Yeongdodaegyo Bridge, connecting Jung-gu and Yeongdo-gu, was built during the Japanese colonial period. The Japanese built a bridge to connect Busanha ... More
Yeongdodaegyo Bridge, connecting Jung-gu and Yeongdo-gu, was built during the Japanese colonial period. The Japanese built a bridge to connect Busanhang Port, the base for exploiting supplies, with Yeongdo Island right next to it. In 1934, on the day the first suspension bridge and bascule bridge in Busan was opened to the public, Yeongdodaegyo Bridge was packed with people from all over the country to take a look at the bridge. Yeongdodaegyo Bridge, which could be raised on one end of the upper deck, is called Yeongdo Bridge and soon became a landmark that has turned into a household name.
Yeongdodaegyo Bridge is a place where refugees in Busan congregated to in the midst of the Korean War to find some hope. Yeongdo Bridge, the landmark of Busan and the only place that refugees knew, became a union spot for people who were separated. People’s desperate wish to find separated families was engraved on faded paper and torn cloth to fill up the handrails of Yeongdo Bridge.
In 1966, when the wounds of the war began to heal, Yeongdodaegyo Bridge stopped lifting up the deck. The old bridge could no longer endure the increasing traffic, and the opening of the Busandaegyo Bridge right next to the bridge made the future of the bridge uncertain. However, the bridge was restored in 47 years, and its lifting resumed through the peoples’ efforts to remember and share the history of the Yeongdo Bridge.
This place, where refugees used to visit to find their separated families, is now a popular tourist attraction. At around 2:00 p.m., the signal is made, and the blocking curtain goes down. All the passing vehicles stop, and the Yeongdo Bridge goes up slowly.