The Eulchuk Great Flood
1925 was the cyclical year Eulchuk, hence the Korean name for repeated floods that devastated the peninsula. Seoul’s Han basin lost homes, fields and lives while channels shifted. North of Jamsil the flow expanded and island boundaries changed. The flood did not instantly create today’s lake; it was a major geomorphic event followed by 1970s channel works and reclamation.
A river was never a fixed line
Modern maps make river centre-lines look permanent. In the sandy Han lowland, channels split and reunited as sediment and discharge changed. Jamsil Island between Songpa and Sincheon changed shape. Compare dated photographs with water levels. Rather than claim one “true” boundary, say Songpa functioned as a major channel and social boundary before the northern course gained greater importance.
A changed channel changes a ferry
Songpa Ferry gathered transport, trade and market activity. Shifting water, bridges and roads removed the working waterfront. The odd distance between today’s marker and lake reflects both geographical and transport change. Do not imagine the marker as an exact surviving pier; use old maps to understand the function through which people, goods and news passed.
Do not turn disaster into picturesque geography
Flood was first a disaster that destroyed lives and livelihoods. Saying it “made an island” can erase suffering and recovery. Exact totals vary by boundary and source, so avoid unsupported numbers. Ask why later governments pursued levees and reclamation, what security and development they gained, and what riverside life disappeared.
Read flood history at the lake
Even still water layers an old river with modern drainage management. After heavy rain, obey closures on low paths. Viewing the ferry marker, long East Lake and bridge in sequence connects ferry, former channel and road. Compare images without blocking paths. Keeping flood and later reclamation in chronological order prevents two different events from collapsing into one myth.