Geoje Island

I had an extra couple of vacation days, so I decided to take a trip to Goje Island, on the southern coast, near Busan. It's a big island, but the main attraction is the POW Camp Museum.

Monument in front of the Museum

During the war, Goje was home to thousands of North Korean and Chinese prisoners of war. It was the largest POW camp the allies used. Normally this wouldn't be different from any other war, except for the fact that the camp essentially became another front in the war.

Diorama of the camp--the small structures flanking the mountain are the camps

The war of movement and maneuver ended by the spring of 1951. After that, the Korean war descended into trench warfare reminiscent of World War I. Why did the war continue? There were armistice negotiations starting in 1951, but the war lasted until the summer of 1953. The issue that the two sides couldn't agree on was prisoner repatriation; in other words, what to do with those POW's who were not communists and wanted to stay in S. Korea. The communists wanted everyone returned, but the Allies refused, knowing that anti-communist POW's would be murdered.

As the negotiations dragged on, the prisoners on Goje became more restless. This was not mere coincidence--by this time the communists went so far as to order some of their men to deliberately be captured by the Allies so they could pass messages to the leaders in the camps at Goje. Finally, in May 1952, the prisoners grew so bold as to actually capture and hold the commanding general of the camp. He was held for 4 days before being released. Later the US forcibly restored order.

PS--Ignore the date on the pictures

Notice there is no North or South---just Korea

Sorry, Alaska and Hawaii, you don't count

I wouldn't be able to fit inside

Diorama of the camp

Guard Headquarters

Medicine Hut

Outdoor Kitchen

Outdoor Fireplace (I think)

Indoor Kitchen--the large bowls are for cooking rice

Entrance to the outdoor exhibit

Water tower

My dinner--bulgogi rice with kimchi, bean sprouts, squid(?) and soup

As you can see, the weather was lousy




A walk-through of the camp reconstruction. It's pretty self-explanatory. No, I don't know what the loudspeaker is playing.