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Incheon, the country’s second-largest port after Busan, has played a key role in opening Korea to the world. / Korea Times |
By Andrei Lankov
Korea is a densely populated country, with large cities located but a
few dozen miles away from one another. In some cases, the cities have
merged, as is the case with Incheon and Seoul.
Nowadays, it is somewhat difficult to perceive Incheon as a city in its
own right. Indeed, despite having its own administration, for all
practical purposes it has become a part of the metropolitan city of
Seoul. However, this was not always the case. Until the 1980s Incheon
clearly had a separate identity.
Perhaps, the period between the ``opening of the ports’’ in 1884 and
the collapse of Korean sovereignty in 1910 can be seen as the most
interesting decades in Incheon’s history. Indeed, in those years the
city was a major test site for the Korean experiment with modernity, a
place where many an institution was first introduced.
Incheon, like many (indeed, nearly all) Korean cities, is itself a
product of colonial expansion. Before the arrival of the Westerners and
Japanese, the site of present-day Incheon was occupied by some fishing
villages, and until the early 1900s the city was better known by the
name of one such village, Jemulpo. It was not quite a backwater, since
Ganghwa Island was in the vicinity, and this island was home to
important strategic facilities, it was designated as the reserve
headquarters of the Korean government should there be a foreign
invasion.
However, the impressive Ganghwa fortress proved to be defenseless
against the 19th century Western navies, was taken twice (once by
French troops and once by U.S. marines), and was also where a treaty
with Japan was signed in 1876. The treaty, among other things, opened
Korea to international trade, and allowed foreigners to settle in
specially designated ports.
Incheon was one of the ports to be opened. This was nearly inevitable,
since it was located at the estuary of the Han River, and in the days
before the railways it meant that Incheon had a reliable and cheap
communication link to Seoul.
A boat trip to Seoul would take an entire day, but it was still faster
and more comfortable than travel by land. It was also the only way to
transport bulky commodities, like grain, in sufficient quantities.
Incheon, perhaps, was not the best possible place for a port, since
tides are exceptionally high in that area, and the numerous islands
created additional stress for navigators, but the convenience of its
location outweighed the other considerations.
In 1899 when Incheon was connected with Seoul by rail it was the first
railway in Korea. Recently, some Incheon residents have complained that
Incheon, rather than Seoul, should be seen as the birthplace of the
first Korean railway. There is force behind their rhetoric. Since the
locomotives arrived by sea, the first test journeys set out from
Incheon and terminated in Seoul, not vice versa.
Incheon was also the first place in Korea to acquire a telegraph
connection with the outside world. Nowadays it does not sound that
important, but back in the 1880s the ability of the electric telegraph
to send messages instantly was a miracle.
In February 1884, the first submarine cable connected Incheon with
Japan, providing a vital link between Korea’s own nascent telegraph
system and the global network. It is interesting to note that the
telegraph line between Seoul and Incheon became operational slightly
later, in August 1885.
In 1883 Incheon acquired its first modern bank, a sub-branch of Japan’s
First (or Dai-ichi) Bank. It was the second modern bank office to
operate in Korea. Incheon was also where the first Korean hotels
appeared, catering to the demands of foreign merchants who were
Westerners, Japanese and Chinese.
For three decades between 1880 and 1910 Incheon port handled more than
half of all Korean foreign trade. In those years international trade
skyrocketed, so Incheon port’s trade volume between 1884 and 1905
increased roughly forty-fold.
Throughout the pre-colonial and early colonial eras, exports from
Incheon included rice and beans as well as seafood (like dried squid, a
major Korean foreign trade item until the 1950s). Imports consisted of
cheap foreign clothes, some exotic goods like sugar, and items that
today would be described as ``hi-tech.’’
Until around 1900, more foreigners lived in Incheon than in Seoul.
These foreigners included a number of Westerners, but also included
sizeable Japanese and Chinese communities.
It was not incidental that in 1884 Incheon was where they built Korea’s
first (and probably only) Chinatown. The ethnic Chinese population,
whose numbers in Korea reached 90,000 by the end of the colonial era,
overwhelmingly came to Korea via Incheon. Most of them soon returned,
but some stayed for good, making the city the major center of the
Chinese population.
However, Incheon’s dominance did not last. In 1906-1907 a railway
between Seoul and Busan became operational, and soon the southeastern
port city of Busan took over most of the country’s foreign trade. Busan
harbor was indeed better protected and easier to navigate, and the
geographic proximity to Japan, the source or destination of most
shipping, also played a role. Still, Incheon has firmly remained the
second largest Korean port, and in 1950 its name became known across
the world as United Nations forces commanded by U.S. Army Gen. Douglas
MacArthur conducted an amphibious landing in the port to repulse
invading North Korean troops during the Korean War.
Prof. Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul.
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