Part of the mission of our trip was to immerse ourselves in Korean culture. So we went to this museum in Incheon, situated on top of a hill — Sudoguksan Museum of Housing and Living.

In Korean, “sudoguk” of sudoguksan means “waterworks.” The mountain was originally called “Songnims” which means “pine tree forest.” The name was change to Sudoguksan (waterworks mountain) around 1909 when Korea opened its port. The opening of the port brought with it an increase in population and shipping, which led to a shortage in water supply. The government constructed a water pipeline linking Incheon and Noryangjin in Seoul, and built a reservoir near the top of the mountain, giving the town the much needed water and the name “waterworks.”

In this museum, they reconstructed the ways of living the people had back then in the early 1900’s, before and after the war. They rebuilt typical Korean homes, with typical appliances, with wax human figures in typical Korean wardrobe in their time. Being one of the most developed countries in the world, it’s amazing to see how Korea once was and what it is now.

An early 1900’s map

Coming down from Sudoguksan Mountain