The Night Seoul Burned: Park Chung-hee's Industrial Gamble

In the mid-1970s, South Korea faced a paradox: rapid industrial growth was strangling its capital. This episode explores the ambitious and controversial demolition of Cheonggyecheon, a polluted open-air stream that had become home to informal markets, slums, and thousands of marginalized families. We trace how President Park Chung-hee’s government justified the project as a civic modernization effort, masking the sheer scale of displacement with promises of traffic relief and environmental beauty. Through the lens of urban planner Kim Chul-woo and the voices of displaced residents, we examine the human cost of the 'Miracle on the Han River.' The narrative delves into the political maneuvering that silenced opposition, the architectural ambition of the elevated highway, and the long-term ecological and social consequences of burying one of Seoul’s oldest waterways. This is not just a story about concrete and steel, but about how a nation redefined itself by literally paving over its past.

#Cheonggyecheon #ParkChungHee #SeoulHistory #UrbanPlanning #SouthKorea #Industrialization #KimChulWoo #Gwangtanchon #ElevatedHighway #SlumClearance #1970sKorea #HanRiverMiracle #EastAsianHistory #Infrastructure #Displacement #FexingoHistory #ModernKorea #History

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