Discovering Korea’s early modern history in Jeong-dong

DATE: Saturday. May 21, 2022. 1:00PM
DESTINATION: Jeong-dong
COST: W25,000 for Members; W30,000 for Non-members
TOUR LEADER: Matt VanVolkenburg

MEETING POINT: Daehanmun, the front gate of Deoksugung Palace, (City Hall Station (#132), Exit 2, Subway line number 1 (darkblue line) or 2 (green line)) at 1:00PM.

RSVP by May 19 (Thursday) by clicking HERE with payment of the fee via bank transfer.  Please register one RSVP at a time.

☞Payment to be remitted to the following account:
SHINHAN BANK ACCOUNT # 100-026-383501 (RAS-KB)

*Reservation is not confirmed until payment has been received by RAS Korea in advance of the event.

Description:

When the Joseon Kingdom opened to Japan and the West in the late nineteenth century, one neighborhood of Seoul began to grow in importance as foreign diplomats and missionaries settled there: Jeong-dong. As it became a center of foreign diplomatic power and missionary-run churches and modern schools, it was in turn chosen as the location of the new main palace, Deoksugung, in the hope that the Western powers would protect Emperor Gojong from the Japanese. These hopes turned out to be in vain, however, and Korea fell under Japanese control in the wake of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Despite the decades of colonialism, war, and urban development that followed, architectural remnants of this era of Korea’s tumultuous modern history can still be found in Jeong-dong, and a walk through the neighborhood will provide a window into this history.

For this excursion we will meet in front the gate of Deoksugung Palace. From there we will visit the former National Assembly and the Anglican cathedral, and then observe the neighborhood from above. After a visit to the Seoul Museum of Art, which is housed in the colonial era-built former Korean Supreme Court building, we will learn about the missionary influence upon the neighborhood. We will visit the Baejae Hakdang, a missionary-run boys’ school educated many of Korea’s future elite, now restored as a museum; the Jeong-dong First Methodist Church; and Ewha Girl’s High School, the first school for girls in Korea, and also the site of one of Korea’s earliest foreign-run hotels, the Sontag Hotel. We will also visit the restored Jungmyeongjeon Hall, which was built as a royal library but is best known for being the place where the Eulsa Treaty, which the Japanese used to deprive Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty, was signed in 1905. En route to the Salvation Army building and the remains of the former Russian Legation, we will also observe various dilapidated or vanished buildings and paths that are currently being restored and discuss the preservation of the past in Jeong-dong.