Ami-dong: Busan’s ‘tombstone village’ built by Korean refugees on a Japanese cemetery

Busan, South Korea (CNN) — At first glance, Ami-dong seems like an ordinary village within the South Korean city of Busan, with colorful houses and narrow alleys set against looming mountains.

But on closer inspection, visitors might spot an unusual building material embedded in house foundations, walls and steep staircases: tombstones inscribed with Japanese characters.

Ami-dong, also called the Tombstone Cultural Village, was built during the depths of the Korean War, which broke out in 1950 after North Korea invaded the South.

Within South Korea, many citizens also fled to the country’s south, away from Seoul and the front lines.

Many of these refugees headed for Busan, on South Korea’s southeast coast — one of the only two cities never captured by North Korea during the war, the other being Daegu located 88 kilometers (55 miles) away.

But new arrivals found themselves with a problem: finding somewhere to live. Space and resources were scarce with Busan stretched to its limits to accommodate the influx.