Category: Historical Photos

The photo dated 1966 shows then home minister, Uhm Min-young, awarding guards of Dokdo, South Korea’s eastern islets. Despite South Korea effectively controlling Dokdo, Japan repeatedly claims the outcroppings as its territory. The National Archives of Korea on Nov. 11, 2015 released a series of old photos to show South Korea’s past 70 years. (Yonhap)

The photo dated 1965 shows a car manufacturing factory operated by Shinjin Automobiles, which produced vehicles locally with complete knockdown kits brought in from Toyota. The National Archives of Korea released it and other old photos on Nov. 11, 2015 to give a glimpse of the country’s past 70 years. (Yonhap)

This photo dated June 26, 1957, shows fishermen aboard the Jinam-ho, South Korea’s first overseas fishing boat, ahead of a voyage. People like them had served as an economic pillar for the country during hard times, sending home money earned from their catch. Government estimates show they remitted some US$87 million to South Korea from 1966-1987. Many of the fishermen died in foreign waters, and the fisheries ministry started a campaign in 2014 to bring back their remains. (Photo provided by the Korea Overseas Fisheries Association) (Yonhap)

A candidate running in local elections in 1952 is campaigning on a street in this photo included in a pictorial journal published by the National Archives of Korea on Oct. 27, 2015. The journal chronicles the history of Korea’s local elections starting in 1948 and includes photographs and documents obtained from U.N. archives. (Photo provided by the National Archives of Korea) (Yonhap)

In this photo provided on Oct. 20, 2015, by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, South Korean President Park Chung-hee (far L), the late father of incumbent President Park Geun-hye, and his wife Yook Young-su (2nd from R) pose for a photo with U.S. President Lyndon Johnson (far R) and his wife Lady Bird Johnson during Park’s visit to Washington, D.C. for talks with Johnson in 1965. The photo is part of a photo album that Lloyd Nelson Hand, a former U.S. chief of protocol under Johnson, gave the younger Park on Oct. 16, the last day of her visit to Washington for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama. (Yonhap)

This photo, provided by Dewey McLean, a U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War and currently geology professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and taken during the war, shows part of the well-preserved Fortress Wall, seen near Yongsan Middle School, on Mount Nam in Seoul. McLean served as a corporal for a transport unit of the U.S. 8th Army when he was stationed here from 1952-53. The 18.6-kilometer wall, which follows the ridges of four inner mountains surrounding the center of Seoul, was well-kept and underwent regular repairs throughout the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty. South Korea plans to apply for the ancient defensive wall to be given World Heritage Status in 2016. (Yonhap)

It is amazing the quality of Kodachrome photos from back in th day.  This image of an apple market in 1952 during the Korean War looks like it could have been taken with a modern digital camera.  Image link via Reddit Korea.

Then South Korean President Park Chung-hee (C) arrives in Canberra in 1968. At Park Chung-hee’s right is incumbent South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The junior Park accompanied her father to Australia at that time as a high school sophomore. (Photo courtesy of the National Archives of Korea)

Shown is a picture of the main street in front of the Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the royal Gyeongbok Palace, in Seoul taken in 1900. The picture is displayed at a photo exhibition at the Seoul Museum of History. (Yonhap)