History of Daejeon
From InsideDaejeon
Daejeon was a small agricultural village blessed by a beautiful landscape and the forking of two rivers. Known traditionally as HanBat, or "big field," Daejeon was on the margins of the great cultural capitals of Gongju and Cheongju. Daejeon was best known for its Confucian academies, like Dongchungdang Confucian Academy 동춘당 东春堂 which started the scholarly tradition here that lives on today. As the division of two rivers in center of a beautiful green plain surrounded by mountains, Daejeon had great appeal.
When the north-south train line from Busan to Seoul and Pyeongyang (The Gyeongbu Line) was finished in 1905, ushering in the modern age, Daejeon was selected over the ancient capitals of Gongju and Cheongju for the train station. Daejeon became Korea's logistics hub, and still it today, when the east-west Honam Line was completedin 1910 . The Honam Line linked Daejeon with Gwangju and the port of Mokpo in the South. From the 1930s Daejeon took off as a city, taking on the role of the new capital of Chungnam Province.
The region was officially titled as “Daejeon City” in 1949,” and with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Daejeon served temporarily as the capital of the Republic of Korea, before the North Korean forced the government to withdraw to Busan.
When the defense line holding against the North Koreans at Geum River north of Daejeon was broken through, both the South Korean and American forces intended to defend Daejeon, a strategic ground of transportations that went through the entire country. It was also North Korea’s primary objective to capture Daejeon. The Battle of Daejeon stands out in Korean history as a solid defense in the face of overwhelming attacking forces. The few days time earned by the defense of Daejeon made it possible to prepare a proper effort on the part of Busan that allowed the Republic of Korea to survive until the Americans arrived.
That noble defense, however, left Daejeon in complete ruins. People, often displaced, gathered in Daejeon thereafter as refugees, giving the city its cosmopolitan flavor as a city populated with people from all over the nation.
In the 1970s, President Park Cheong-hee decided to make Daejeon a center for science and technology. He did so because of the danger of an attack from North Korea at the time, reasoning that science should be moved away from the DMZ. In addition, Korea hoped to build a science park that would allow it to concentrate its full resources, much as Tsukuba did for Japan. KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) was the first research institute to be moved to Daejeon, followed by a panoply of other research institutes in the applied sciences.
Daejeon is one of the fastest growing cities in Korea and has an increasingly international population. The building of the government administrative complex, which includes sections of several ministries and the national patent office for Korea, is located in downtown Daejeon. The administrative significance of the city, along with its top-tier status as a research cluster, make it an attractive place to live and work.
A careful investigation of the buildings of Daejeon, and their configuration tells much about the city's history. The oldest buildings are the one-story wood houses, often with tiled roofs. They date back to the late nineteenth century in some cases and are best suited to the agricultural lifestyle of Korea before the 1970s. Of course some temples and confucian academies are even older, but they are rare. Most of the old wood houses are only visible behind more recent facades. often they are only visible when a demolition project makes them so.These houses are along narrow back streets, behind the main streets of Daejeon.
There are also houses with higher pitched roofs, vaguely reminient of German homes. These are products of the 1930s and 1940s, the height of the Japanese empire. Such masterpieces as the Chungnam Provincial offices are outstanding. It is a building worthy of attention with high ceilings and elegant windows.
Then there are lower two story brick buildings from the 1960s, that remain, although they are being replaced rapidly by the Korean need for the new. There is little interest in fixing up old buildings here. It was the New Village "Saemaeul" movement of the 1970s that transformed Daejeon. In this movement to turn Korea from an agricultural to an industrial nation, all wooden old buildings were to be replaced with concrete buildings, the standard brink and congrete houses with large concrete cornices and flat roofs are representative of that effort.
In the 1980s more sophisticated houses of brick and concrete were built, as were the first generation of tall apartment buildings, often with very little ornamentation. The 1990s brought more attractive apartment buildings and some glass and steel buildings like City Hall. Finally, the last five years has seen such ambitious efforts as the elegant Smart City apartments--the most expensive apartments in Daejeon on the North side of the Gapcheon River--and the Daedeok Techno Valley Development.
Korean house of the 1930s in Daejeon. These all-wood houses with minimal kitchens and bathrooms were considered modern at the time compared with what was available in the countryside. You can catch a glimpse of them between office buildings and on back streets, but they are disappearing quickly.
1960s house.
Korean office building of the 1970s in Daejeon. The most basic and most practical construction.
1970s apartment building. The most basic and unadorned.
House from the early 1980s. In the 1980s these villas were extremely popular in Korea. Today most people prefer apartments, even if they can afford a single home.
Daejeon's signature apartment complex just north of the Gapcheon River: Smart City. Completed in 2008.
