Even after national independence was achieved, there were no big changes in the fortress village for quite a while. However, the tradition of the socialist movement that had emerged under the Japanese colonial rule remained so strong that the village was referred to as a “Second Moscow in Korea” during the Korean War.
Many local people from various organizations, including a head of the township, who had worked as a chief police inspector under the Japanese colonial rule, were arrested and placed under house arrest. Meanwhile, during the Korean War (1950-53), a number of cultural heritages at Namhansanseong were greatly damaged, while some of the fortress walls were destroyed by artillery shells and the Namhansanseong Elementary School building was completely burnt down.
In the 1950s, as Namhansanseong was designated as a national park by the Syngman Rhee government, the fortress gradually began to be restored to its original form, and the locals also expected many changes to occur in the fortress village.
The Product Exhibition Hall was built at the site of the Temporary Palace to display cultural heritages and products related to Namhansanseong Fortress. As the inhabitants of the fortress believed that this exhibition hall would develop into a Namhansanseong Park Museum in the future, they referred to it as a museum.