Standing close to Sookmyung Girls’s College Station in central Seoul is a nondescript constructing with an unassuming doorway, above which an indication in Korean reads “Namyeong Arcade.” Stepping inside, one can’t assist however discover the excessive ceiling with picket roof trusses stretching above a stylish cafe. Whereas the precise age of the constructing is unclear, as an establishment, it dates again to 1922, when it was established as considered one of a number of trendy markets constructed for Japanese residents.
The unique constructing burned down inside a yr of opening, highlighting the risk from fires, significantly within the winter months. In 1925, two fires have been shortly put out however have been suspected of getting been brought on by arson, resulting in, because the Chosun Ilbo reported, “worry and unease” amongst native residents.
The inside of Namyeong Arcade in central Seoul, Nov. 2. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
The identical newspaper reported in late 1938 that skyrocketing inflation within the wake of the outbreak of battle in China led to the formation of the Gyeongseong Retail Market Affiliation Federation, which aimed to implement value controls, thereby “fulfilling its mission as an important provide group throughout wartime.”
Heading east from the market’s location whereas skirting the northern wall of the previous Japanese (after which later American) army base at Yongsan, one comes throughout various faculties, most notably Yongsan Center College, considered one of a number of established within the space between 1918 and 1922 to show the scholars of Japanese officers and troopers. In 1930, Kenzo Muro, son of the newly appointed commander of the Japanese twentieth Division in Yongsan, transferred to the college. In 1941, a neighborhood newspaper reported that this former pupil, by then a pilot, had died in an air raid over China.
The 108 Stairs that led to Seoul’s Protection of Nation Shrine now characteristic a funicular‐type elevator. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
This space and the slopes of Mount Nam all bear traces of the Japanese Empire. Subsequent to the center faculty are the 108 stairs that previously led the best way to the Protection of Nation Shrine constructed by Japanese authorities in 1943 as a department of Yasukuni Shrine. Additional north is the previous location of the better-known Joseon Shrine, the large Shinto shrine in-built 1925 atop the previous metropolis wall, the place Japan’s Korean topics have been compelled to bow, significantly in the course of the 1941-45 Pacific Warfare, when ration coupons have been tied to such performative participation within the battle effort.
A bomb shelter is dug into Namsan on the previous web site of the Joseon Shinto Shrine. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
Nothing stays of that shrine, although its stairs have been moved and repurposed, and a Pacific Warfare-era bomb shelter was found lately. Traces of the previous Japanese presence on the northern slopes of Mount Nam are tougher to search out, nevertheless. Japan’s embassy, in-built 1892, later a museum to the Authorities Common that featured as an exhibit the room the place the paperwork of Korea’s annexation have been signed in 1910, has lengthy since been demolished, as has Japan’s first Resident-Common constructing, accomplished in 1907. Gyeongseong Shrine, an earlier Shinto shrine established in 1898, can be lengthy gone, although a couple of items of it may be discovered on the campus of Soongeui Girls’s College.
Stays of Gyeongseong Shrine can nonetheless be discovered on Soongeui Girls’s College campus. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
The truth that the realm round Japan’s former embassy ultimately housed a number of KCIA buildings parallels the destiny of the positioning the place Namsangol Hanok Village at the moment stands. Serving as Japan’s major army base earlier than Yongsan Garrison opened, after which as its army police base till 1945, it later turned the positioning of Korea’s Capital Protection Command (CDC) headquarters from 1962 to 1991. One mission of the CDC was to stop a coup in opposition to Park Chung-hee, but it surely later turned instrumental within the 1979 coup that introduced Chun Doo-hwan to energy, an influence play that noticed future Korean President Roh Tae-woo appointed CDC commander.
Maybe probably the most attention-grabbing web site associated to the Japanese Empire is that of Jangchung Park and The Shilla Seoul resort. This space, in addition to land additional south, was as soon as the positioning of Jangchungdan, the Altar to Encourage Loyalty, which was established by Emperor Gojong in 1900 to honor loyal topics who had died for the nation, significantly in the course of the 1895 assassination of Queen Min and the 1894-95 Donghak Rebellion.
After Korea’s annexation by Japan in 1910, Jangchungdan, very like Changgyeong Palace, was transformed right into a park. Twenty years later, this web site, which had previously honored Korean patriots, was transformed right into a temple to honor Ito Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister, who had overseen Korea’s discount to protectorate standing earlier than his assassination by Ahn Jung-geun in 1909.
Accomplished in 1932, the temple (the identify of which featured characters that learn ‘Hirobumi-ji’ in Japanese however have been pronounced ‘Bakmunsa’ in Korean) featured a newly constructed central corridor alongside buildings faraway from Gyeongbok Palace and Wongudan (the altar the place King Gojong had been proclaimed emperor of the Daehan Empire in 1897), in addition to Heunghwamun, the principle gate of Gyeonghui Palace — the one palace to be completely demolished after annexation.
Not all of Gyeonghui Palace disappeared, nevertheless — its throne room, Sungjeongjeon, was bought by a Japanese Buddhist sect and transformed right into a temple, the grounds of which — east of Jangchung Park — later turned the campus of Dongguk College, the place the constructing stands at the moment as Jeonggakwon, the college’s temple constructing.
Heunghwamun Gate stands on the entrance of The Shilla Seoul resort. Courtesy of Matt VanVolkenburg
Gyeonghui Palace’s former gate, Heunghwamun, nonetheless stands at the moment in entrance of The Shilla Seoul, which was constructed on the positioning of Bakmunsa in 1979, and is barely 400 meters from the palace’s former throne room on the Dongguk College campus. Each stand as silent reminders of the Japanese Empire’s makes an attempt to remake Seoul in its personal picture by overwriting the city material of the Daehan Empire.
The aforementioned locations will likely be visited, and plenty of extra tales in regards to the space’s colonial historical past will likely be shared this coming Saturday in an tour by RAS Korea. Participation prices 30,000 received, or 25,000 received for RAS Korea members. Go to raskb.com for extra info.
Matt VanVolkenburg has a grasp’s diploma in Korean research from the College of Washington. He’s the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr, and co-author of “Referred to as by One other Identify: A Memoir of the Gwangju Rebellion.”
