Jung Jungho, Archive Machine, Car and City 4078, 2018, Archival Pigment Print, 20 x 30 cm © Jung Jungho

Cities change. Creation and disappearance are inevitable even for cities, but the problem lies in how rapidly they change and how quickly things vanish. I was afraid that Janganpyeong, which had served as a major center of the secondhand automobile industry for forty years, might disappear without leaving a trace. Through an unexpected opportunity, I was able to document the area photographically with the support of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The Janganpyeong secondhand automobile market was a living witness to the history of Korea's used-car industry. The once-glorious memories of business owners—customers lining up with bags full of cash and companies employing dozens of workers—have become relics of a bygone era, preserved like the gold-framed certificates hanging in their offices.

The salesmen who once shouted to attract customers and the women who ran restaurants in the basement food court, once so crowded there was barely room to stand, have all grown older. In the corners of the basement, cats stretch into long yawns.

I walked along the street of secondhand automobile parts dealers. The first things that caught my eye were the used car components. The massive, oil-stained objects resembled exposed organs of the human body. The mechanics appeared to be performing surgery on machines, like doctors wielding scalpels. Once repaired and brought back to life, the components were carefully stacked within the surrounding spaces, resembling stone towers patiently assembled over many years.

In front of the parts shops, delivery trucks and motorcycles move continuously. Boxes are piled up everywhere. Arab and African buyers can also be seen seeking automobile parts to import. Among these buildings stands a parts market with a striking courtyard open to the sky. Surrounding it, apartment complexes built by major construction companies rise like folding screens, creating a rather imposing presence.

As the saying goes, newcomers displace those who were there before. Residents of the apartment complexes reportedly file frequent complaints, claiming that the parts market damages the appearance of the neighborhood.

A place naturally absorbs its own history. For this reason, the buildings and streets we encounter in Janganpyeong form a landscape that can be found nowhere else. Fortunately, the memories accumulated by people who have worked in the area for decades still remain in their surroundings. It remains to be seen how the city will change through the redevelopment projects scheduled to take place in the coming years.

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