South Korea Looked Just Like North Korea 50 Years Ago [PHOTOS]

Stephen Dreher

Seoul is getting harassed by the North Koreans again, this time over a jointly controlled manufacturing facility.

It's a reminder that the two countries never officially ended their conflict, which began in 1950 (only an armistice was signed).

Despite the North's history of empty bluster, South Korea is taking all necessary precautions — they're now reportedly shopping for bunker-busting bombs from Europe.

That may seem natural — the South is one of the world's most important marketplaces, and needs to protect their standing.

But until around the '90s, they didn't have quite so much to lose from an economic standpoint.

With the kind cooperation of flickr user Stephen Dreher, we've compiled a series of striking images of Seoul from the mid-1960s, only a little more than a decade after hostilities had ceased. His descriptions appear beneath each photo.

As you'll see, there are plenty of scars still apparent.

Here is Dreher's intro:

From April 1965 through November 1966 I was stationed with the 38th Ordinance Company at what was then called the Kumo-ri Maintenance Center (Later Camp Kyle) . During that time I bought my first 35mm camera, a Nikon F, and spent a lot of time taking pictures every chance I got - weekends in Seoul, driving to and from Red Cloud, and so on. Like many other GIs, I learned at the craft shop how to develop B&W. I was fortunate to record the last of a special period of Korean history. Soon after I left the country turned from agricultural to industrial and the countryside and old way of life I got to see and photograph vanished.