National Museum of Korean Contemporary History

In earlier times, coal served as a driver of the nation’s industrial growth and an important fuel source for its citizens, but now the era of coal’s dominance is fading. The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, in cooperation with the Mungyeong, Boryeong and Taebaek Coal Museums, is taking a look back on the time when Korea’s coal industry was flourishing brightly.

Korea lacks many underground natural resources, and coal is the only economically viable fossil fuel available. Thus coal represented an important driver of domestic industry and the large-scale increase in its extraction was very important for the country as a whole. Coal is formed after plant matter is subjected to heat and pressure underground for millions of years. Meanwhile, the coal miners labored long hours without rest within a sweltering and dark environment, contributing to the economic advancement of their nation.

Korea’s coal industry has undergone structural adjustments with changing times, and coal mining has slowly faded from the scene. The present exhibition seeks to provide visitors with a chance to contemplate the best ways to remember and preserve the nation’s coal industry legacy.

Mungyeong Coal Museum

Mungyeong occupies a key position in Korean coal industry history. Mines were developed with the onset of national modernization, and Mungyeong remained the second largest coalfield region in Korea for the past half-century. As such, Mungyeong serves as both a lynchpin for modern Korean history as well as the birthplace of the history of coal in Korea. Korea’s coal industry waned with the nation’s industrial advancement and changes in energy use patterns. In 1994, the Mungyeong region saw its last operation, Eunseong Coal Mine, close, and the traces of this activity faded into history.

This joint exhibition traces the course of the coal industry, which played a pivotal role in Korea’s economic advancement. The presentation conveys gratitude toward the lives led by the miners who lived and died as well as laughed and cried together in their labors on the front lines of the national economic revival effort. Visitors can look forward to a valuable opportunity to reflect once more on the significance and historical role played by the mining industry in the Mungyeong region.

Boryeong Coal Museum

“Does Boryeong actually have coal mines?” is an often heard question because Koreans today associate this city as a well-known tourist destination for the Boryeong the Mud Festival. However, in the past Boryeong was the larges coal town in Chungcheongnam-do.

Boryeong’s coal industry was launched at the end of the 1940s and led coal-fired power generation to its peak period during the 1980s. The operation was then shut down in 1994. Boryeong was originally a typical farming and fishing village, suddenly became a booming coal town, and then changed into a tourist city shortly after the coal mines were closed. Efforts have been made to preserve the coal mining legacy, but the public memory of Boryeong, the coal town has faded amidst the radical changes and passage of time.

This joint special exhibition looks upon coal, an energy source that has powered the world, and the coal era here in Korea. Hopefully, this is a chance for the regions in Korea where the mines have closed to work together to preserve the legacy of the coal industry in a systematic and logical manner. The era of coal is not yet over.

Taebaek Coal Museum

Ask people what the name “Taebaek” brings to mind, and may will say coal, charcoal, briquettes, miners, and coal mines. Taebaek has been Korea’s largest producer of coal, which has served as a fuel for people in their everyday lives as well as a critical component for powering the nation’s key industries. The government’s enactment of coal industry rationalization policies has led to the closure of almost all domestic mines, yet vestiges of the industry and feelings about it linger on in various localities. Some people harbor painful memories of laboring deep underground, while others recall happy times playing around near the mines as children.

Korea Coal Corporation, Taebaek’s last coal producer, will become history at the end of this coming June. The present joint special exhibition is an opportunity for us to recall the sacrifices and dedication of the miners who were referred to as “soldiers of industry,” as well as the coal that served as fuel for the people and the cornerstone of the nation’s economic development in former times.

Part I: Let’s Revive the Economy by Increasing Coal Output

Following Liberation in 1945, the Korean Peninsula was divided north and south, and coal reserves were extremely sparse on the southern half, which suffered a severe fuel shortage. The Republic of Korea was therefore faced with the task of doing whatever was necessary to increase coal production. Development funds provided through the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA) program after the Korean War were used to rebuild coal mining facilities and construct new rail lines to transport the coal, thereby laying the groundwork for a thriving domestic coal industry. This allowed the nation to become self-sufficient in its coal supply. A surge in coal prices in 1966 prompted the government to switch over to petroleum as the mainstay of its fuel policy. This move plunged the domestic coal industry into a crisis, but the 1stOil Shock, which occurred in 1973, caused the government to again pursue a policy of increased coal production.

The Economic Legend Begins with the Coal Era The development of Korean coal mining began at the Pyeongyang Colliery in 1903. After Japan usurped Korea’s sovereign rights, the operation was put under the control of the Japanese Department of the Navy, and Korean natural resources were targeted for exploitation. The Japanese imperial government continued to conduct geological surveys and systematically ascertained the locations of natural resource reserves on the Peninsula. Coal mining rights were returned to Koreas after Liberation, but existing facilities in South Korea were utterly insufficient for satisfying industrial and everyday energy needs. As a result, the government invested great sums of money to rebuild facilities and build industrial rail lines, establishing the infrastructure for expanding coal output. Meanwhile, the coal miners were ultimately the ones who made the production surge possible in the 1950s, and the President personally awarded commendations to exemplary miners.

A Well Developed Coal Industry Not the Envy of Resource-rich Nations Coal output continued to increase, bolstered by the Korean government’s policy, which enabling Korea to achieve self-sufficiency in coal resources by 1966, Annual coal production in South Korea stood at 500,000 tons in 1945 but reached 12 million tons in 1967, then rose to 18.62 million tons in 1980. In days past, the effort to raise coal production volumes was touted as a patriotic duty to give back to the nation.

Part II: Let’s Go to Work When the Siren Wails

The program to increase coal production generated many jobs, and laborers flocked to the mines. The miners who toiled in dark mineshafts deep underground contributed to the effort to realize national economic growth. The miners’ marching song went: “Let’s go to work when the siren wails, valiantly stepping forward today just likes we did yesterday.” As these words suggest, the miners labored around the clock, in three shifts, to get the coal out of the ground.

Safety Training at the Mineshaft Entrance Mandatory safety training was given to all workers before they were allowed to enter the mines. The job of extracting coal is much more arduous and involves many more risk factors than the work performed in most other industries. The Korean government passed a law in 1963 requiring that accident prevention training be given to miners. Safety manuals were published on specific operations related to coal mining such as explosives, electric power, and conveyance, and the miners had to attend safety training before they started their work.

Working in the Mineshaft Extracting coal buried deep underground entails various different processes that must be performed in a specific series of steps. First is the “drilling” process, which is digging a mine shaft deep enough to reach the coal seam. Next comes the “coal mining” phase, where the coal is extracted from the underground coal layer. Finally there is “coal picking,” the process of sorting out the impurities from the extracted coal. Once the coal has been thus obtained, it is conveyed to the surface by means of a “coal car” or “coal tub” that runs along rails. The miners are transported to and from their underground workplaces via a “man car,” or “man cage.” A red-painted car is used to transport the explosives, with the red color serving as a warning for the miners.

Coal Pickers Coal mining is typically considered to be a man’s work, but the coal picking task is assigned to women workers. Coal mining districts offer virtually no job opportunities and compensation for coal pickers was attractive, so competition for the positions was fierce. Families who had a member injured or killed in mining accidents were given the priority for employment opportunities so that they could make ends meet.

Coal Miners’ Lunchboxes Lunchtime was the only chance for miners to have a break during their work shift. The mineshafts did not have places inside where a person could sit comfortably and rest, and there was no natural light. Therefore, the miners were forced to straddle boulders or timbers used to shore up the mineshafts and eat by the light on their safety helmets. Rats living inside the mine could sense when a collapse or gas leak was imminent. Therefore, the miners would not kill them, even when the rodents managed to steal away someone’s lunch. Instead the miners would hang their lunchboxes up somewhere high so that they remained secure.

Part III: Daddy! Stay Safe Today

Government policy encouraged coal mine production, so many workers from around the country headed to the mines to find work. Besides providing a stable income, the compensation package would include fringe benefits such as housing and school tuition coverage for the children. Thus, employment seekers considered coal mining as an attractive alternative. However, coal mining is accompanied by a constant danger of industrial accidents, so each day the miners and their family members would earnestly pray that nothing bad would happen. Signs with the phrase “Daddy! Stay safe Today” can be easily spotted at the entrances to housing compounds or mines.

Life for Residents of a Coal Mining Village The coal mining villages were located in the vicinity of the mines and were occupied by various people from around the nation. Naturally the main reason so many people would congregate near a coal mine was that the pay was better here than it was anywhere else. Miners’ wages were determined by the amount of coal produced within a designated time period, and so some would labor excessively, leading to accidents resulting from carelessness. For this reason, many superstitious taboos existed that reflected the fears harbored by coal mine workers and their families. For example, miners would not show up at the job if they had experienced a bad dream the previous night, and up to the 1970s, this was even recognized as a valid reason for missing work.

A Matter of Life and Death A fellow miner who had been working with his comrades just a short time may suddenly be caught in a life-threatening situation. Should an accident occur, the mazelike system of mineshafts hinders the efficiency of the regular rescue response. Therefore, a special mine rescue team was in place to respond rapidly in the event of an accident. Mines pose a constant danger of pneumoconiosis, and miners who contract this lung disease, which is caused by excessive dust inhalation, many suffer pain even after they retire. Meanwhile, memorial towers are erected around the country to honor the souls of miners who lost their lives on the job, and prayers are offered each year at these monuments.

Here, in This Place How did a coal mining village appear to the children who lived there—the physical surroundings they saw for themselves, the way they saw their fathers live, and the stories about the mines they heard from adults? Let’s stroll around a coal mining community from a child’s perspective by reading ten poems written by children in a plain and straightforward style.

Epilogue: Remembering Those People

Who Changed the Briquettes in the Old Days?

Many Koreans still remember the days when the coal briquette (yeontan) was the main source of heat for staying warm in winter. For some, the clearest memory from the period is having to get up late at night or early in the morning to change the briquette for the rest of the family who was sleeping soundly on the warmest spot in the room. People today think of the coal briquette as a welcome source of warmth; how can they understand how people actually perceived it in the past?
Before Liberation in 1945, the briquette dimensions were not standardized. A variety of types were available. For example the monaka briquettes were shaped either like a brick with two or three holes in it or a Japanese-style wafer cake. There were also lotus flower-shaped coal briquettes. A cylindrical briquette with nine holes in it, similar to those still seen today, came out in the 1930s. During that period, Busan-based Samguk Coal Industrial Co. used a press to produce coal briquettes. When did the cylindrical ones with holes in them become used nationwide?
After Liberation, the southern part of the Korean Peninsula suffered a severe fuel shortage. However, coal from Samcheok (Gangwon-do) was shipped to Busan by sea, and large volumes of coal were brought in with American financial support, making coal relatively easy to obtain. This coal was then mixed with dirt and water and pounded with wooden mallets to produce coal briquettes.
Refugees flooded into Busan after the start of the Korean War on June 25, 1950. They saw the briquettes and started to make them in their hometowns after returning there, and this resulted in the spread of these cylindrical ones nationwide. At the time, wood was still the main fuel being used to heat homes, and the indiscriminate cutting of trees for firewood denuded the mountains. The government established a reforestation plan and aggressively pursued a policy of switching over the fuel source, which made coal briquettes the principal fuel for home use in cities. The New Village Movement (Saemaul Undong), launched in 1970, also made coal briquettes the main fuel used in farming communities, resulting it is place as the primary fuel in homes throughout the nation.

How Many Holes Are in a Briquette? The advent of coal briquettes in the shape Koreans know today dates back to 1961, The government established the first standardized coal briquettes sizes, and the name yeontan was coined for them at that time. The use of coal briquettes in Korea was in full swing from the second half of the 1950s, but they came in a variety of shapes and sizes due to the lack of standard dimensions. The briquette shape evolved over three periods: (1) 1961-64, (2) 1964-80, and (3) 1980-present. The government announced the initial standards in October 1961, and the briquettes became available in three different sizes—small, medium, and large—during the following year. In 1964, the briquette categories were further divided into 15-hole and 25-hole versions. The standards that are in force today were promulgated in October 1980. The coal briquettes being distrusted for home use today mainly have 22 holes in them.

Is Radish Water Good for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning? Coal briquettes became daily life necessities, for they were used to heat homes as well as to cook food. The yeontan that heated homes in winter had a downside, however: they generated carbon monoxide, a gas that can be fatal when inhaled. Coal briquette gas poisoning was a major news story during the winter months. The flat stones over the underfloor heating system flues could become broken or cracks could form between them, allowing the carbon monoxide and other harmful substances to leak inside the room. The incidence of carbon monoxide poisoning subsided after hot water pipes became widely used in underfloor heating systems.
A home remedy for coal briquette gas poisoning was to drink the liquid in which radish kimchi was fermented. No scientific basis can be found for this method, but this was the first choice available at a time when rapid emergency rescue response or treatment facilities were lacking. Administering the cold and sour liquid in winter could help the victim of carbon monoxide poisoning to regain consciousness, after when he or she was made to breathe fresh air deeply.

[Activity] Making Coal Briquette Shapes out of Soap Taking a bath was the first order of business after the coal miners finished their arduous work shifts and emerged from their mine. Initially the miners’ private homes had small bathtubs, but in the 1970s the government had large washrooms installed on the colliery premises as part of the fringe benefit package. Soap was an essential item for the miners to clean themselves, and so making shapes like miniature coal briquettes out of soap can be a way to reflect on the lives of these hard workers.