The city was 80–90% destroyed by American air raids during the Korean War (1950-1953) and was occupied by ROK troops between 17 October 1950 and 17 December 1950. From 1955 to 1962, Hamhŭng was the object of a large-scale program of reconstruction and development by East Germany including the build-up of construction-related industries and intense training measures for Korean construction workers, engineers, city planners and architects. When the Bauhaus trained architect Konrad Püschel, the first Head of City Planning for the arrived in 1955, he was accompanied by about 175 members of the 'Deutsche Arbeitsgruppe (DAG)' as the project team was called.