일제 식민통치 흔적, 용산공원에 여전히 묻혀…“지표조사 서둘러야”

The historical significance of Seoul's Yancheon Army Headquarters and the Central Government Office's remnants in Yongsan Park still remain buried beneath. Experts argue that a thorough investigation into the location of these military sites is urgently needed. The Seoul Times has reported on the current state of the historic sites inside Yancheon Children's Park twice, highlighting the issue and pointing out the presence of the key military and central government remnants.

Renowned Korean modern architecture scholar Kim Jong-hun, a professor at Kyungwon University's Department of Architecture, lamented the presence of these remnants. A concrete bunker building from the time of the Pacific War stands among the foliage, as well as the remnants of a structure located beneath it. These buildings housed various rooms such as intelligence, operations, communication, alarm, and broadcasting rooms, and were used for Japanese military planning and operations.

After the war, the site was used by the U.S. 7th Division as a staging area, and subsequently by the Korean military until the Korean War. It is speculated that discussions on forced conscription of Korean youth and counterattacks against a potential Japanese invasion of the Korean Peninsula took place here. The site was later used as a U.S. military intelligence facility, and now remains largely unused.

The land is owned by the South Korean government, but the buildings and their transfer processes remain unresolved. The site is largely inaccessible to the public and even to researchers. The building alone is not enough to reveal the entire history of Japanese colonial rule. The neighboring Central Government Office site also had a similar fate.

Once a grand building with a neo-baroque style, it was destroyed during the Korean War and later demolished in the 1950s. The building housed a U.S. military hospital from the late 1950s until 2019, after which it became a government building. However, there has been no excavation or historical inquiry into the site. The complex history of Yongsan Park's transformation raises questions about the efforts to uncover the true history of the site.

Even though 58.4% of Yongsan Park has been returned to the public, the historical significance of the site continues to be overlooked.