Former Seoul Station Building

Begun in 1922 and completed in 1925 as Gyeongseong Station, renamed Seoul Station in 1947. It was built by the Japanese administration to move war materiel and labour, and it was the hinge of a rail network laid out to serve an invasion of the Asian mainland. The foundation stone carries the calligraphy of Saito Makoto, the governor-general. Two storeys over a basement, brick with stone, designed by a Japanese architect. The ground floor is handled as a Renaissance palace; above it the walls are red brick with granite dressings, under a dome. The first-floor restaurant was among the earliest Western dining rooms in the country. It stopped being a station in 2003 when services moved next door, and reopened after restoration as an exhibition hall. It is the oldest railway building in Korea, and it is worth knowing what it was for while you are standing in it.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Jung-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적