Dongailbosaok

This building was constructed in December 1926 as the dedicated office of Dong-A Ilbo, the newspaper founded on 1 April 1920, which had initially operated out of borrowed classrooms at the former Jungang School in Hwa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. It is the oldest surviving newspaper building in Korea, and the paper continued to be printed here until 1992. When completed, it had one basement level and three storeys above ground, built of reinforced concrete and brick, with stone and tile cladding on the exterior walls and artificial stone used in places. A distinctive feature is the projecting bay window running vertically from above the entrance to the rooftop structure, which reflects the design trend of the period as it shifted towards the modernist style then fashionable worldwide in the 1920s. Dong-A Broadcasting was also launched in this building in April 1963, and after several rounds of extension and renovation it was expanded to six storeys above ground by 1968. After the company moved its headquarters to Chungjeong-ro, the building has been used as the Ilmin Museum of Art since 1996. Extensive repair and extension work in 2001 substantially altered the interior, but the exterior and part of the interior space remain preserved in their original form, allowing the architectural style and materials of the 1920s to be examined; it is the only building that conveys the appearance of the Gwanghwamun intersection in the modern era.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산