The Port of Gunsan (also called Kunsan) is in on the Keum River on the coast of western South Korea about 40 kilometers northwest of Chonju, the provincial capital of Cholla-puk.
Port History
Early Gunsan was a small fishing village on the mouth of the Keum River where it enters the Yellow Sea. As early as the late 1300s, it was on the rich rice-growing Honam plain, and it soon became a center for storing and processing rice as well as a port for transporting rice.
In the late 19th Century, the Port of Gunsan opened officially for international trade, particularly with Japan. Later, Gunsan became a pawn in struggles between colonial powers. A Japanese company began reclamation of tidal lands, taking the best for Japan, and left the rest for development by the Koreans. In the early 20th Century, wharves were built and expanded, particularly by the Japanese. By the 1930s, Gunsan City grew as more tidal lands were reclaimed. Japanese dominance continued to the end of World War II.
After World War II, the Allies occupied the area, responsible for repatriating all Japanese from the Cholla area. They found a poverty-stricken people, some living in caves and searching the American garbage dump for food. North Korean forces captured Gunsan in 1950, but the US Air Force recaptured the Kunsan later that year, taking over port facilities as well, and leaving the Port of Gunsan relatively untouched by the fighting.
After the American left Gunsan, the area had been flooded with North Korean refugees, and the people were again poor, relying through the 1960s and 1970s on farming and fishing for survival. Gunsan was a small rural town, and its livelihood centered on the port.
Port Commerce
In the 1980s, the nation of Korea grew in prominence, and Gunsan benefited from the country’s progress. Industrial development brought new prosperity to the Port of Gunsan. In the 1990s, Kunsan grew to a population of over 300 thousand. Today, the Port of Gunsan’s economy depends on fishing, agriculture, and heavy industry. Daewoo Motors has a factory there, building Daewoo Kalos, the Chevrolet Aveo, and Daewoo trucks.
The Gunsan Regional Maritime Affairs & Fisheries Office (GRMAFO) operates the Port of Gunsan. Responsible for port operations and construction, they also improve the welfare of seamen, support fishing villages, and protect the marine environment. The Port of Gunsan has been under continuous development since it opened in 1899.
The Port of Gunsan is the major of three ports managed by the GRMAFO. It offers 22 berths capable of handling 50 thousand ton vessels. Containing over 1700 meters of piers at a depth from 9 to 11 meters, annual cargo-handling capacity is over 4 million tons. Major cargo includes grain, raw lumber, cement, and liquid cargo. The Port of Gunsan has dedicated wharves for cement, oil, and silica. In 2000, the Port of Gunsan handled over 22.6 million tons of cargo, including 19.3 million tons on 1,521 ocean-going vessels.
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