National Debt Redemption Movement Memorial Park

This broad lawn in the heart of Daegu is a short walk from the Dongseong-ro shopping street. It commemorates the National Debt Redemption Movement, which began in Daegu in 1907 and spread across the country, and brings together the 22.5-tonne Dalgubeol Grand Bell, a memorial museum and a path lined with poets' stones. The movement's archives were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2017.

Paying off the nation's debt

By 1907 the Korean Empire owed Japan 13 million won in loans that tightened Japan's economic grip on the country. At Gwangmunsa, a publishing house in Daegu, its vice-president Seo Sang-don proposed that ordinary people pay off the debt themselves, and together with its president Kim Gwang-je he wrote an appeal that was circulated nationwide. It argued that if twenty million Koreans gave up tobacco for three months and donated the money, the debt could be cleared.

After a rally outside Daegu's north gate on 21 February 1907, the movement spread across every class, age and gender. Seven women of Namil-dong in Daegu gave up their hairpins and rings, and money came in from Seomun Market traders, beggars, gisaeng entertainers and Koreans overseas. But the Japanese Residency-General spread rumours that the funds had been embezzled and put pressure on the leaders, and the movement faded without reaching its goal.

A second campaign in 1998

The site was originally known as Dongin Park, after the Dongin-dong neighbourhood. It was redesigned between March 1998 and December 1999, when Koreans were donating gold to help the country through the Asian financial crisis in what was called a second debt redemption movement, and was renamed in the movement's honour. At 42,509 m² it is a rare open green space in the dense city centre, planted with more than 12,000 trees, among them fringe trees, wild cherries and pines.

What to see

• Dalgubeol Grand Bell: the 22.5-tonne bell was hung in its pavilion on 22 December 1998. Every year at midnight on 31 December it is rung here to see in the new year.
• Poets' Path: stones carved with poems by Yi Yuk-sa, Park Mok-wol, Jo Ji-hun, Yi Ho-u and Yun Dong-ju, written out by local calligraphers.
• Path of Wise Words: stones bearing sayings of scholars such as Jeong Mong-ju, Yi Hwang and Seo Geo-jeong, as well as Seo Sang-don and the poet Yi Sang-hwa.
• Women's Memorial: shaped like a pair of rings, it honours the women who gave their jewellery and led the way in the movement.
• Pin oak walk: a tree-lined path of about 255 m connects the pine grove, the lawn and the fountain.

The memorial museum and archive hall

The National Debt Redemption Movement Memorial Hall in the park opened on 5 October 2011. Fittingly, it was built with KRW 4 billion of national and city funds plus KRW 1 billion donated by citizens. The first gallery, in the basement, covers how the movement began and spread; the second, on the ground floor, covers its suppression and legacy, and displays the Memory of the World certificate. On the first and second floors of the former Central Library building next to the park, the Archive Hall shows the registered documents and newspapers of the time.

Tripto tips

• Memorial Hall: 09:00–18:00 from March to November and 09:00–17:00 from December to February; admission is free. Closed on Mondays, 1 January and the Seollal and Chuseok holidays.
• Archive Hall: 09:00–18:00 on weekdays and 09:00–17:00 at weekends, free. Closed on the first and third Monday of each month and on public holidays.
• Time needed: 30 minutes for a walk in the park, 1.5–2 hours with the museum.
• Getting there: from Banwoldang Station (Daegu Metro Lines 1 and 2) it is about a 15-minute walk via Dongseong-ro. By bus, use the Gukchaebosang Undong Ginyeom Gongwon stop (towards Samdeok junction) or the Samdeok Church stop. The museum has no car park of its own, so use the Dongin underground car park beneath the park or nearby paid car parks.
• Combine with: Gyeongsang Gamyeong Park, Gyesan-dong Cathedral and Seomun Market are close by, so the park fits easily into a walk through Daegu's modern-history alleys.