02. Chuncheon split north and south.

In early September, about 15 days after Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the Soviet occupation continued to the 38th parallel in northern Chuncheon, Gangwon-do.

 

From this time until the Korean War in 1950,

 

The northern part of Chuncheon was divided into North Korean regions. On the other hand, downtown Chuncheon belonged to the South Korean region under the jurisdiction of the U.S. military.

 

Chuncheon, which had been the same living area for a long time, was divided into the artificial power of the United States and the Soviet Union.

 

Already, the Soviet Union blocked the Gyeongui Line and Gyeongwon Line connecting the two Koreas on the 38th line and stopped the train operation, blocking the traffic route between the two Koreas.

 

In addition, the Soviet army not only looted food and facilities but dismantled various facilities built during the Japanese colonial era period and took them to the Soviet Union.

 

 

 

On September 2, Soviet troops crossed the 38th parallel and entered downtown Chuncheon, an area scheduled to be in charge of the U.S. military.

 

At this time, the U.S. military had not yet landed on the Korean Peninsula. 

 

Soviet troops entering downtown Chuncheon demanded the transfer of administrative and police powers from the Gangwon-do Provincial Office.

 

However, Japanese officials who managed the Gangwon region south of the 38th parallel refused to do so after liberation until the U.S. military came in.

 

The day the U.S. military entered the South Korean region, south of the 38th parallel, was September 9, 1945. It was September 20 that the U.S. military entered Chuncheon. The tragedy of division separated the village from the village.

 

Immediately after liberation, human and material exchanges between the two Koreas were controlled, but the U.S. and the Soviet Union allowed limited inter-Korean exchanges, but some of them came and went, and barter was carried out.

 

Official inter-Korean trade began in May 1947 with the agreement of the U.S. and Soviet forces and lasted about two years until the trade was banned in March 1949. Such inter-Korean trade was also implemented in northern Chuncheon.

 

South Korean soldiers who went to North Korea.

And the battle of Mojingyo Bridge.

 

After the division, two governments were established on the Korean Peninsula. The army was also made. And large and small disputes continued near the border.

Meanwhile, in May 1949, two battalions of the 8th Regiment of the South Korean military stationed in Chuncheon and Hongcheon escaped to North Korea.

 

These were left-wing soldiers who had socialist ideas in the Korean military.

 

Those who felt a crisis over the eradication of left-wing forces in the South Korean military crossed the border and went north.

 

The Korean military, which newly entered Chuncheon, maintained a position near the border and prepared for enemy invasion.

 

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean military crossed the 38th parallel and attacked South Korea. It was the outbreak of the Korean War.

 

Chuncheon, which was located in the 38th parallel, was caught up in the middle of the war.

 

The Korean War in Chuncheon begins on a bridge called Mojingyo Bridge.

 

The North Korean military focused its firepower on this bridge. Unfortunately, the South Korean military gave up Mojingyo Bridge to the North Korean military.