On the outskirts of a city in Chungcheongnam-do, there is a small abandoned construction site which consists of two apartment blocks with 6 individual flats on each floor. With my friend, Kevin, we headed out early in the morning to explore this site. There was a gate which blocked the entrance, but since there were no fences, we easily walked onto the site. There were two container structures which were supposed to be the guard house. On our right, there was a white one story building, which we speculated was the storage since there was a large pile of charcoal blocks used for heating. After we explored the building, we made our way towards the first apartment block. One of the first two units that were on the first floor was what used to be a display unit, judging by the fact that most of it was furnished. However, it was littered with pots, pans, and even a blanket and some pillows, so we knew someone was either currently living or used to live here after construction came to a halt. Making our way up to the roof top, the units starting on the second floor were more or less the same: bare concrete walls with wiring sticking out and window frames and construction materials scattered on the floor, waiting to be installed.
After we explored all the floors, we headed down towards what used to be the office of the site. The office was located on the second floor of a red tiled building. The air was stale, indicating that it has been a while since someone was up there. From the documents and blue prints scattered over the floor and tables, we guessed that construction commenced some time in 2008, but, judging from aerial photos on Daum Map, came to a halt in 2009. Our best guess was that the construction company went bankrupt as it was the case with many other construction sites all over Korea. Shredded paper and animal droppings in desk drawers indicated that the office was previously infested with rodents after the construction company left. Diagonally from the office was the workers’ dormitories, located north-east of the second apartment block. The ground floor was what used to be the common room and the kitchen. Large packets of Ottogi curry was found as well as over-the-counter medicine such as aspirin and stomach-ache medicine. We did not venture onto the second floor since we feared the rotten wooden floor would not sustain our weight and collapse. Same with the first apartment block, the first two units on the ground floor were previously display units. The layout of the units were different in comparison to the first apartment block, featuring larger floor space. However, once we were on the second floor, the scene was similar to what we previously saw: bags of cement as well as tools which were left there by the construction workers, never to be used again. After exploring a few floors, we made our way out and headed back to town.
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