A steam locomotive, which sat outside Jangdan Station in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for about 56 years after the Korean War, was moved to Imjingak Pavilion, south of the truce village of Panmunjeom for preservation work after it was designated as a cultural property in 2004. The train, which was partially blown up during the Korean War leaving just the engine, will be relocated to Jangdan Station again after the preservation work. / Joint Press Corps





By Shim Hyun-chul
Staff Reporter

The Cultural Heritage Administration will designate six former battlefields during the Korean War (1950-53) as cultural heritage sites in August before marking the 60th anniversary of the war in 2010.

This is the first time to designate war-related sites as cultural properties in order to preserve them as historical places.

The six designated properties are Gimcheon's Buhang Police Box Watch Tower, a 7-meter-high concrete building built by both police and civilians to repel a North Korean attack; Waegwan Railway Bridge which was partially blown up to block a North Korean attack in 1950 and restored in the 1990s; Paju's Battle Monument of Seolmari which was built in 1957 to commemorate British troops who took massive casualties fighting the North Koreans and Chinese; Seogwipo's Old ROK Army Training Center No. 1, which trained rookies who were posted to units on the front line; Yeoncheon's UN Forces Cremation site where the UN soldiers who died in the brutal battles of the Western Corridor were cremated; and Seogwipo's ROK Marine Corps Training Center where about 3,000 ROK Marines who participated in the Incheon Landing were trained.

The war sites will receive government support when the structures or the sites need repairs, along with tax benefits.


shim@koreatimes.co.kr