Deoksugung Palace

This began as the house of a prince and became a palace by accident. When King Seonjo returned to Seoul in 1593 he found every palace burnt, and moved into the largest surviving mansion, which belonged to the family of Prince Wolsan. It was used on and off for three centuries after that. Its moment came in 1897. King Gojong, who had spent a year sheltering in the Russian legation after his queen was murdered by Japanese agents, chose this compound — surrounded by foreign legations, and therefore safer — as his seat. From here he proclaimed the Korean Empire and had himself crowned emperor. Ten years later Japan forced him to abdicate in favour of his son, renamed the palace Deoksugung — 'palace of virtuous longevity', the polite name for a retirement — and kept him here until he died in 1919. The buildings show both faces of that decade. Junghwajeon is a Korean throne hall; Seokjojeon, next to it, is a neoclassical stone palace with columns and a pediment, finished in 1910, the year the country was annexed. Jeonggwanheon, a small pavilion by a Russian architect, is where Gojong drank coffee. The guard changes at Daehanmun gate three times a day.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Jung-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적