2026 Theses Master's

To Preserve or to Demolish the “Monkey House”? Contesting the Memory of Kijichon Women, U.S. Military Occupation and Post-Camptown Urban Futures in Dongducheon, South Korea

Oh, Elizabeth

At the foot of Soyo Mountain in Dongducheon, South Korea, stands the abandoned “Monkey House,” a former Sexually Transmitted Disease Management Center that was used by the Korean government and U.S. military to forcibly detain and treat kijichon women on the pretext of eradicating sexually transmitted diseases among U.S. soldiers. Dongducheon City has planned to demolish the building as a part of their broader Soyosan Tourism Expansion Plan, while activists are attempting to preserve the Center to memorialize kijichon women and build an active International Peace and Human Rights History Center that will promote peace in the broader region.

I find that Dongducheon is in a transitional phase of their urban development, stymied in economic growth due to longstanding presence of the U.S. military, and is actively redeveloping elements of its urban landscape that refer to its camptown history with limited success. Grappling with the legacy of U.S. military occupation, activists navigate shame, territorial stigma and hauntings related to Dongducheon’s association with U.S. military prostitution, while Dongducheon City attempts to destroy and suppress memories of this history by promoting urban imaginaries of green tourism and militarized nationalism.

The struggle to preserve or demolish the "Monkey House" reveals the way Dongducheon City and activists are contesting the memory of kijichon women, narratives of U.S. military occupation in Dongducheon, and their visions for the city and region in a post-camptown urban landscape.