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Crowds collect in entrance of Gwanghwamun, the historic fundamental gate of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, Oct. 16, 2023. Newsis
Ought to the signboard of Gwanghwamun, the historic fundamental gate of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, be written in Chinese language characters or in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet?
What seems to be a easy query has stirred many years of heated debate in Korea.
At current, the nameboard shows “Gwanghwamun” in Chinese language characters, the identical as the unique inscription from 1395, when the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) palace was first constructed. However this has not all the time been the case.
In 1968, amid a state-led push to advertise a distinctly Korean nationwide identification, it was changed with a Hangeul model handwritten by then-President Park Chung-hee. In 2010, after newer large-scale restoration work was accomplished, the Hangeul signal was changed once more with Chinese language character plaque, persevering with the historical past of the gate being repeatedly rebuilt.
In 1968, amid a state-led push to claim a Korean nationwide identification, a Hangeul signboard handwritten by then-President Park Chung-hee was put in at Gwanghwamun. Korea Instances file
The controversy has been reignited as soon as once more. Tradition Minister Chae Hwi-young instructed President Lee Jae Myung at a Cupboard assembly on Tuesday that the ministry seeks to overview a proposal to put in an extra Hangeul signboard beneath the present Chinese language character plaque.
“Gwanghwamun is a dynamic image of our trendy historical past — one that’s nonetheless unfolding,” he mentioned. “Including a Hangeul signal would additional underscore that symbolism.”
Noting that this 12 months marks the centennial of the institution of Hangeul Day, he added that “for a rustic whose writing system is internationally acknowledged for its excellence, it’s hardly becoming to have solely a Chinese language character inscription.”
Huh Min, head of the Korea Heritage Service (KHS) — the state-run authority answerable for safeguarding the nation’s cultural heritage — expressed the company’s willingness to cooperate with the undertaking.
The ministry mentioned it plans to proceed with knowledgeable consultations and public hearings as a part of the formal overview course of.
{A photograph} of Gwanghwamun from the Eighteen Nineties / Korea Instances file
Many lives of Gwanghwamun’s nameboard
To know why Gwanghwamun’s signboard has grow to be such a persistent supply of controversy, one should first look to its lengthy and tumultuous previous.
Following Gyeongbok Palace’s development within the late 14th century, it was burned to the bottom in the course of the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-98). The palace was rebuilt in 1867 and fitted with a brand new sign up Chinese language characters, solely to be destroyed as soon as once more in the course of the Korean Conflict (1950-53).
In 1968, it was reconstructed in concrete beneath the Park Chung-hee administration, marking the primary time the gate displayed a Hangeul nameboard.
The construction standing as we speak belongs to a later chapter. As a part of an formidable effort to revive Gyeongbok Palace to its Nineteenth-century kind, Gwanghwamun was rebuilt in 2010 utilizing granite and pine wooden, with its plaque recreated by a digital reconstruction of historic Chinese language lettering.
Lastly, in 2023, KHS, then often called the Cultural Heritage Administration, revised the colours used for the signboard primarily based on historic proof, altering it from black characters on a white background to gold lettering on a black area. That’s the model that now greets guests on the historic landmark in central Seoul.
Gwanghwamun’s signboard with black Chinese language characters on a white background is seen on this June 9, 2022 file picture. Newsis
Hangeul, Chinese language characters — or each?
Till just lately, long-running disputes over Gwanghwamun’s nameboard have largely centered on whether or not to retain the historic inscription in Chinese language characters or substitute it with Hangeul, a potent image of nationwide identification.
The most recent proposal from Chae takes a special tack, suggesting the simultaneous show of each signboards. The concept has been welcomed by a coalition of 75 civic and tutorial teams, together with the Hangeul Society, which expressed its assist in a joint assertion.
“For years, Gwanghwamun’s signal, written solely in Chinese language characters, failed to totally mirror our identification. With this determination, a long-held aspiration has lastly been realized,” the assertion learn.
Kim Seul-ong, director of the Sejong Institute of Korean Language and Tradition, described the proposal as a practical compromise.
“Gwanghwamun stands on the coronary heart of Korea and Hangeul lies on the core of our nationwide sense of company. By putting in a Hangeul nameboard alongside the present one, the gate can talk that identification and company extra clearly to the world,” he instructed The Korea Instances.
“Gyeongbok Palace is, in any case, the place the place Hangeul was created and proclaimed beneath King Sejong — historic symbolism that can not be ignored.”
Members of a civic group maintain a press convention at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul, Oct. 8, 2020, urging the gate’s plaque be modified to Hangeul. Newsis
Nevertheless, quite a few historians and cultural heritage specialists have argued that solely the unique Chinese language character inscription ought to be retained, citing ideas of historic accuracy.
Throughout a parliamentary audit in October 2024, Choi Eung-chon, then head of KHS and a specialist in Buddhist artwork, mentioned that sustaining the Chinese language character nameboard was “according to the ideas of cultural heritage restoration.”
Jang Yoo-seung, an assistant professor of Korean literature in classical Chinese language at Sungkyunkwan College, echoed that view and burdened that the presence of a Chinese language character plaque was a historic truth that would not merely be undone. Whereas the proposal to put in two nameboards has been framed as a compromise, he warned that it might as an alternative invite additional controversy.
“Gwanghwamun is a state-designated cultural heritage website, and beneath the Cultural Heritage Safety Act, it can’t be altered at will. Preserving the unique kind is the tenet, to the extent that even driving in a single nail requires cautious consideration.”
Gwanghwamun’s most up-to-date signboard, that includes gold lettering on a black background, is unveiled throughout a ceremony, Oct. 15, 2023. Newsis
Jang additionally pointed to what he described as an absence of coverage consistency. “Within the current dispute over Seoul’s high-rise redevelopment close to Jongmyo Shrine, each the tradition ministry and KHS burdened the significance of preservation,” he mentioned. “But in terms of Gwanghwamun, they now argue for including a brand new structural ingredient. I discover that method completely inconsistent.”
Addressing claims that retaining Chinese language characters could reinforce perceptions of Korea as a former vassal state of China, the professor dismissed such arguments as anachronistic. The divide between an official written language and the vernacular, he mentioned, was not distinctive to Korea however relatively a widespread international phenomenon.
“Even as we speak, Europe is crammed with artifacts bearing Latin inscriptions, but nobody suggests these nations had been subordinate to Italy,” he mentioned, including that nations as soon as a part of the Sinosphere likewise proceed to protect heritage written in classical Chinese language with out questions being raised about their sovereignty.
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