overpass was 7 meter wide and 27 meter long. Max carrying load was 24 tons. (Source: Marker on Mokchan Underpass) The Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass -- in the location of the old Mokchan Railway Crossing -- was completed in 2004.
 
(L) Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass looking towards Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
 
(L) Area to left of crossing as one heads into Songbuk-dong. Compare this photo to the same area in the 1959 photo. This area now filled with deserted houses and structures that are collapsing. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Area to right of crossing as one heads into Songbuk-dong.
 
(L) Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass Street looking toward Railway (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Intersection to Mokcheon Pedestrian Underpass Street (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: Used to be police box location in 1960s-1970s.)
| Map of Shinjang Shopping area (NOTE: This map slightly dated: Hanvit bank on Tanhyeon Road is now the Uri Bank. Hanmi Bank on Shinjang Road is now Citibank. The Asia Hotel has expanded to the Shinjang Road. The road one block up from the Shinjang Shopping Mall is Jae Yok Gil (Road). At the end of the Shinjang Shopping Mall Road is the Mokcheon Underpass. The underpass location on the map in relation to the Songtan Catholic Church is about one block off. At the "T" intersection with Shinjang Road, going south is Milwal Road. Shinjang Shopping Mall in this text is referred to as Mokcheon road. Plaza Road is the road that runs parallel to the railroad spur into the "Freight Gate." Asia Hotel has also expanded out to the Shinjang Road. (NOTE: This map created by Kim Jae-won, owner of the Asia Hotel.) |
Shinjang Road This is the road that connects the Main Gate to the railoverpass to Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) at the top of ther ridge. According to Mr. Oh Sun-soo, his family owned a home just outside the Main Gate and GQ Tailors was started in this location in 1962. In 1976, Park Chung-hee visited Osan AB and the Osan AB Commander stated that the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) was too congested and that he needed another access road to the MSR-1. Park Chung-hee acquiesced to the request and order the work completed. As a result of the construction, Mr. Oh's family lost their home and business -- and were compensated with very little money. Thus he remembers well how this road came about.
Main Gate. (1955) (NOTE: At the Main Gate there is a house nearest the gate to the right of the road. This house used to belong to the family of Mr. Oh Sun-soo. The road to the MSR-1 would come around the back of the house and enter the base. The road that goes to the top of the picture near the middle is the Milwal Road. The road would have to go around a farm house at the Main Gate and then proceed diagonally to Milwal Road.)
In the first years from 1952-1955, this road was not straight but rather veered around houses as it neared the gate. If you look at the 1955 photo above, the Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) into the center of Chicol Village went straight ahead as one exits the Main Gate. The Shinjang Road is a diagonal from the left upper corner to the Main Gate. It is a small undeveloped road that made its way up to the Songwang area about where the Prince Hotel is and then curved to where the Songwang Church (Onnori Church) is today.
The first step was to extend and widen Milwal Road from the top of the hill to the Main Gate. Viewing old photos, the alley way just to the right of the Main Gate as you exit was the original Milwal Road as it wound around a farm house then it went at a diagonal to the base of the hill and then up the hill. The widening process meant the complete reconstruction of the road and many people lost their homes and were given very little in compensation.
In the widening process, the left side -- as one looked up the hill -- was widened 12 feet while the right side was only widened 6 feet. The right side was less because the road builders were simply trying to get the right side even with the Shinjang Road coming down from the Main Gate.
Outside Main Gate during Milwal Expansion; From Milwal Road looking towards Main Gate (1974) (Harry Tezlaf) (NOTE: Notice new lamp posts and trees.)
Outside Main Gate before the Overpass to MSR-1 built (1974) (Ken Shallenbarger) | 
Outside of Main Gate (9 Jun 1977) (36th FS Fiends Site) (Notice the trees have been cut down and Milwal Road is expanded.)
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After Milwal Road was complete, then the work on the Shinjang Road and Overpass started. The rail road overpass connected the Shinjang area to the ridge line and MSR-1. (NOTE: The ridgeline and portions of Shinjang-dong was cutback in the late 1980s to expand the railway to a four track system.) Over the ridgeline, the Terminal Ridge Road was cut to connect the MSR-1 Bypass Road to the MSR-1 and Osan AB (K-55).
After all the roads were complete, the Shinjang Road proceeded out the gate turned right and went straight until it turned left at Milwal Road. Though the street was straightened, the alleyways remained. The alleyway just outside the gate matches the "jog" around the farm house to Milwal Road in the 1950s. The diagonal alleyway that exits at the Volvo dealership matches the original route of Shinjang Road in the 1950s.
Throughout the 1960s-70s, vehicular traffic was minimal as cars were still a luxury item affordable only by the rich and powerful -- and American soldiers. American cars were often seen throughout the area, but there was not any real congestion except near the main gate of Osan AB. For the most part, the streets were relatively free of traffic except for the constant flow of speeding dump trucks on the MSR-1 due to the nation-wide road construction projects. After Songtan-eup (town) was raised to Songtan City in 1981 and combined Songtan and Seojong-ni, the effects of the Miracle of the Han started to appear in the Songtan and Seojong-ni area. Road and apartment construction projects started to create more congestion on the roads.
Shinjang Road leading to MSR-1 (1965) (Harry Tezlaf)
Shinjang Road Leading to MSR-1 (1965) (Harry Tezlaf)
 
(L) Overpass Bridge to Main Gate (1984) (Mike Dunnagan); (R) Railroad Overpass on Shinjang Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
 
2005: (L) Overpass on Shinjang 2-dong side (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Overpass from Taegwang School Road on Shinjang 2-dong side (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
The railway overpass was built connecting Shinjang area to the Songbuk-dong in 1977. Construction on the overpass officially started on 29 Sep 1976 and was completed on 10 May 1977. It was constructed by the Kaelim Construction Company. The overpass was 15 feet wide and 180 feet long. Max carrying load was 54 tons. (Source: Marker on Shinjang Overpass Bridge)
 Marker on Shinjang Overpass (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
In one sense, it added to the isolation of the Shinjang-dong area from the rest of Songtan. The commercial growth continued in the Songbuk-dong side of the town, while the Shinjang area remained linked to the base for its survival. Park Chung-hee was intending to attract tourists to garner much needed foreign exchange in the mid-1970s. As a result, Seoul, Kyongju, Pusan and the military camptowns such as Itaewon, Euijongbu and Osan were upgraded.
Intersection to base. (1974) (Ken Shanllenbarger) (NOTE: Roads paved by mid-1970s. Yellow Taxi and trucks from downtown. To base is to the left. Right is to the MSR-1 Bypass.)
 
(L) Overpass from Base at top of hill (1978) (Harry Tezlaf) (NOTE: Notice the traffic light. It appears much as it does today. Coming from the base, the road to left goes to the "downtown" area and the road to the right goes to Jwa-dong (Sutkogae)) (R) Same intersection in 2005. To left is to downtown and to right to Seojong-ni. Straight ahead to Express Bus Terminal over hill. (Jun 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
MSR1 Police Box (1974) (Ken Shallenbarger) (NOTE: The Police Box is where the rail overpass on Shinjang road intersects with Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1). Going over the hump leads to the Express Bus Terminal on Terminal Ridge Road. The policeman on the right is controlling the traffic light.)
Freight Gate Road (Plaza Road) In the Korean War, the railroad spur from the Jae Yok-dong area (Shinjang-dong) entered the base at the toe of the Bomb Dump hill, near where the present Songtan Catholic Church is now located. According to Ed McManus, "There was a road that ran adjacent to the rail spur- led to 919th Maint and 934th Gp Hq , bomb dump and hill 170."
The spur of the Kyongbu line leading to this area started in the Jae Yok-dong (Shinjang-2 dong) area near the present rail overpass, ran through shanty-town area to the base of the bomb dump hill. The bombs were stored in earth revetments dug into the face of the hill -- on both sides. (Source: Robert Spiwak photos (1953) and Kalani O'Sullivan observations (2005)) (NOTE: On-base bomb dump hill area is now referred to as the Beta site and still has ammo storage shelters on the Doolittle Gate side. Earthen revetments are still seen on the portion of Bomb Dump hill returned to the Shinjang-1 dong control.)
In 1953 a navigable road was cut over Hill 180 -- and the base was "expanded" for the relocation of the 5th AF Advanced Headquarters from Seoul. (Source: Email with Don Tomajan, Jun 2005) With the end of the Korean War, the freight gate road fell into disuse.
After the Korean War, the "Freight Gate" road (Plaza Road) would be used only by the Korean people who had constructed houses parallel with this spur -- or Americans who lived in the area. The "freight gate" would only be opened for trains carrying cargo onto the base. Like the back gate in the 1960s, it was no longer an active entry point to the base. By the 1960s, the gate was for train freight only. (Source: Verbal conversation Kalani O'Sullivan with Jim Price, July 2005.)
There was a small road off-base that ran parallel with the rail spur tracks into the Jae Yok-dong (Shinjang-dong) area with houses running parallel with the tracks. (NOTE: This road would later be called Plaza Road. The road turned right where the World Plaza is now.) One went over the rail spur, through the Shinjang Shopping Mall area (then a street) and then into the Main Gate.
 
(L) Shinjang Mall before the rail spur coming from Mokcheon Road (R) Railroad Overpass on Shinjang Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: Straight ahead is the Shinjang Shopping Mall. To the right is the "Freight Gate." The rail spur that is no longer used can be seen going right to left buried in the road.)
Since the late 1980s, the spur has no longer been active. Due to complications with safety as the houses crowded along the rail spur, munitions and POL could no longer be transported through the Shinjang 1-dong and Shinjang 2-dong areas.
Railroad spur from Overpass (1984) (Mike Dunnagan)
At the same time in the 1980s there were major improvements to the infrastructure nationwide as the main highways were being paved and the routes from Pusan to Seoul had expressways built. By the end of the 1980s, trucks were handling all of the transportation and the "Freight Gate" was permanently closed. Later half of the Bomb Dump Hill that the spur ran along into th base was returned to the ROK. (NOTE: However, there are still problems with the containerized ammunition delivery (CAD) system in use today being transported by trucks. Trucks carrying munitions must be directed to Osan's off-base Alpha site two miles from the base. In addition, moving the containerized munitions creates special freight handling problems as movement by the heavy equipment loaders literally destroys the road surfaces. This problem has not been resolved.)
Railspur with Shinjang Road Overpass in rear (Jun 1993) (Lee Hak Jun)
2005: Railspur entering Shinjang area (NOTE: the rails are being filled in with dirt as they are no longer used.) (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
2005: Railspur continues into Mall area while Mokcheon Road veers right to follow railroad tracks. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
2005: Railspur at the Freight Gate looking towards Bravo Gate from Shinjang. This is the area where the old perimeter road from the west side of the Bomb Dump hill looped around to the east side and headed back into base. At the Freight Gate, the road exited the base and followed the railspur into Shinjang till it intersected the Mokcheon Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
2005: Railspur entering Shinjang area (NOTE: the rails are being filled in with dirt as they are no longer used.) (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
2005: Railroad sign and stop sign in Shinjang next to tracks (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
2005: Railspur in Shinjang mall area next to Railroad Overpass (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
2005: Railspur entering Shinjang area from the Kyongbu line (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) |
Milwal-dong Road The Milwal area supposedly was once an area full of pine trees that was noted for its beauty in viewing the moon. "Milwal" means "honeymoon." One interpretation says that "Milwal" (honeymoon) supposedly conveyed the feeling of bliss one obtained by viewing the moon from this area. (Source: Songtan History.) However, by 1951, the area was denuded of trees. Aerial photos of the area in 1952 showed the slope devoid of trees.
In 1953, a road (or more reasonably a wide dirt path for carts) to the Hill 180 gate developed as people built houses up the hill along the perimeter. As one left the main gate, it twisted around an existing house at the Main Gate then straight to the incline diagonally and then veered right and up the hill as a tiny dirt road with water ruts running down the road to the bottom. If you look compare the 1957 Aerial View of Main Gate and the Shinjang Shopping Mall area Map, you will see that the alley just to the right as you exit the gate, matches the house location on the 1957 map. The alleyway was the jog around this farm house.
 
Milwal Road (1968) (Bill Bayless)
At the top of the incline to Milwal-dong, it veered right into Shinchang-dong and the Jokbong-ni area. (See Hill 180 Gate Road.)
Looking up Milwal Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Songtan Station Road After the road up the hill was expanded, the Milwal Road was cut straight down the hill until it intersected with the Songtan Subway Station Road. (NOTE: "Songtan Subway Station Road" is only used for reference as the Songtan Station was not opened until 2005.) Turning left, one crossed the overpass -- that was built at the same time as the Shinjang Road Overpass -- to Jwa-dong Road (MSR-1). Turning right, the Milwal Road continued down it crossed over the old road that passes along the hill line below the Taegwang Middle-High School. This road has a small overpass that crosses over the Kyongbu line and intersects the Jwa-dong Road (MSR-1). This is the boundary of Seojong-dong. Milwal Road continued down until it connected to Pokchang Road.
Pokchang Road In this area was Pokchang Village which was filled with North Korean refugees from the from the Hwanghae-do area. Further down towards the Hill 180 Gate was Sagori which was noted as an area where 4 roads met. This was also filled with North Korean refugees. Because there were so many North Koreans within the area, the place was called "Hwanghae-do Town." Later this area became administratively renamed as "Shinjang dong." (Source: Songtan History.)
In the 1990s, Pokchang Road was constructed in anticipation of the move of the troops from Yongsan as agreed upon in a 1990 Memorandum of Understanding. Pokchang Road was to connect to the new area on the west side of Hill 180 that had been reserved for the Yongsan relocation. Milwal Road was extended down to intersect with Pokchang Road.
However, the ROK failed to follow through on the funding and the move stagnated. In 2000, Pyeongtaek City demanded the area be turned over to the City because of lack of use. Immediately, the Ministry of Defense turned the area over to the ROKAF and constructed the Air Force Operations Center (AFOC) along the west perimeter. The Pokchang Road terminates at the AFOC Gate.
AFOC from over the Perimeter Wall
Pokchang Road continues down until it intersects with the Jijang Overpass Road and the Panseong Maul Route. The Jijang Overpass Road crosses over the Kyongbu Railway and connects to the Burak Mountain Road. The Panseong Maul Route leads to Godeok (Godeok Myeon) and Route 340 to Anjung (east) or Seojong-ni (west).
After the Jijang Overpass intersection, the road continues down until it connects to the Taegwang School Road-Pokchang Gal Pyeong Road. It turns right and continues down to Route 340 to Anjung (east) or Seojong-ni (west).
Map of Shinjang 1-dong & Shinjang 2-dong area (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
Hill 180 Gate Road (Shinchang-dong: Sagori and Jokbong-ni) In this area was Pokchang Village which was filled with North Korean refugees from the from the Hwanghae-do area. Down the hill was Jokbong-ni which was also filled with refugees. As one continued towards the Hill 180 Gate, one would pass through Sagori which was noted as an area where 4 roads met. This was also filled with North Korean refugees. Because there were so many North Koreans within the area, the place was called "Hwanghae-do Town." Later this area became administratively renamed as "Shinjang dong." (Source: Songtan History.)
In the early 1950s, homes were built on the side of the hill to house the growing number of people moving to the area seeking work. Many of these were North Korean refugees -- mostly from the Hwanghae-do area on the west coast just above the DMZ. They were attracted to Osan AB by the promise of work and clustered together as a group in the Milwal-dong and Shinchang-dong area.
The Hill 180 Gate Road was simply a dirt path that veered right at the top of the Milwal Road. Into the 1960s, the road which split off from the Milwal Road remained a small dirt path up the hill side. It continued past the Jaeil Church till the southwest tip of Hill 180. The road then turned right (northeast) and followed the perimeter through the Chagi-ri area.
On 21 Mar 1961, the Jaeil Church laid the cornerstone for its new church to be built on a hill to the southwest of Milwal Road in Sagori. It is the oldest recognized church in Songtan having been founded founded as the Jwadong Presbyterian Church on 5 Dec 1958.
The Hill 180 Gate Road followed the perimeter until it reached the Hill 180 Gate (ROKAF Gate). Up to the 1970s, this remained a narrow dirt road. Makum-ni sprouted up outside this gate as a "camptown" area in the 1950s, but soon withered as the Shinjang area became the center of the bar culture. Later in the 1978 expansion of the area, new roads were cut into the area that basically followed a grid pattern. Again like the Milwal Road expansion, people were given a little money, but no land in exchange for their lost homes. Of course, many of the shanties were cleared away at the same time as well.
Later in the 1980s this path would be improved and paved, but most of the dirt paths leading to the houses were eliminated and new roads running parallel to the slope were added. Unfortunately, the application of a grid pattern was not applied to this area and most of the tiny twisting up-down roads following the topography remain till today.
Map of Milwal-dong area with Pokchong Road leading to AFOC Gate at bottom and Hill 180 Gate Road (Shinchang-dong and Jokbong-ni area) following perimeter of the base (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
Hill 180 Gate Road (Shinchang-dong and Jokbong-ni area) (1968) (Bill Bayless)NOTE: Taken from the hilltop where the Jaeil Church is presently located. The top of the hill to left is the base perimeter. The wide path (road) running along the left is the Hill 180 Gate Road (Shinchang-dong and Jokbong-ni area). The dirt path running left to right now is the entrance to the Jaeil Church on the hill. Following the path back towards the Main Gate, the Jungang Movie Theater is at the top of Milwal Road. To the top right in the distance, the white building is the Songtan Catholic Church. The Kyongbu Railroad tracks are behind the hill of the church and the faint line from the Church area towards Osan-ni is the railway. The hills in the distance are the mountains in the Jinwi area. To the right the rice field area would be reclaimed and become the Pokchang Elementary School, Seojong-dong.
Notice the roofs of the houses below. To the bottom left, the roof of what appears to be corrugated iron is held down with sandbags alongside a mudwattle house (choga chip) with thatched roof. The roof on the bottom right is the same as the shanties built in Chicoville (Chong-mun eup (Front Gate Town)) in the 1950s. The roof is tar paper tacked down with strips. If you look at the houses in the area, you can see that it is a mix of the choga-chip houses with the mudbrick ones.
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The Hill 180 Gate Road passed through Sagi-ri. From this point on, the road entered into the Seotan-myeon and goes past Hamak-kom up a rise. The road continued down until it came to a rise. At the top of the rise was the Hill 180 gate. (NOTE: The Hill 180 Gate closed when the new AFOC Gate opened in 2000.) Right over the rise at the base of the sharp incline is the village of Makum-ni.
In the Korean War, the Hill 180 Gate was an access point that opened to the prostitute village of Makum-ni to the right as you left the gate. It was frequented by the soldiers on Hill 180 -- mostly from the anti-aircraft units stationed at the top of Hill 180. Ron Freedman, former 2d Lt with the 338th AAA AW Battery C, in his narrative of the life on Osan AB mentioned Makum-ni on the west side of Hill 180 had the highest VD rate in Korea -- an exaggeration, but certainly the opinion of the time.
Ed McManus, Col, USA (Ret) wrote in Aug 2005:
... I left in May/June of 53 but not before carving gun pads for AA on hill 180 with my bulldozers (In fact, I lost a D8 that went over when making a side hill cut on the steep slope) The pad locations were designated for me by representatives of the AAA Brigade that was moving elements to K-55. (NOTE: That steep slope is the dropoff on the perimeter next to Makumni. The AAA site is now the ROKAF soccer field that is just up from Hill 180. When the US forces departed at the end of the Korean War, they transferred their AA equipment enmasse to the ROK forces who assumed the anti-aircraft defense role for the base. This became the ROKAF area from about 1956. The Hill 180 Gate became known as the ROKAF Gate as well.)
After the Korean War, Makum-ni returned to being a farming village as the bars opened up at the Main Gate. Makum-ni is now a nondescript farming village.
After the ROKAF had taken over the Hill 180 Gate, a narrow dirt road was constructed that led straight out of the Hill 180 Gate and along ridgeline to a ROKAF ammo storage area. This is the Dorang area and the road follows the ridgeline until it meets Route 340 to Seojong-ni (west) or Anjung (east). Later this would be improved to a paved two-lane road.
In the 1990s the Pokchang Road in Sejong-dong leading to the AFOC Gate was completed. The Hill 180 Gate is now closed and all traffic on this side of Osan AB now enters the AFOC Gate. The Hill 180 Gate Road joined the Pokchong Road.
If one turns right at the Hill 180 Gate Road, the road will continue past Jangdong and one will eventually pass the AFOC Gate on your right. If one continues out to the Pokchang Road and turn right, the road will also run into an intersection. If you turn right, that is the Hill 180 Gate Road and the AFOC is a few yards down. If you turn left, it will take you to Godeok. If you continue straight on a two-lane road, one follows the perimeter for a bit. At the end of the perimeter, the road continues down to the Hwanggui intersection. If you go left, you head to Godeok on Rte 340. If you go straight ahead, you are at Kumgak-ri. If you turn right, you go to the Chang-dong Road leading to the south end of the Osan AB runway. (SEE Seotan Myeon: Chang-dong Road for route to the south end of the K-55 runway.)
 
Right: Closed Hill 180 Gate; Left: Impacts of Closure as shown by deserted apartment.
(2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Map of Milwal-dong area and Hill 180 Gate Road with Pokchong Road. Taegwang School Road runs along the right side of the photo. (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
Taegwang School Road At the same time the expansion of Songtan was going on with the expansion of Fashion Alley in 1978, on the opposite side of the Shinjang Road overpass, the Taegwang School Road was constructed. It runs parallel to the Kyongbu Railway tracks and ultimately reaches the Seojong-ni train station area.
Actually this area had started with a U-shaped area with the shanty houses hastily thrown together on the west side of Hill 180 spilled down to the edge of the rice fields. Along the railroad tracks, shanty houses were constructed and this area became the "business area" with small hardware shops and used lumber yard. (NOTE: The major "garbage dump" for salvaged lumber was in the Chongsobu area in Ojwa-dong. This is behind the apartments across from Songbuk Elementary. (Source: Verbal conversation Kalani O'Sullivan and Mr. Kwon Oh-hoon, owner of Dongsung Realty, on 23 Aug 2005.))
Some of the old buildings from the 1960s -- identifiable by their transite (corrugated concrete/asbestoes sheets) roofs -- still remain in the 2000s. However, the bulk of the buildings are from the "building boom" of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Songshin Elementary School had been built in 1965, but the Songgwang Middle School next door was housed in tents. After the rice fields had been reclaimed, the Taegwang Middle-High School was built adjacent to the Songshin school -- replacing the Songgwang Middle School. At the end of the Taegwang Middle-High School there was a slight rise and the road ran down the hill ridgeline where it intersected with the Taegwang School Road and then went over a small railway overpass to the Jwa-dong Road (MSR-1). This is the Seojong-dong boundary line. (SEE Sejong-dong Boundary Overpass Road)
Along the Taegwang School Road -- which starts at the Shinjang Road Overpass -- there are rows of houses built with the popular red fire brick used in the 1980s. This area is laid out in the grid pattern used after the 1980s. Almost all of the houses and structures in the area were built with red brick that was popular in the 1980s. Some of the older concrete structures were upgraded with ceramic tile facings in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today there are few 1960s structures, except for the few that are next to the Kyongbu train tracks. After the Pokchang Elementary School (Seojong-dong) the density of housing along its sides tapers off significantly. The road runs until the Seojong-dong boundary (road below the Taegwang Middle-High School) where it becomes the Gal Byeong Road.
 
(L) Taegwang School Road looking toward Overpass (R) Taegwang School Road looking toward Seojong-ni (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Songtan Subway Road The Milwal Road ran from the top of the hill down and then up until it meets the intersection where one turns right to continue on Milwal Road or turn left to enter the Songtan Subway Road. Obviously there was no Songtan Subway Station until the 2000s.
After turning right from the Milwal Road, one headed towards the Kyongbu railway. The Songshin Elementary School was to the left and Taegwang Middle-High School (Shinjang 2-dong) was on the right. The bulk of the houses in this area were the spill over from the Hill 180 as the houses were constructed down the hill on the east side of the rice fields. The area still contains many 1960s structures with their low roofs and stuccoed exteriors. The area is primarily residential with small groceries stores and churches in the area.
Supposedly there was an overpass constructed in 1978 that was completed BEFORE the Shinjang Road Overpass was completed. This overpass was a narrow two-lane overpass that simply connected the two hills. (NOTE: This needs corroboration.)
This was supposedly later replaced by the present overpass when the Shinjang Train Station was being built and the overpass was widened. The marker on the overpass indicates the overpass construction was started 1 Dec 1999 and completed on 31 Dec 2003. It is 178 meters long and 14 meters wide. The Taegwang School Road running parallel with the Kyongbu Railway runs under the overpass.
 
(L) Marker at Songtan Subway Station Overpass (R) Songtan Station from Milwal Road leading to Overpass (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Songtan Station from Milwal Road leading to Overpass (NOTE: Taegwang High School directly ahead.) (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Seojong Boundary Overpass Road This road is the boundary between Shinjang 2-dong and Seojong-dong. It runs from the Milwal Road over a rise below the Taegwang Middle-High School. It intersects with the Taegwang School Road and continues on to the small overpass of the Kyongbu line. Across the tracks, it intersects the Jijang-ni Road (MSR-1). It continues straight until it intersects with the Bukbu Jungang Road (MSR-1 Bypass Road). At the Bukbu Jungang Route, it stops at the Jisan Hill and the Sejong-dong boundary line continues behind the apartments along the Jisan Hill till Route 1.
Supposedly this small overpass was built in the early 1970s. In 1978, the Songtan Fire Department relocated from the Milwal hill (near the present Capital Hotel) to directly across from the Seojong Boundary Road overpass. The overpass is next to the present Korea Telecom Building. (NOTE: This needs corroboration, but the location of the fire department would indicate the existence of the overpass.
 
(L) Marker on the Seojong Boundary Road Overpass (R) Overpass looking across at the Korea Telecom building. (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
 
(L) View from overpass looking down Jwa-dong Road looking north (R) View from overpass looking south towards Seojong-ni (NOTE: Sign for Korea Telecom indicates office across street (Sep 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Jijang Overpass Road The Jijang Overpass Road connects the Pokchang Road to the Jijang-ni Road (MSR-1). The Jijang Overpass Road crosses over the Kyongbu line and intersects the Jijang-ni Road (MSR-1). It continues east and becomes the Burak Mountain Road -- which in turn intersects the Bukbu Jungang Road (MSR-1 Bypass Road).
This small overpass was built in the early 1970s.
SONGBUK-DONG AREA The northern boundary is Jinwi-myeon just before the "Y" where on turns down into the downtown area of Songtan. It follows the boundary of Jinwi-myeon past Route 340 and swings down to form the eastern boundary with Hweonkuk-myeon. The southern boundary meets Route 1 across from the Buraksan Mountain Road. The boundary then swings north following Route 1 until it is at the end of the Jisan Kunyong Apartments and then it swings across Route 1 to the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) at the Gym Park Road (Chae-euk Gonghweon). It then turns north until following the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) until Jangmi Apartment Road. It then swings west along Terminal Ridge Road until the Kyongbu Railway.
 
(L) Looking up intersection of Kunyong Apartments and Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) where Songbuk boundary leads to Jangmi Apartment Road to the right. Jisan Elementary School to left. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Intersection of Jangmi Apartment Road looking towards road with Songbuk House Office one block down. Right to Route 1 and left to Express Bus Terminal. (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Songbuk Open Market (down the street from the Mokcheon Underpass) (2002) (Unknown)
(L) Intersection of the old Main Gate Road (Shinjang Mall Road) intersection with old MSR-1 (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: First area of development along MSR-1 in 1950s.) (R) Former location of the old Jaeil Theater of the 1950s-1970s (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Tanhyeon Road See MSR-1 Bypass Road.
Songbuk Market Road See MSR-1 Bypass Road.
Jisan Stream (Cheon) Road At the "Y" intersection where MSR-1 and MSR-1 Bypass Road split, there was another minor road that converged. This dirt path followed the Jisan Cheon (Stream) up the valley to Are Konji-ni (Lower Konji Village) and Mite Konji-ni (Upper Konji Village). At that time, the Jisan Stream did NOT flow along this route. The Jisan Stream flowed past the Songbuk Elementary School and followed basically the path of what is now the Jisan Stream (Cheon) Road. The Jisan Stream was diverted into an underground culvert -- that became Jisan Cheon (Stream) Road -- after the area was being reclaimed in the mid-1980s.
Before Route 1 was built there was a natural sump area formed by the Burak Mountain to the east and the Jisan Hill and ridgeline to the west. The Jisan Stream filled the sump area created by the "bowl" by the convergence of the Jisan Hill and Burak Mountain to the south and the ridgeline to the north. This sump area that formed Paradise Lake (Boduchang) extended from what is now the Jisan Hyundai Apartments and about half of the Jisan Kunyong Apartments. According to reports, it did not extend past the present Route 1 area which was "high ground." In order to get to Songbuk Elementary School, children walked along a path at the base of Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) near what is now the Jangmi Apartments and then along the base of the Burak Mountain to the school.
When the MSR-1 Bypass Road was built this was a minor dirt road. In 1955, when the population was expanding, this road carried the materials to build the Songbuk Elementary School which opened in 1955. The location of the school was most likely chosen because it is on "high ground" as the Jisan Stream flowed to the lower areas that were often flooded. The choice of the Songbuk Elementary School location also indicated that there was a growing population from the Songtan area (Chicol Village/Chongmun-eup area/Milwal-dong area -- as well as the population growth along the MSR-1 and MSR-1 Bypass road. The school location was probably selected because of its central location with access via the Jisan Stream Road (path); through the Chae-euk Gongwon Road that runs across the Jisan Hill area; and by paths around the base of the Jisan Hill and Buraksan Mountain.
Presently, the Jisan Cheon (Stream) flows down the valley into the Songtan area and is diverted at the Songbuk Elementary School into an underground drainage culvert built in 1985 at the same time the apartments were constructed. It previously ran to the sump area and reservoir that was being drained and reclaimed as apartments and for Route 1 construction.
The culvert runs beneath the Jisan Cheon (Stream) Road which goes behind the Daelim and Dongbu Apartments and intersects with the west side of Route 1. On the east side of Route 1, it becomes the Jisan Cheon (Stream) Bottom Road and runs down past the Life Apartments and to the "Y" intersection of Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) and Songbuk Market Road (MSR-1 Bypass).
The culvert continues to the other side of the Tanhyeon Road (MSR-1) past the "Foreigners Apartments" (Miguk-in Apartu) where it ends. The Jisan Stream then follows the railroad tracks for a bit until it flows under the tracks into the Mokcheon area near the Back Gate (Doolittle Gate) Road. The Jisan Stream then flows under a bridge of the Back Gate Road and continues into the Chinwi River to the north of Osan AB.
Songbuk School Road The Songbuk School Road is the continuation of the Shinjang Road -- Terminal Ridge Road -- Jangmi Apartment Road. It starts at Route 1 and continues east into the countryside. There are a few restaurants and the Grand Sauna along the road with apartments built behind it, but very few houses after this point. The Songbuk School Road then becomes the Samnam Highway which then winds through the countryside as Route 333 until it joins the road to the Songtan Interchange on Route 40.
The Jisan Stream (Cheon) Road intersects this road across from the Songbuk Elementary School. In the future, a new proposed highway -- the continuation of Rte 333 to connect to Rte 304 -- will intersect this road about a mile up the road at the base of the Burak Mountain.
JISAN-DONG AREA The Jisan-dong western boundary is the Kyongbu Railway. The northern boundary runs up Terminal Ridge Road to Jangmi Apartment Road until the Farmer's Bank at the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park). It then turns right and follows the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) until the intersection of Gym Park Road (Chae-euk Gonghweon Gil) and the Jisan Kunyong Apartments. The boundary turns left and goes until Route 1. It then turns left and follows Route 1 until the pedestrian overpass just before the Burak Mountain Road. The Jisan boundary then runs east behind the Library and Apartments along the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) until the Bukbu-Jungang Road (MSR-1 Bypass). It continues east until the Kyongbu Railway at the boundary of Shinjang 2-dong.
Map of Jisan Hill and Jangmi Apart (2005)
(Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
| NOTE: The pink area to the left is the Songtan area as it existed in the 1970s. The dark green area in the center is the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park). There is a road on the right of the hill which is the original outline of the hill. The areas that now have buildings were "gouged out" to provide fill for the area. The topmost gouge was at one time the Paradise Lake (reservoir) recreation area which was drained. (The Jisan Elementary School was the parking area with the "lake" stretching from the Hyundai Apartments to about halfway up the Kunyong Apartments and up to the Route 1 area.) At the topmost end of the hill is the Jangmi Apartment Road. Continuing to the left past the yellow MSR-1 Bypass Road is the Terminal Ridge Road that leads to the Osan AB Main Gate. To the far right, the yellow road is the new Route 1. |
Terminal Ridge Road This road was constructed to connect the Jwa-dong Road (MSR-1) to the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Songbuk Market Road) in 1952 when the MSR-1 Bypass Road was built by the Army Combat Engineers. This is the boundary between Songbuk-dong and Jisan-dong.
(1954) (Robert Furrer) (NOTE: The MSR-1 Bypass Road was connected to base by this road. Straight ahead, the Jangmi Apartment Road would be built. In the middle of the rice fields is the road that connected the Jisan Hill houses with the Are Konji-ni Village area. Later the area between the MSR-1 Bypass Road and the path would be filled in as the Songbuk-dong area expanded. There is a helicopter in the photo which is heading to the K-55 Main Gate which had the helipad next to it on the right.)
In the 1960s, land along the MSR-1 Bypass was reclaimed and buildings were on both sides of the MSR-1 Bypass. The land formed the Songbuk Farmers market and areas from the intersection until the Jisan Cheon (Stream) Bottom Road. However, up until the 1980s, the road dead-ended at the T-intersection and the area at the base of Jisan Hill remained rice fields and swamps.
Jangmi Apartment Road After the land was reclaimed in the mid-1985s, the Terminal Ridge Road connected to the Jangmi Apartment Road that ran from the Songbuk Market Road-Bukbu Jungang Route (MSR-1 Bypass) to the new Route 1 that was cut over the rise and ran straight until it rejoined the original MSR-1 in Jungang-dong. (NOTE: The road at the Songbuk dong House Office Road is the reclamation line. down to the Songbuk Market Road was reclaimed prior to the 1980s. All the areas from this road to Route 1 was reclaimed AFTER the mid-1980s.)
Intersection of Jangmi Apartment Road (2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan)
Between the MSR-1 Bypass (Songbuk Market Road) and Route 1, there are two roads that intersect the Jangmi Apartment Road. The first road closest to Songbuk Market Road follows the old farm path that connected Are Konji-ni Village and the farm houses at the base of the Jisan Hill. Later the area to the north would be reclaimed in the 1960s as businesses opened up on both sides of the MSR-1 Bypass. The road goes right to the base of Jisan Hill and then curves down to join MSR-1. The road that goes left continues straight until it joins the Jisan Stream (Cheon) Bottom Road.
The second road is a new road at the stop light followed along the base of the Jisan Hill and was used by the trucks to carry fill from the area carved out of Jisan Hill to reclaim the land that all the apartments now sit on. The fill for the reclaimed land came from the Jisan Hill where the Jisan Elementary School is now. The hillside was chopped into in the area that once was Paradise Lake (actually a reservoir) up on the hillside. In the quarried area, the Jisan Elementary and a small apartment complex was built. The road goes left and continues straight until it intersects the Jisan Stream (Cheon) Bottom Road. The road goes right past the Elementary School and curves up until it joins Route 1 at the end of the apartment complexes.
If one continues on Jangmi Apartment Road across Route 1, one will run into the Songbuk Elementary School on one's right and the intersection for the Jisan Stream (Cheon) Upper Road on one's left.
Chae-euk Gongwon Road (Gym-Exercise Road) In the 1970s, there was very little in the way of entertainment in the area, besides the bars and movies. The one place that was available for recreation was Paradise Lake (Boduchang). Actually a reservoir, it had row boats.
The reservoir was large and covered the area of the Hyundai Apartments and Kunyong Apartments -- up to about its entrance across from the Jisan Elementary School. This reservoir area ran in front of the Jisan Elementary School and the small stationary shop on the corner across the street. According to Mr. Kwon Oh-hoon Paradise Lake extended down to the corner of the intersection where there is a stationary shop and over to the Kunyong Apartments. Also supposedly this area of the hill was also known to contain charcoal kilns using the acacia trees in the area leading to the area being known as Sutkogae (Charcoal rise). (Source: Verbal Conversation Kalani O'Sullivan with Mr. Kwon Oh-hoon, owner of Dongsung Realty, on 23 Aug 2005.) Also the Jeomchon area is noted to have contained kilns for pottery making dating back to the 1920s when Hwang Kum-seok came to make pottery for sale. Soon many people came to the area to make kimchi pots. (Source: Songtan History) Mr. Kim Jae-won mentioned seeing on his way to school that the slope in front in front of the City Hall contained many kilns. According to him, these kilns were converted from charcoal manufacturing. (Source: Verbal Conversation with Mr. Kim Jae-won, owner of Aisa Hotel, on 26 Sep 2005.)
 
2005 (L) Defunct Amusement Park (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Rear of Jisan Elementary School (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: The weeping willows are seen to the far right on the boundary.)
The first of the apartments in Jisan-dong were the Jangmi Apartments (followed by the Jaeil Apartments) near the Jisan Hill (Songtan Park). After the Boduchang Reservoir (Paradise Lake) was drained, the Kunyong and Hyundai Apartments were built. However, on the reclaimed ground, the apartment height was restricted to only ten stories because the land was previously swamp land. Construction was complete in 1990. In the areas that were carved out of the Jisan Hill to be used as fill, the Miju and Jisan Hanming Apartments were built, along with the Jisan Elementary School. Construction was complete in 1995.
According to the owner of the stationary shop-toy store (Jisan Mungu Hwangu), Paradise Lake covered the Hyundai Apartment and Kunyong Apartment area up to about the entrance to the apartment complex across from the Jisan Elementary School. It then extended across what would become Route 1. (Source: Conversation Kalani O'Sullivan with owner Jisan Mungu-Hwangu Stationary Shop, 25 Aug 2005.) The stationary shop is a 1960s structure with a transite roof and because of its lower level, it lends credence to the lake being at the lower level.
Acacia trees were the predominant tree for the area. However, from general observation of the former Paradise Lake area, the acacia trees that are next to the road do NOT seem to be up the hill. This leads us to believe that the acacia trees were planted along the banks. However, this leads to another problem dealing with observations of trees in this area. In the 1976 photo of Paradise Lake, there appears to be weeping willows in the background. The only place that weeping willows are found in the area are along the boundary of the Jisan Elementary School. The now defunct children's park just above the Jisan Elementary School would appear to have sat on the edge of the "lake" as weeping willows in the past were only planted in areas where there was abundant water -- such as on the banks of reservoirs. (NOTE: Because the weeping willow root systems are invasive of any water pipes or plumbing nearby, these trees in recent years have been removed from most urban areas in recent years.)
Paradise Lake (Boduchang) (1976) (Harry Tezlaf) (NOTE: The weeping willows are the trees to the left in the photo.)
The area was accessible from the MSR-1 Bypass Road using what is known as the Chae-euk Gongwon Road (Gym Exercise Road). The Jisan Park hills (Songtan Park) contain hiking trails and exercise areas at the base of the hill. The MSR-1 side of the Jisan hill has a Buddhist temple of recent construction. This road now passes along the side of the Jisan Elementary School and the Jisan Kunyong Apartments and then intersects with Route 1.
In the mid-1980s, the Boduchang reservoir (Paradise Lake) was drained and the area dug out to be used as fill for the reclamation of the rice fields and swamps in the area. If one looks at the map of the Jisan Hill, one will see how a large piece was taken out of the hill.
Map of Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) area (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
 
2005 (L) Buddhist Temple on MSR-1 Bypass side of Jisan hill (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (R) Exercise area on MSR-1 Bypass side of Jisan hill (Aug 2005) (Kalani O'Sullivan) (NOTE: If one follows the first road to the right on Jangmi Apartment Road, it will lead to older farmer-style houses at the base of the hill. Turn left and the dirt road will lead to the temple and exercise areas.)
Jwa-dong Road (MSR-1) This is the continuation of the MSR-1 as one turns right at the overpass. This area was also called "Sutkogae" -- after the original ridgeline area of charcoal kilns. Older residents say the area was filled with brothels. By the 1970s, it had developed into a "black-only" bar area. After racial tensions exploded throughout the USFK -- and America as a whole -- off-limits sanctions and base actions closed the bar operations down and they moved to the Shinjang Mall area. The area became an area of small hardware or repair shops and later hotels.
All the overpasses connected to this section of the MSR-1. After this section, the houses dwindled off and it was mainly rice fields until Seojong-ni. (SEE MSR-1)
ICHUNG-DONG AREA Ichung-dong's boundary starts at Munhwakonghweon Road (Tradition (Culture) Road) then goes north immediately behind the Songtan Branch Offic of Pyeongtaek City Hall. It follows the Songbuk-dong boundary north and then east. It goes south until Route 340 and and continues south. It swings west until it meets the Jungang dong boundary in the Jangdang Jigu area and then crosses Route 1 until the Hyomyeon School Road and then turns north until Shinseon Road and then follows the Seojong-dong boundary until Route 1 at Munhwakonghweon Road (Tradition (Culture) Road). (PROBLEM: Pyeongtaek City no longer has a published "dong" map. The Songtan "dong" map in the 2001 Pyeongtaek Si Sa (History) is outdated. Ichung dong does NOT have a house office and the Songtan Branch of Pyeongtaek City Hall referred us to Jungang House Office. The Jungang-dong House Office provided the of the area map. Though resolving the Ichung-dong boundaries, it created more confusion as it shows Jangdang-dong as inside Jungang-dong. Also Seojong-dong is smaller. As of Aug 2005, we are still confused of the boundary areas. This area stil in research.)
Supposedly, Ichung is named for two Confucian scholars who were purported to have been born in the area. The first was named Cho Gwang-jo (1482-1519), a leader of the Salim faction, and the second was Oh Dal-jae. (Source: Songtan History)
Cho Gwang jo died because he wanted innovative social reforms, but he was opposed by the conservative Hongu faction. During the Gimyo Purge of Scholars in 1519, Cho was exiled to Neunseong-hyeon and forced to commit suicide because of false accusations. In 1568, he was given a posthumous name of Munjeong and an honorary rank of prime minister in 1569. The Juksu Academy was built to honor him in 1570. Oh Dal-jae advocated that Korea should rise up to fight China. For this, China had him killed. (NOTE: We cannot locate further information on him at this time.)
However, there is another reason. The name "Ichung" means "two loyalties." When Songtan City was founded in 1981, it did so by incorporating Seojong-myeon (district) into Songtan-eup (town). Songtan was seeking to distance itself from its roots as a "bar town" and sought to forge a new vision for the city. The significance is the TWO entities that were brought together -- Seojong and Songtan. This would recognize the fact that the two entities had grown up independent of the other. In 1981, Songtan was attempting to build one identity. Ichung was to be the centerpiece of this effort. Built on the border between Seojong and Songtan, it was to contain the new Civic Center and Leports Park. The Seojong Tourism Road that leads to City Hall was to be the center of business and banking for the area.
Another possible idea of the unification of North Korea and South Korea as reflected in the city symbol of a circle with an inverted "v" in it along with its City Bird. The City adopted the Chinese symbol of a "shi" (shaped like an inverted v) meaning "people." The circle represented "together." The City bird is the bidulgi (pigeon) the symbol of peace. The color green symbolized a young and healthy environment, while the white symbolized the Songtan people wearing the traditional color of white in their clothing.
However, the later incorporation of Songtan City into Pyongtaek City in 1995 changed these plans and Songtan started to lose its identity as a "city." On July 20, 1996, the border of Ichung-dong and Seojong-dong were adjusted with Seojong-dong gaining the larger share.
Munhwakonghweon Road (Tradition (Culture) Road) To the left of this road is the Songtan Branch of the Pyeongtaek City Hall. Behind these buildings is the Buraksan Mountain of Songbuk-dong. When Songtan City was established in 1981, the vision of the city was to have the "new" city rotate around the City Hall. "Ichung" means "Two Loyalties" and symbolized the melding of the boundaries of the two entities of Songtan and Seojong-ni into Ichung-dong. However, in 1995, Pyeongtaek and Songtan would merge and the the Songtan City Hall would become the Songtan Branch of the Pyeongtaek City Hall. Soon thereafter the identity of "Songtan" as a distinct area began to fade and merge into Pyeongtaek City.
Map of Ichung-dong (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
At the base of the Buraksan Mountain, the Munhwakonghweon Road heads east. To the right is the business area for Ichung-dong. Behind this are the new upscale apartments for the Songtan area and the new Ichung-dong Elementary School.
Straight ahead is the Leports Sports area with the Munhwakonghweon Civic Center next door. Following the road around behind the Munhwakonghweon Civic Center for a few miles, one comes to the Kyungmoon College (Seojong Junior College) -- that was founded in 1983.
Route 340 Route 340 runs through Ichung-dong and Sejong-dong. In Ichung-dong, the Songtan Exit is located. The road then runs to connect to Route 1 Bypass. It continues on and crosses the railroad tracks in Seojong-dong and continues on to Godeok myeon towards Anjung.
SEOJONG-NI AREA Seotan-myeon is the western boundary. The Seojong-dong area on the north runs from the Shinjang 2-dong area near the Pokchong Road down to Milwal Road to Jijang-ni Road just below the Taegwang Middle-High School marks the southern boundary. It then proceeds across the Kyongbu Railway to the Jisan-dong area near the Burak Mountain Road. It follows half-way up the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) behind the apartments on Burak Mountain Road and then crosses Route 1 to the boundary of Songbuk dong. It runs down Route 1 until the Songtan Branch of Pyeongtaek City Hall. It runs back to Route 1 and past the carved out area of the Hill next to Donggi-so Registry Road. It runs to the apex of the hill and behind the low-rise apartment buildings along Shinseon Road to Seojong-ni. (NOTE: The new apartment buildings in Seojong-ni and the business district along Seojong-ni Station Road is in Ichung-dong.) The boundary goes south following the Seojong Market Road to the east. At the point that the Seojong Market Road (MSR-1) and Shinseon Road (MSR-1 Bypass) rejoin, the boundary goes west across the Kyongbu line until the Seotan Myeon boundary. It turns north and continues until it meets the Shinjang 2-dong boundary. (NOTE: There is a possibility that Seojong is actually two dongs with the split being between the "old town" of Seojong-ni and the new areas created in the mid-1980s when Songtan became "Songtan City" and Seojong-myeon was joined to it.)
(PROBLEM: Pyeongtaek City no longer has a published "dong" map. The Songtan "dong" map in the 2001 Pyeongtaek Si Sa (History) is outdated. It appears that Ichung dong was created out of Songtan-dong area and portions of Jungang-dong expanded. In a visit to the Seojong-dong House Office, the map showing the area Seojong-dong did NOT indicate the area of Seojong-ni and Train Station. However, in the map provided by the Jungang-dong office, it shows Seojong-dong covering the Seojong-ni and Train Station area, but NOT the area above it along the Seojong Trouism Road area. As of Aug 2005, we are still confused of the boundary areas. The maps that are being provided by the separate dong house offices contain conflicting information -- because the maps provided are from different time periods. This area stil in research.)
Initially, the Seojong-ni area developed separately from the Songtan area. After the rise of the Shinjang-dong (Jae-Yok-dong) area in importance, growth was limited in the Seojong area during the 1960s. Houses remained sparce between the Seojong-ni and the Shinjang-dong area (Jae Yok-dong). The area became Seojong-myeon. Seojong-myeon was made up of the villages of (1) Cheoncheon (2) Jijang (3) Pokchang (4) Shinchang (5) Saguri; and (5) Wanjokpong (Wongok).
However, with the start of the Miracle of the Han River in the 1970s, more small manufacturing shops moved into the area. Along the MSR-1, three-four story concrete buildings were erected. The growth in the Seojong-ni area spread outwards towards the Shinjang-dong area and into the Jangang-dong area.
By the 1980s, the growth had reached the boundaries of the Shinjang area and more small-to-mid-sized factories moved into the area because of the lack of space in Seoul as well as the growth in Seoul south of the Youngdongpo area which was connected by the MSR-1. Three story apartment complexes were erected in the area. The streets in this area of expansion followed a grid pattern indicating post-1980s construction, but the streets were very narrow -- mainly because there were few cars in those days.
In 1981 Songtan-eup (town) changed to Songtan-shi (city) and Seojong-myeon was incorporated into Songtan. It became Seojong-dong and was divided into Seojong 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9. Songtan City Hall Building was moved from Jungang-dong to Seojeong-dong on November 13, 1986.
Ichung-dong was created north of Route 1 with the idea of melding both Songtan and Seojong-ni into one city with a new central administrative area. However, the later incorporation of Songtan City into Pyongtaek City in 1995 changed these plans and Songtan started to lose its identity as a "city." On July 20, 1996, the border of Ichung-dong and Seojong-dong were adjusted with Seojong-dong gaining the larger share.
Burak Mountain Road (Buraksan Gil) This 4-lane road runs between Route 1 and the Bukbu-Jungang Road (MSR-1 Bypass). The Route 1 intersection is near the pedestrian overpass and the Songtan Library on the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) side. The area halfway up the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) is in Seojong-dong based upon the old boundary of Seojong-myeon (district) when Songtan and Seojong-ni were separate entities.
On 1 July 1981, Songtan-eup (town) became Songtan-si (city) and Seojong-myeon was merged into the new Songtan City. This wide road was part of the master plan to make this area the new center of Songtan City. At that time, the national plan to combine Pyeongtaek and Songtan into an urban-agricultural city had not yet been surfaced, so the plans were centered on Songtan's merging of Seojong-ni and Songtan into one city.
However, on 10 May 1995, Songtan City was incorporated into the urban agricultural city of Pyeongtaek City and the Songtan started to lose its identity as a separate entity -- and what had been envisioned as the new Songtan City Hall in Ichung-dong became the Songtan Branch Office of the Pyeongtaek City Hall.
Seojong Tourism Road (Seojong Gyangyangtukgu Gil) The 4-lane Seojong Tourism Road connects the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Bukbu-Jungang Road) to Route 1 to Pyeongtaek. Designed as part of the master plan to be the commercial center of the new Songtan City in 1981. In the mid-1980s, this wide street grew to serve as the middle point in joining Seojong-myeon and Songtan-eup (town) into Songtan City. Along this road are the major banks, restaurants, and movie theater for the Songtan area. Directly across the street is the Songtan Branch of the Pyeongtaek City Hall.
As one heads up the road from the MSR-1 Bypass Road, behind the shops to the left are the 3-story apartment complex area built in the mid-1980s for the lower-income families. It stretches to Burak-Mountain Road. The streets were considered wide in the 1980s, but now they are congested because of the mass of cars and at times, barely passable. To the right, behind the shops along Seojong Road is an area of small shops and restaurants that stretches for a couple of blocks until Donggu-jae Mountain.
Seojong-dong Road & Donggi-So Road (Registry Office Road) Prior to 2005, the original MSR-1 (Jijang-ni Road-Samchon Street) was intersected by the Seojong-dong Road. As of 2005, the Seojong-dong Road no longer intersects the MSR-1 Bypass Road, but instead is an underpass of the Kyongbu Railway and connects to the Taegwang School Road on the other side of the tracks.
The Seojong-dong Road going east crosses the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Bukbu-Jungang Road) and becomes the Donggi-so Road. (NOTE: Part of Donggu-jae Mountain (at the corner of Donggi-So Road and Rte 1) was carved out to provide fill for the construction in the area. Some buildings now occupy this area.) In turn, the Donggi-so Road crosses Rte 1 and becomes the Munhwakonghweon Road.
The area between Seojeong-dong Road and Galbyeong-guggi Road is laid out on a grid indicating the construction in the mid-1980s. Construction before that followed the topography. This is the same time that Songtan City was beginning to fulfill its dream of being a united city by merging Songtan with Seojong-ni. This area was the middle ground.
Map of Ichung-dong area and Seojeong-dong area (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
Route 1 (Songtan Bypass) The Route 1 bypass continues through Songtan until it rejoins the original MSR-1 in Jungang-dong. The major apartment construction in Jungang-dong is scheduled to start opening up in 2006.
Pokchang Road The Milwal Road intersects this road which leads to the AFOC Gate on Hill 180. Built in 1990s, this road is the boundary of Seojong-dong area. The area to the south of Pokchong Road is a hill that extends down to Seojong-ni with no residences or farms. Pokchong Road starts at the intersection of Jijangkoji Street near the tracks and continues to the AFOC Gate. At its start near the railroad tracks, the area is not as tightly packed with housing but as one approaches the base of Hill 180, the houses become tightly packed. It continues over the Seotan-myeon boundary and then to the AFOC Gate.
Route 340 Heading west, Route 340 passes through Seojong-ni near the Seojong-ni Station and heads towards Anjung after crossing over the Kyongbu Railway. Heading east, Route 340 crosses Rte 1 in the Jangdang-dong area and continues southeast until it reaches the Songtan Exit of the Route 40.
Map of Seojong-ni area (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office) (NOTE: Hyomyeong School Road on right connects to the Route 1 to Pyeongtaek. Across the tracks, Godeok-myeon boundary for Songtan area.)
MSR-1 (Seojong Market Road) Up until the 1980s, the area between Songtan and Seojong-ni was mostly rice farms alongside the railroad tracks with scattered farm houses on the hills. In the 1980s, small five-story apartment buildings were constructed along the railroad track area for lower-income families as the growth of Songtan spread. In the mid-1980s, the area remained primarily residential with small manufacturing or hardware shops in the area. This area is in line with the Ichung-dong area to the south of the MSR-1 Bypass Road.
The original MSR-1 continued along after the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) directly down to Seojeong-ni and veer left into the Seojong Market Road. It would bypass the Seojong-ni Train Station which was a right cutoff. (See SEOJEONG-NI below for photos of train station roads.) Just above the Seojong Market Road was the original center of Seojong-ni as noted by the farm houses that were arranged in a circle. This would indicate a well in the center. ("Seojong" means "West well.")
Today, the road comes to a "Y" intersection. As one is approaching Seojong-ni, the right road is one-way from the Seojong-ni Train station towards Songtan. It appears to have been built in the 1970s judging from the materials used in the construction of the store front buildings. This does NOT appear to be the original MSR-1 but rather a road built later to improve the traffic flow around the station. The one-way street (Seojong Market Road) from the Seojong Station Road appears to be the original MSR-1.
The street goes past the market area. At the intersection, one can turn right to go to the Seojong-ni Train Station. Going straight ahead it crosses the Seojong Station Road. After one block, it rejoins with the MSR-1 Bypass Road (Shinseon Road) and the road becomes the Hyomyeon School Road. It continues straight until the Jungang-dong intersection with Rte 1 and then continues on to Pyeongtaek. From this point on, the Rte 1 follows the original MSR-1 going straight until it passes the Pyeongtaek Train Station.
MSR-1 Bypass Road (Shinseon Street) The MSR-1 Bypass Road continued along the base of the Jisan Park Hill (Songtan Park) straight ahead to Seojong-ni. Up to the 1980s, this area was mostly rice fields and farm houses and there were not many homes between Songtan and Seojong-ni.
However, in the mid-1980s, the growth from Seojong-ni started to spread towards Songtan -- at the same time Songtan was spreading towards Seojong-ni. In the 1985, Songtan incorporated Seojong-ni myeon as Songtan City.
As the MSR-1 Bypass Road approached Seojong-ni, it passes the cutoff to the right for Route 340 which leads to an overpass over the Kyongbu line. After this, it then continues straight until it converges on a four way split. To the left it goes to new high-rise apartments built in the 1990s. The road turns right to go directly to the Seojong-ni train station. If you go straight, it will come to a three-way intersection where the MSR-1 Bypass (Shinseon Road) rejoins the original MSR-1 to Pyeongtaek.
JUNGANG-DONG AREA NOTE: Jungang-dong has within it the Jangdang-dong Industrial area stretching along the west of Route 1 just before the Songtan Industrial Zone (Songtan-dong).
To south the boundary is Mokgok-dong, Pyeongtaek. It stretches from Songtan-dong just west of the Songtan Industrial area (Songtan-dong) on the west of the Kyongbu Railway. From the Songtan Industrial Zone, it crosses Rte 1 east and then north following the general curve of Kyongbu Railway. It goes north until Rte 340 and then turns east and continues to the intersection of Seojong Market Road (MSR-1) and Shinseon Road (MSR-1 Bypass). It then goes south following the general route of the Hyomyeon School Road until it reaches the Jangdang Jigu area. This is the boundary with Ichung-dong. It turns east and continues passes north of the hill area of Jangdang Jigu and then south to the Songtan Industrial area.
Route 1 (Jungang Highway 1-5) This connects the Ichung-dong area to the Jungang-dong area to the Jangdang-dong Industrial area.
MSR-1 Road Continuation (Hyomyeong School Road) The road follows through the Jungang area and intersects with Route 1 which then follows the original MSR-1 route to Pyeongtaek Train Station. (NOTE: Hyomyeong Middle School and High School are located in Jangdang-dong, Pyeongtaek-myeon and not Jungang-dong.)
Map of Route 1 (Jungang Road 4) from Burkaksan Road to Songtan Branch City Hall (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
Map of Route 1 (Jungang Road 4) past Seojong-ni area (Shinjang Road) (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
Map of Route 1 (Jungang Road 4) past Seojong-ni area (Shinjang Road) (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
SONGTAN-DONG AREA The Songtan-dong southern boundary is Mokgok-dong, Pyeongtaek City. As one enters the Songtan area from Pyeongtaek, the boundary of Songtan-dong is on the left of the Route 1 (Jungang Road 4). The Songtan Local Industrial Zone is on the right side of Route 1. Immediately after the Songtan Industrial Zone, the boundary goes across Rte 1 along the northern edge of the industrial zone. Route 40 passes through this industrial area. It follows the general route of Route 340 (to the south of it) to the east along the Ichung-dong boundary. It then goes south to the Mokgok-dong, Pyeongtaek and turns west until Route 1.
(PROBLEM: Pyeongtaek City no longer has a published "dong" map. The Songtan "dong" map in the 2001 Pyeongtaek Si Sa (History) is outdated. This map showed the Songtan dong boundary line going up behind the Ichung-dong Munhwakonghweon Civic Center and Leports Playground where it meets the boundary of the Songbuk-dong and runs to the west. However, it appears that Ichung dong was created out of Songtan-dong area and portions of Jungang-dong expanded. At this time, we are uncertain how much was split away to create other industrial zones (with special administrative dongs) in the Pyeongtaek City area. The maps that are being provided by the separate dong house offices contain conflicting information -- because the maps provided are from different time periods. As of Aug 2005, we are still confused of the boundary areas. This area stil in research.)
Songtan Industrial Complex Road (Songtan Kongdandae Ro) This is the local Songtan Industrial Complex. It located at the southern end of the Songtan area boundary. As one is driving to Songtan from Pyeongtaek on Route 1 (Jungang Road 4), the Songtan Industrial Complex is on the right. The complex opened in 1990.
Map of Route 1 (Jungang Road 3) to Songtan Industrial Complex (2005) (Map at Songbuk-dong House Office)
SEOTAN-MYEON AREA The Back Gate road (Doolittle Gate) starts in Seotan-myeon, but ends in Shinjang 1-dong. The Hill 180 Gate Road proceeds over the boundary into Seotan-myeon and continues past the AFOC Gate which is also in Seotan-myeon. The road turns right and becomes Chang-dong Road to the south of the base. Along the northern Seotan-myeon side of the base and the area is covered in rice fields. Further to the north in Seotan-myeon, Rte 304 will be connected in the future, but it will not be close to the base perimeter. Presently the road to Seotan from Rte 1 is a two-lane road that passes the Seotan Myeon house office to the left and then winds through scattered factories and farm houses until one reaches the Seotan Elementary School area.
Chang-dong Road From the Hill 180 Gate, one continues past Jangdong straight until the AFOC Gate and turn right to follow the perimeter. At the end of the perimeter, the road continues down to the Hwanggui intersection where if one goes straight ahead, you are at Kumgak-ri. If you turn left, you will head to Godeok-myeon and Route 340. Turning right one heads towards Hwangguji in Seotan-myeon. The road runs parallel with the base perimeter with rice fields on both sides of the road. There is only one village about halfway down the perimeter.
In 1952, the Jinwi River was almost touching the northern perimeter and the 839th EAB had to build a levee to prevent flooding of the base. The Jinwi River meandered to the south end of the runway. In the 1970s, the river was redirected after the massive flooding in 1971 that had the low-lying areas of the base -- including the runway -- under water. The Jinwi River joined the Hwangguji River further north. Later flood control projects straightened out the "coiled snake" appearance of the Jinwi River. Now the land to the south is leveled rice fields with the road running straight from the Intersection at Kumgak-ri until the south end of the runway where you can see the over-run lights. The gate at this end of the base is blocked by ROK riot police. Directly ahead is the Jinwi River. There is a bridge that crosses the Jinwi River and leads to Yangkam-myeon and then to Seotan, Seotan-myeon.
If one turns left, there is a country road that follows the path of the Jinwi River south.
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