Geoje Porosuyongso

This was the Geoje Porosuyongso — a prisoner-of-war camp — where communist forces captured by United Nations troops during the Korean War were held. From November 1950, the camp was built across some 3.6 million pyeong (roughly 11.9 million square metres) in districts including Gohyeon, Sangdong, Yongsan, Yangjeong, Suwol, Haemyeong and Jeosan, and at its peak held up to 173,000 prisoners: 150,000 soldiers of the North Korean People's Army, 20,000 Chinese communist soldiers, and 3,000 female prisoners and irregular combatants. Bloody clashes frequently broke out here between anti-communist and pro-communist prisoners, and on 7 May 1952 the camp commandant, Brigadier General Dodd, was taken hostage in a notorious incident. The camp was closed following the Armistice Agreement of 27 July 1953, and pro-communist prisoners were sent north through Panmunjeom. Today only a few of the camp's original buildings survive here and there, testifying to conditions at the time. As a site that conveys the tragedy of the Korean War and serves as a place of national historical education, it has been designated and is managed as a Cultural Heritage Material.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Geoje, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료