Incheon is a gateway city. A gateway city involves a geographical condition of being in the middle of two posts, and the existence of a road connecting them. Incheon has many of the kind: one between Gang-hwa island and the mouth of the Han River before the 19th century; Incheon Port after the 1870s; Gyeongin (Gyeonggi-Incheon) Line Railway after 1899; Gyeongin Expressway after the 1970s; and Incheon International Airport since 2000, all of which roughly divide the capital Seoul from the rest, or metropolitan areas from the rural ones. Some Incheon citizens do not seem to like the term ‘gateway’, for it implies Incheon’s subordinate status to Seoul. However, in global context, we see so many large cities located on gateways when we examine the world city system. New York is the gate to the American continent and the Atlantic; London to the UK from Europe; and Shanghai as a gate connecting the sea route and Yangzi River. General urbanization theories also tell us that a gateway city has an increasing number of populations as the roads are constructed to connect more than two zones at each end. Among 43 global giant cities I have studied until 2019, 21 cities are on the seashore. In this world of free movement, being a gate is nothing less than glory and opportunity. In the lecture , I will elaborate on the relationships Incheon has had with the roads and the meaning of Incheon to the people on (either migrants, commuters, or tourists). Throughout the lecture, audiences will be able to find out the cost, glory, and crisis of the road to Incheon, and learn to expand thoughts on Incheon and the movement on it.

There are people trapped inside Incheon International Airport. To avoid severe political oppression, people have fled from their own countries and sought exile in Korea. But before receiving proper acknowledgment of their status as refugees, they are held back from setting foot on Korean soil. No official statistics report has been made, but it is said that there are hundreds of ‘Airport Refugees’ every year. When the two words ‘airport’ and ‘refugee’ are joined together to form a new concept, the term ‘Airport Refugee’ leaves an abrupt aftertaste. There is no room for travel-associated romantic feelings such as excitement or anticipation. Simply said, they are not on a trip but trapped inside an airport, helplessly. To them, an airport is not somewhere they can go in or get out of: it is a ‘non-place’. On top of all that, the COVID-19 pandemic has now been added; another critical variable for the survival of the Airport Refugees. Languishing in the second year of COVID-19, we have become aware that the damage of the calamity is not evenly distributed: social minorities are more harshly affected. Together we will be watching a documentary film (2021) produced by Dotface, a media group that has been focusing its attention on the stories of social minorities. After the screening, we would like to invite everyone to talk about the ‘Airport Refugees’ issue in Korea. (LEE Jong-chan)