Activists, officials and residents clash over preserving former venereal disease detention site tied to US-ROK history
The former VD detention center at the entrance to Soyo Mountain, Oct. 13, 2023 | Image: Jack Greenberg
A two-story concrete building sits fenced off beside Dongducheon’s Soyo Mountain entrance, partially obscured by barbed wire and overgrown vegetation. Peeling paint and collapsing ceilings reveal its age, and graffiti marks its walls.
To most visitors, the site is little more than a derelict structure, abandoned since 1996. However, for over two decades starting in 1973, this building served as a Venereal Disease (VD) Detention Center for comfort women.
A two-story concrete building sits fenced off beside Dongducheon’s Soyo Mountain entrance, partially obscured by barbed wire and overgrown vegetation. Peeling paint and collapsing ceilings reveal its age, and graffiti marks its walls.
To most visitors, the site is little more than a derelict structure, abandoned since 1996. However, for over two decades starting in 1973, this building served as a Venereal Disease (VD) Detention Center for comfort women.
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