Last updated on November 29, 2021
Ask a native of Daegu about things to see in the city and most struggle to come up with an answer. Among large regional cities, Daegu is uncharted territory when it comes to tourism. Busan has beaches and a major film festival, Incheon has a Chinatown and Songdo, Gwangju has food and a major biannual art exhibition, and Daejon has the site of Expo ’93. Smaller cities such as Jeonju and nearby Gyeongju attract many tourists.
A recent short visit to Daegu, however, revealed a city with a thriving city center and interesting things to see and discover. KTX trains arrive at Dongdaegu Station, but the center of the city starts three subway stops away at Daegu Station. The main shopping street is Dongseong-no, a long pedestrian street that feels much like Myeongdong in Seoul.
Dongseong-no corresponds to the east side of a wall that surrounded Daegu in the Joseon period (1392-1910). The wall and its gates were completely destroyed early in the 20th century, and roads were built in its place. Namseong-no, the street that replaced the southern wall is now the center of Daegu’s famous herbal medicine market. The streets that emerged after the destruction of the wall form a rough outline of the old city center. As the city grew, commercial development grew beyond the old center, particularly to the east where City Hall stands today.
During the Joseon period, Daegu was the administrative center of what became Gyeongsang Province and an important commercial center for the region. Daegu is thus older than Busan, its bigger neighbor to the south and more important in Joseon period history than Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-935 A.D.). The herbal medicine market and several other important markets have existed since Joseon period. A few buildings from the Joseon period headquarters remain today in Gyeongsang Gamyeong Park which sits roughly at the center of the area inside the wall.
During the Japanese colonial period, Daegu expanded its commercial reach and developed into an important industrial center because of its strategic location on the railway line leading to Busan. Industrialization caused the population to grow rapidly in the 1930s. Like many Korean cities, Daegu had a large number of Japanese residents, most of who settled in the area around Daegu Station.
Daegu’s commercial and industrial background prepared it well for the push for economic development that began under Park Chung-hee, himself from Daegu, in the 1960s. Samsung emerged, developed from a small trading company located in the northeast corner of the city center. As the boom gathered steam, the population of Daegu soared during the 1970s and 1980s.
Of the major regional cities, Daegu is interesting because the layers of Joseon, colonial, and contemporary history are clearly visible and because it follows the contours of Korean history so closely. Unlike Seoul, where “tradition” is defined largely in terms of the Joseon period, Daegu embraces its 20th-century past. Take the Daegu Modern History Museum located in a colonial period bank in the center of city. The museum focuses on 20th-century history of Daegu, particularly the tumultuous first half of the century that included the destruction of the wall, the Japanese colonial economy, and the Korean War.
The city has developed two “Alley Culture Walks” that weave through the city center that reveal the layers of Daegu history and, by extension, Korean history. The walks contain architectural highlights such as the collection of three well preserved early 20th-century missionary houses and the recently restored “hanok” where the poet Lee Sanghwa lived. Most of the buildings along the walks, however, are ordinary representations of different genres of architecture, creating an interesting retro atmosphere. One of the longest alleys, the Jingolmok, or “Long Alley,” contains several 1970s-style coffee shops that are almost impossible to find in Seoul today.
Daegu’s embracing its own 20th century history is important from two perspectives. First, it is one of the few places in Korea that presents the near past, the past of people alive today, as something of value. This allows people in the present to feel the past differently from looking at an attractive, but experientially remote relic from Joseon period.
Second, the development of alley walks and contemporary history tourist sites in the city center reflects recent interest in reviving aging city centers in Korea. Beginning in the 1990s, rapid development of apartment complexes and supporting shopping centers on the outskirts of cities caused city centers to lose much of their vitality. By 2010, local governments began taking action to stem the decline, and the national government has begun to turn its attention to these matters as well.
Daegu is important because it shows how a city can turn existing resources in the city center, many of which were long overlooked, into something interesting for residents and tourists alike.