| Porters at an unidentified location in 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |
By Park Si-soo
Newly released rare color photos of the country taken in 1953 and 1954 show how war-ravaged South Korea looked.
Rupert Nelson, an American Korean War veteran, took more than 200 photos while traveling around the country. He and Prof. Chung Gun-wha, of Hanshin University, sorted out 100 to publish a collection titled "Hello Korea."
The photos captured the post-war landscapes of Seoul, Busan and Chuncheon, and how people went about their daily lives among war debris.
Noonbit, the collection's publisher, said Nelson served in a front-line U.S. artillery unit from January 1953 to February the following year.
The 180-page collection is priced at 25,000 won.
| A tent classroom at an unidentified location in 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| Beggar children at an unidentified location in 1954. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| Chuncheon in the summer of 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| An unidentified location in January 1954. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| Chuncheon in the summer of 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| Downtown Seoul in the summer of 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| Farmers work at an unidentified location in June 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |
| A girl at an unidentified location in October 1953. Courtesy of Noonbit |