Busan's Wartime Capital: 1023 Days of History
Busan's 1023 days as a wartime capital were not continuous. If you are trying to place the city in Korean War history, start with two separate periods, beginning on August 18, 1950, with a return to Seoul between them. The official description uses 1023 days, but the precise calculation remains disputed. How administration and daily life continued The connection between government offices, the port and refugee shelter helps explain Busan's role. Existing administrative buildings kept ministries working, while the port received troops and relief supplies from abroad. Relief involved shelter, food, transport and public health. Education continued in tent schools. In Ami-dong, refugees used cemetery structures for shelter; in Uam-dong, cattle sheds were divided into living spaces. These places show how daily needs were met under housing shortages, rather than through a single government housing scheme. People build timber-and-canvas shelters among gravestones on a hillside ab...