Abandoned Places in South Korea

South Korea's abandoned places reflect the country's extraordinary transformation from one of the world's poorest nations to one of its most technologically advanced economies in the space of a single generation. The rapid pace of development has left behind a landscape of abandoned places that ranges from traditional hanok villages to Cold War-era military installations, from the ruins of Japanese colonial industry to the ghost towns of the country's declining rural regions.

The abandoned villages of rural South Korea represent the most widespread category of abandonment. The country's rapid urbanization — from a predominantly rural society in the 1950s to one of the world's most urbanized nations today — has left hundreds of traditional villages empty. These abandoned hanok villages, with their distinctive curved tile roofs and courtyard layouts, represent a traditional way of life that has largely disappeared. Some have been preserved as heritage sites or converted to cultural tourism, but many more continue to deteriorate.

South Korea's demilitarized zone with North Korea contains some of the country's most dramatic abandoned places. The village of Daeseong-dong, within the DMZ on the South Korean side, is one of only two inhabited villages in the zone. The abandoned village of Panmunjom, site of the 1953 armistice negotiations, stands frozen in time on the border between the two Koreas. The abandoned resort of Mount Kumgang, built by South Korean companies in the 1990s as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation and closed in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot by North Korean soldiers, represents a more recent and politically charged form of abandonment.

The country's industrial heritage includes the abandoned factories and shipyards of the post-war economic miracle. The Incheon industrial district, once the center of South Korea's light manufacturing industry, has been largely abandoned as production moved to cheaper locations. The shipyards of Ulsan and Geoje, which made South Korea the world's largest shipbuilder, have been partially abandoned as the industry has declined.