Ex-Bamseom residents keep traditions

Former residents of Bamseom disembark on the island in the Han River last month. They have kept their traditions alive for almost five decades since they were moved out by the Park Chung-hee government in 1968. / Courtesy of Mapo District Office

By Kim Jae-won

Yeouido is one of the busiest business districts in Seoul, being the home of Korea’s stock exchange and many brokerage houses. The Park Chung-hee government developed the island in the Han River in the late 1960s, aiming to make it Korea’s Wall Street.

But, few people know that the business area was by sacrificing a small island called Bamseom. The military regime evacuated 443 residents from there in 1968 to use the land’s soil for the development of Yeouido. They were forced to move to the slopes of Mount Wawoo in Mapo, western Seoul.

Almost five decades after the evacuation, some of them visited the island ― which is now the home of birds, trees and plants ― during the Chuseok holidays last month. They vividly recalled their memories of the island.

“In the winter we went to school by walking across the frozen river. And in the summer, we enjoyed swimming and jumping into the river. Sometimes, I want to go back to the times. I miss those times a lot,” Park Eun-sook, who lived on the island for 12 years from 1948 to 1960, told TBS.

Revisiting their former home was hosted by the Mapo District Office for the last few years during the Chuseok holidays.

Kwon Hyeok-hee, a researcher at the University of Seoul, said the former Bamseom residents have kept their traditions alive, even fifty years after they were forced to move from their home.

“They still build their own houses even though their environment has changed drastically from an island to the mountainside,” wrote Kwon in his Ph.D. thesis in 2013. He earned a doctorate from Seoul National University with the thesis about the Bamseom, people.

“They have also kept a community history called Bugundanggut which has played a key role in holding them together.”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has given support to keep this alive by registering it as a cultural heritage.

Kwon said it explains the history of the development under the military regime and at the same time shows the spirit and power of the Bamseom residents who have kept their culture alive since then.

“The liturgy shows that they are acting aggressively as players in their history, making their history alive in the present, so it will influence on the future.”