일제시기 동대문 일대의 사회･경제적 개발과 특징

Abstract

During the Japanese occupation, the Dongdaemun area played a variety of roles in its socio-economic development. First, the Dongdaemun area functioned as a nodal point for public transportation. The phenomenon of suburbanization in Gyeongseong, which separated living and working areas, became more and more prominent over time. As a result, Dongdaemun area, where the main road connecting the city and the countryside passes through, and where the circular line of the railroad car and the outlying routes diverge, emerged as a center for regional transportation. With a large number of people traveling to and from the city center and the eastern part of the city, Dongdaemun area boasted the largest traffic volume of any major intersection in Gyeongseong. Second, the Dongdaemun area, where Dongdaemun Market is located, was a stronghold of Korean commerce. Established in 1905, Dongdaemun Market expanded its area by purchasing surrounding land and expanding the number of stores, along with raising the capital of the operating company, Gwangjang Corporation. The number of merchants moving into Dongdaemun Market increased, and the number of hawkers operating in the open-air market reached hundreds. After experiencing a period of stagnation in the 1920s due to competition from newly emerging wholesale and retail markets, Dongdaemun Market boomed in the late 1930s as the only market for Koreans when other wholesale markets were abolished. Third, Dongdaemun area served as the frontline of cultural control. From the 1920s onward, Dongdaemun area served as the physical foundation of colonial power. This was not only because of its large size as a government- owned land, but also because of its convenient transportation and flat terrain. Various educational institutions and social facilities were built here. Typical examples of the former were the Gyeongseong Pharmacy College, and the Gyeongseong Normal School, the pinnacle of the primary teacher training system. The latter included the Public Housing, which was established as a housing measure for poor Koreans, Gyeongseong Stadium, which was built as a symbol of the emperor's ideology, and Gyeongseong Civil Hospital, which aimed to improve the poor healthcare conditions of those with low incomes.