Along Korea's west coast, the difference between high and low tide is dramatic enough that large ships often can't dock when the water recedes. During the colonial period, to move as much rice as possible out of the fertile Honam plain through Gunsan's port with maximum efficiency, Japan's colonial government built the "floating pier" (bujangyo) — a chain of buoyant structures linked together like a bridge, engineered to let ships dock regardless of the tide. It was, for its time, a genuinely sophisticated piece of engineering — built for one clearly stated purpose: making colonial extraction more efficient.
Nearby, Jjaebo Landing is considered the original spot where Gunsan itself began as a port town. Both sites are marketed as tourist attractions today, and the floating pier in particular draws crowds at sunset for photos. The silhouette of the old port structure against the colored sky is, without question, beautiful. But knowing what that bridge was originally built to carry adds a different weight to that beauty.