KOREA ENCOUNTERS Mount Gaehwa’s blossoms conceal scars of war, factional strife
Azaleas and forsythia blooming on Mount Gaehwa in southwestern Seoul, April 11, 2015. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
Walking the paths of Mount Gaehwa, the “Flower-Blooming Mountain” overlooking the Han River and Gimpo Airport, feels especially tranquil in spring, when its forested heights live up to their name. That sense of peacefulness deepens as one encounters the centuries-old Buddhist statues standing before temples tucked into its valleys.
A closer look at the mountain’s history, however, reveals turmoil and tragedy beneath its apparent tranquility.
In the late 1930s, as Japan’s war against China intensified, stone quarried from the mountain was used to build Gimpo Airbase, which was later occupied by American troops at the end of World War II. At the outset of the 1950-53 Korean War, the air base played a key role in evacuating U.S. embassy and military personnel.
Covering their escape were more than 1,100 troops from the 11th, 12th and 15th regiments of the 1st ROK Army Division, who had retreated and taken up defensive positions on the mountain on June 26, 1950, the day after North Korea’s invasion began. Four days later, cut off, out of ammunition and surrounded by superior numbers, they perished to the last man.
The centuries-old Maitreya bodhisattva statue stands at Mita Temple on Mount Gaehwa, April 11, 2023. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
Today, a monument to these loyal dead stands on Mount Gaehwa near Mita Temple. This temple was built in 1924 next to a Maitreya bodhisattva statue dating from the late Goryeo (918-1392) or early Joseon (1392-1910) period, recently discovered at the time. Destroyed during the fighting in 1950, the temple was rebuilt in the 1970s.
A monument stands to the 1st ROK Army Division, who died on Mount Gaehwa during the opening days of the 1950-53 Korean War, April 16, 2022. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
On the other side of the mountain stands Yaksa Temple, where a pagoda and stone Buddha statue, which likely date to the same period as the one at Mita Temple, remain. Though Yaksa Temple was also destroyed during the war, more is known about it because it appears in paintings by Jeong Seon from the 1740s, when he was serving as magistrate in the nearby prefectural seat of Yangcheon.
A stone Buddha statue stands in the main hall of Yaksa Temple on Mount Gaehwa, April 11, 2023. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
South of the temple lies a series of tombs, many flanked by stone statues of civil officials and marked by ornately carved tombstones. In summer, trees sway above the burial mounds as magpies sweep low overhead, lending the scene a sense of serenity at odds with the violent ends of some buried there.
Among them are members of the Pungsan Sim clan, a yangban family whose members had served as administrators since the late Goryeo period. In 1506, one of their number, Sim Jeong, achieved a great leap in status when he participated in the coup that brought down Joseon’s most notorious king, Yeongsangun, and replaced him with King Jungjong. This resulted in Sim being awarded the title of meritorious subject and catapulted him to the highest ranks of power, surrounded by other members of the “meritorious old guard” known as the Hungu faction.
Opposing them was a group known as the Sarim, or “forest of scholars,” led by the reformer Jo Gwang-jo. Their emphasis on moral governance and appointments based on virtue rather than pedigree posed a direct threat to Sim and his allies, leading to his dismissal from office. While he initially endured this setback, the dismissal of his son Sim Sa-son pushed his patience past the brink. In 1519, he joined with others to bring down the Sarim faction, resulting in the exile of many and the execution of Jo Gwang-jo, who was ordered by the king to drink poison.
Within a decade, Sim had risen to the highest offices of state, including the State Council, while his sons advanced within the bureaucracy. His fortunes soon reversed, however. In 1528, his son Sim Sa-son, then a commander along the Yalu River, was killed in an ambush by Jurchen forces and became the first of the family to be buried on Mount Gaehwa.
A statue and steles mark the grave of Sim Sa-son, who died fighting on Korea’s northern frontier in 1528, April 11, 2015. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
Within three years, this son would be joined beneath the soil of Mount Gaehwa by his father and brother as the same factional struggles that had raised Sim Jeong to power brought about his downfall.
More than half a century would pass before the family name was rehabilitated through the deeds of Sim Jeong’s grandson, Sim Su-gyeong, who, at the age of 76, organized “righteous armies” to fight Japanese forces during the Imjin War that began in 1592. One of the conflict’s key battles, the Battle of Haengju, was fought just across the river from Mount Gaehwa.
Historian Matt VanVolkenburg points toward the Han River from an outlook on Mount Gaehwa during a Royal Asiatic Society Korea tour, April 13, 2019. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
The aforementioned places will be visited, and many more stories about the area’s history will be shared, during an excursion by Royal Asiatic Society Korea this coming Saturday. Participation costs 30,000 won, or 25,000 won for RAS Korea members. Visit raskb.com for more information.
Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr, and co-author of "Called by Another Name: A Memoir of the Gwangju Uprising."