Gyeonggyojang House, Seoul

Gyeonggyojang House is the building that Kim Ku, chairman of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, used as his office and residence from his return from China in 1945 until his assassination on 26 June 1949. Built in 1938, the building was originally called Jukcheomjang, but its name is said to have been changed to Gyeonggyojang, after a nearby stream, once Kim Ku began living there. It was later used as the residence of the Free China (Republic of China) embassy, as a base for South Korean army medical staff, and as the residence of the South Vietnamese embassy, before Goryeo Hospital (now Kangbuk Samsung Hospital) took it over in 1968, and it remains part of the hospital today. It is a Western-style building with one basement level and two storeys above ground, admired for the beautiful proportions of its front facade and for the elegant appearance created by its bay windows on the first floor and recessed arch windows on the second. It was designed by Kim Se-yeon (1897–1975), one of the pioneers of modern Korean architecture, a graduate of the Gyeongseong Higher Technical School, the same school attended by Kim Hae-gyeong, better known as the poet Yi Sang. The building is valued as a fine example of 1930s architectural technique, although its right side and rear have since been joined to newly built hospital blocks, and its interior has been altered to suit hospital use.

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Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적