Rhee Syng-man President Villa and Pavilion, Changwon

This building stands within the Naval Control Command in Jinhae. Its original purpose is not known for certain, but it is said to have been used by a Japanese army signal corps during the Japanese colonial period. After liberation, the navy took over the building, repaired it, and used it as a villa for President Rhee Syng-man. It was repaired again in 1979 and has remained in its present form since. The villa is an L-shaped building comprising an office-cum-reception room, a bedroom, a guard room and other ancillary rooms. Its roof, whose sides form the shape of the character 八 (eight), is a paljak, or hip-and-gable, roof, the most ornate type in traditional Korean architecture. The building combines a Korean-style structure with a Western-style exterior, showing an eclectic blend of the two. A short distance from the villa stands a small hexagonal pavilion built of wood, its roof covered with reeds. This hexagonal pavilion is significant as the place where, in 1949, President Rhee Syng-man and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek proposed to the President of the Philippines that a preliminary meeting be held to form a Pacific alliance.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Changwon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산