Holiday Journal

• Start
•  
• China Town
•  
• Sinseungbanjeom
•  
• Street Food
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• Donghwa Village
•  
• Songwoldong
•  
• Wolmido
•  
• Orakai
•  
• Sinbokgwan
•  
• Central Park
•  
• Akino Kitchen
•  
• Museums
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• Finish

Our last places to visit in Incheon are the first public museum in Korea ‘Incheon Metropolitan City Museum’ and ‘The Memorial Hall For Incheon Landing Operation’ built to praise the noble spirit of the youth in Korea and friendly nations who were sacrificed during Incheon Landing Operation. Two buildings are right next to each other so you can take a look around at once and we were kinda relieved (?) because there was no parking fee.

There are about 80 municipal museums in Korea which means there is at least one in small and medium-sized cities. No matter where you travel, I say you should drop by museum in each region if you have time. I say so because there’s no better place to see the history of each region than the museum. Shall we take a look?

I’ll show you The Memorial Hall For Incheon Landing Operation first. After I take a look here, there’s a path leading to the museum so it’s better to park here. In front of the hall, there’s a LVT(Landing Vehicle Tracked) used during the Korean War, anti-aircraft machine guns used by the North Korean army, combat planes and tanks displayed. They look cool here but imagine how scary it would look to the soldiers who saw them in the war.

The structures were grand and solemn in a big yard. You’d better not make a noise or fuss in a place honoring the spirits of dead heroes. I’ll get inside the memorial hall quietly.

I went up a little and saw the hall to the right. Incheon Landing Operation refers to the operation that the U.S. General MacArthur landed in Incheon, center of the enemy’s base, on September 15 after Korean military moved its capital to Busan temporarily putting in a defensive corner to Nakdong River, Gyeongsangnam-do in two months and ten days since the war started in 1950 and turned the tide of the war. After this operation, Korean army approached the Amnokgang River but retreated after Chinese human-wave strategy and reached a cease-fire agreement.

The memorial hall has records about the initial idea and development stage of Incheon Landing Operation along with pictures and relics. If you take time to read comments on the photos, you’ll feel like you’re watching a heart-breaking movie.

And the clothes and weapons used by the army during the war were displayed as well. All of them were used in the Korean War.

These are the clothes and equipment used by the American army during Incheon Landing Operation. These are all donated by company commander of US Marine Corps who joined the war. I could also see a compass watch and canon camera as well.

This reminds me of how much our ancestors have bled for freedom. Now I understand what ‘freedom is not free’ means. This is Taegeukgi signed by Marine Corps 3rd and 4th teams.

And this is Japanese national flag. These are signatures by Japanese student soldiers wishing their return after the war. A lot of Japanese living in Korea volunteered in the Korean War wishing for their neighbors’ return. And the yellow letters are written by fellow soldiers who participated in the war.

I paid silent tribute to tower of freedom for a while and followed the left path to the museum.

There’s a flame under the tower of freedom that does not blown out and I think it means it will burn until two countries become one. One flame just came into my heart.

This is Incheon Metropolitan City Museum. It was open on April 1, 1946 as the first public museum in Korea. You can see the complicated history of Incheon here at a glance and it’s used as a place for communicating with the past for citizens. And now, there was another special display prepared by Chinese living in Incheon China Town.

As I entered, there were relics from Old Stone Age/New Stone Age obtained in Incheon. I moved to the modern history where there are stories. The document is Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 (above) and the bottom one is the abstract recording the process of agreement by commercial and cultural minister during the treaty. For your information, Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 says that Japanese coerced us to open Busan, Wonsan and Incheon ports to foreign countries. And it is an agreement that Japan would have extraterritoriality in Joseon, acceptance of Japanese currency in Joseon, measurement of Joseon land, and custom-free trades.

It has interesting documents here as well. Upper left is passport that stopover at Incheon port which was issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korean Empire. It’s kind of certificate that approves going abroad. Upper right document is customs declaration form that says importing needles from a company in Germany in 1980. I guess the process of trade and travel was similar at the time with documents.

Wow, look at these bulbs. This light bulb was actually used in 1920 and one of filament was flower shape and the other is like ward of cotton. Really beautiful. Can’t they make like these today? Pretty, huh?

It’s fun to see things that were used when the port was open. Watches, typewriter, kettle and camera, all of them are unique and mysterious.

You’ve seen the customs declaration form for importing needles from Germany right? The needles are there in the middle. Person from Joseon era drawn on the pamphlet in the lower right corner is also novel. Assuming from the product, it looks like it’s cream extracted from some animals. ^^*

What is this for? Looks funky. This is a kind of fire engine that is called a pump which was imported into Korea after opening the port and it was actually used to put out the fire in the court of Korean Empire. You’ve got to put pressure on both sides to lift water up.

There’s a place where reenacts Incheon streets at the time so I’ll take a photo before I move to the next display. ^^*

I found so many interesting displays in Incheon Metropolitan City Museum. Upper left one is a poster that says about recruiting people parceling out houses in littoral district in Songdo in 1937. Probably an ad for making housing distribution before building the houses. The poster in the lower right is an ad of Geumgang soju of JoilYangjo corporation, the first soju company in Korea in 1919. They put a lunar calendar in the ad that people won’t dump it. ^^*

What is this now? Isn’t this binyeo(Korean traditional ornamental hairpin) that was on SBS drama ? Do Min-jun, the main character, has kept this to remember his past love and the museum scene in the drama was filmed here. I’m told that the staff donated this binyeo to this museum. It’s not relics so it couldn’t be displayed inside but it was in the hallway with the photo zone. And rumor says that it has attracted so many Chinese tourists. ^^*

Remember this? The scene where Do Min-jun in the ‘My Love From the Star’ broke the museum windows with magic and startled Cheon Song-ee! It’s filmed here.

In one corner there are handicrafts like ceramics, binyeos and ornamental silver knives from the Koryo Dynasty in the 12th century to Joseon Dynasty in the 19th century and art pieces including the Painting of Oksun Mountain Peak by Kim Hong-do, the representative painter of Joseon Dynasty era, and great writings written by Chusa Kim Jeong-hee. I cannot show you all but those who are interested in art would find this visit so helpful. This is all provided by Incheon-si for free. ^^*

Now, I’m going to show you the special exhibition by Chinese living in China Town in Korea. Why are there butcher’s knives, tailor’s shears in tailor’s shop and razor at a barbershop displayed? There’s a saying in Korea ‘Hwagyosamdo (華僑三刀)’. It means three kinds of knives can express the sorrow of Chinese who move to Korea and work in a restaurant(Chinese restaurant), barbershop and tailor’s shop(laundry).

What is this one? Have you heard a word ‘Jjanggae’ that belittles Chinese people? Jjanggae is falsely interpreted from Janggwe(掌櫃), which refers to a container where Chinese merchant collects money. A manager in a store always carried this item and probably it’s because it sounds like ‘Jangkkui’ in Chinese. This one was actually used in Japanese colonial era.

The best way to know the history of a city is to visit the municipal museum in that region. Most of municipal museums are operated for free. And it’s good to see the scenery and try nice restaurants in each city but knowing about the city better would be more beneficial. So I say try it!

Address : 26, Cheongryang-ro 160beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon (인천광역시 연수구 청량로 160번길 26)
Telephone : 032-440-6750
Opening Hours : 09:00 ~ 16:00
Closed : Mondays (But if Monday is a national holiday, it’s closed on the next day.), January 1st

After my 2-day trip to Incheon …How was your 2-day trip to Incheon with me? Incheon has quite many and various historical places. Especially, you cannot discuss modern history if you don’t include Incheon. This is the starting point of Japanese colonial era as they opened the port to Japanese forces and where Incheon Landing Operation started that eventually ended the Korean War, fratricidal war. It had ocean that I could enjoy fresh and delicious seafood, and the scenery of the city and nature was beautiful as well. I am sure there are other beautiful places than we’ve been today but I would be happy to know that you find my post helpful for your trip. Happy trip to Incheon.