왜관, Waegwan, the name of the administrative district to the north of Daegu, is located next to the Nakdong River, connected by three bridges. Two bridges among them were completed by Japanese colonialists for military purposes, the older one was built in 1905. Waegwan means literally the official residence for the Japanese during Joseon dynasty. There used to be a Japanese settlement in Waegwan.
During the Korean War in the summer of 1950, the area around Waegwan was one of the most intense battlefields as Communist North Korean forces attempted to cross the river and push south through Waegwan toward Daegu. ROK and US forces formed a defensive line along the banks of the Nakdong River in order to deter the enemy's advance. Then, two spans of the bridges were destroyed by the explosion under the order of a commander of the US army to stop the suspicious refugees apparently believed to be North Korean soldiers disguised in civilian clothes from crossing the river.
In 1953, the Korean war, the first major armed clash between the free world and communist forces ended with a truce, claiming millions of lives and causing incalculable economic and social damage. The photo shows the bridge built in 1905, which was repaired temporally and opened for public traffic after the war. It was reinforced again and reopened only for pedestrians in 1993.
