■ A Challenge for a Dream!
Currently, South Korea is a world-leading steel nation, both in terms of production and technology. However, just half a century ago, while we had steel mills, they were limited to melting scrap metal to produce products. With production so inadequate, we had to rely on imports for most of our steel needs. We lacked the capital, technology, and experience necessary for the steel industry, and not even a single engineer had ever seen a blast furnace! After more than a dozen failed attempts, South Korea once again took on the challenge of building an integrated steel mill. The groundwork for the integrated steel mill began in 1965 during President Park Chung-hee's visit to Pittsburgh, a world-renowned steel manufacturing city. The challenge for a dream began.

■ Can a steel mill really be built by tearing down someone else's house?
In November 1968, President Park made an unannounced visit to the Pohang construction site and lamented the desolate fields, abandoned by residents who had cultivated the land for generations. "Can you really build a steel mill by tearing down someone else's house?" At the time, the construction of the Pohang Steel Mill was in limbo. The plant site was developed under an agreement with KISA, or the Korea International Steel Loan Corporation, established by steel companies from five countries, including the US, UK, and West Germany, but no solution to securing funding was in sight. Even the IBRD, which had held onto the project until the very end, released a report stating that Korea's financial situation would make repayments difficult. The KISA loan plan ultimately fell through, and public opposition to the steel mill intensified. The spark of South Korea's industrialization was teetering on the brink.

■ Japanese Claims Funds! Presenting the Possibility of Steel Manufacturing.
After World War II, many countries dreamed of building steel mills. During the war, the need for heavy and chemical industries linked to the weapons industry emerged, and resource-rich countries like India, Brazil, and Argentina were among the first to attempt steel mill construction. However, no country succeeded. The steel industry, due to its inherent nature, carries a high risk of large-scale accidents and is also susceptible to insolvency due to fluctuations in the international steel market. Furthermore, South Korea was unable to secure even the minimum funding required to build a steel mill. However, with the final hope of securing funds from the Japanese Claims Fund, which had been slated for investment in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors, construction of the integrated steel mill began once again.

■ Yeongil Bay, a fiercely contested battleground during the Korean War, and another war began there!
The construction of the integrated steel mill began in record time, with minimal personnel, and at minimal cost! Those involved in the construction of the POSCO describe the situation as a war. Filling in 2.5 million pyeong of wetlands with sand extracted from port dredging, battling tsunamis to build 22 massive factories, it was a never-ending journey! Everything had to be completed in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible cost. Furthermore, the rear-end construction method, which required the simultaneous pursuit of both construction and steel production, was a war that gripped everyone with anxiety until the very moment the blast furnaces were first turned on.

■ The Legend of the Paper Mapa: Discretionary Power in Equipment Purchases
In October 1992, Park Tae-joon completed the fourth phase of the Gwangyang Steelworks and reported the accomplishment of the great task of POSCO's history to President Park Chung-hee's memorial. Why was this ceremony, the most significant in POSCO's history, held here? Early in the construction of the integrated steelworks, Park Tae-joon received discretionary power in equipment purchases from President Park Chung-hee, promising him full trust and support. Later known as the "Paper Mapa," this power, which served as a shield against political interference during a time of rampant illegal political funding, served as a powerful shield for the construction of the integrated steelworks. As the term "Paper Mapa," symbolizes, President Park Chung-hee's full trust and support played a crucial role in the construction of South Korea's first integrated steelworks.

※ This video is from [Documentary Theater - From Wasteland to Molten Metal, the Legend of POSCO], which aired on September 14, 2014.

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