Memories of Andong: 1920s to the present
In the mid-1920s, the ancient city of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, was undergoing rapid change. The city walls that once guarded it were nearly impossible to find and the south and west gates were gone — casualties of progress. The quiet, twisty and narrow streets — once the domain of pedestrians, oxen, pack ponies, bicycles and the occasional cart — were being straightened and widened. According to one missionary, the streets were becoming heavy with cart traffic and every day, about a dozen public automobiles — hired cars or taxis — provided transportation to nearby cities. The old city jail, with its thick mud walls, was replaced with a much larger modern prison. The old army barracks were converted into a school, and “as if by magic,” rice and grain cleaning establishments had sprung up. Barber shops, the missionary noted, were suddenly very conspicuous, which, given the city’s reputation for conservatism, was somewhat surprising. Only a couple of decades earlier, everyone had long hair and cutting it would have been a shocking defiance of the social order. Som
