Korean founding father Dosan Ahn Chang Ho ran Pachappa Camp as a democracy, and his experiences are foundational to modern South Korean politics and democracy.
Pachappa Camp in Riverside was a far cry from the buzzy, bustling Koreatowns we know today.
Ahn founded an employment agency for Korean laborers that eventually became a highly complex and self-governed settlement. Dosan’s Republic had no running water or electricity, but the principles of governance honed there became the building blocks for modern South Korean democracy, according to a forthcoming paper from UC Riverside professor Edward Taehan Chang.“Dosan Ahn Chang Ho had a vision of establishing a model community. He was experimenting with it at Pachappa Camp,” Chang said.
Life in the settlement was strict. Anti-Asian sentiment was a real danger, and the camp’s restrictions on alcohol, gambling and drugs were an attempt to emphasize that Korean Americans could contribute to a civilized society. Many laws focused on propriety. No Korean was allowed to leave their house unless properly dressed, and Korean women were not allowed to smoke in public. Those who partook in drugs and alcohol were subject to a series of increasing fines.
The Korean National Assn., a political organization with chapters in major Korean settlements around the world, was functioning as a de facto government of Korea while it was under Japanese rule. Two commemorative plaques are all that remain at the site that was once called Pachappa Camp. The site is now an oil pumping station.
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