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At the "31st Anniversary Cultural Festival for the 50th Anniversary of Liberation", which was held at 10:00 a.m. that day at the square in front of the former Governor-General's Office, Jeong Yang-mo, then director of the National Museum of Korea, said, "Today's 31st anniversary will be the beginning of the dismantling of the Korean Governor-General's Office." Playing the cheerful hand-held percussion instrument “Kwenguwali”, countless colorful balloons rose high into the sky. Citizens danced with the national flag in their hands and shouted "Live millions of years!" enlivening the festival.
The civilian government of then-President Kim Young-sam decided to demolish the former Joseon Governor-General Building as part of a movement to rebuild history, and held a proclamation ceremony on the same day. Since the establishment of the Korean government in 1948, the demolishing of the former Chosun Governor-General's office building had been pursued at every opportunity, but it was also thwarted due to budget and other issues.
A symbol of Japanese imperialism's aggression and plunder, construction began in 1916 and was completed in 1926 after ten years of construction. Masatake Terauchi, the first governor-general of Korea, instead of the present Seoul City Hall site, which was originally planned when selecting the site, pushed it into the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was the heart of the Joseon and Korean Empires. It was intended to appeal to Japanese rule, insult the Korean dynasty, and kill the spirit and vigor of the nation.
As a result, the government-general of Joseon was built on such an overwhelming scale that it hid Gyeongbokgung, the symbol of the Joseon royal family so that the people could not see the palace where the king was. Furthermore, Gwanghwamun was demolished during the construction process, and more than 4,000 of the 6,806 pavilions in Gyeongbokgung were sold to cover the cost of building the Governor-General's Office. The Government-General of Korea, completed at more than twice the originally expected cost, was the largest building in Japan and its colonies at the time, and the largest modern building in the East. However, unlike its glamorous appearance, the Korean Governor-General's Office was a place that brought shame and wounds to the nation. The Japanese government installed 15-centimeter-thick heavy iron doors in each basement of the Korean Governor-General's office building and even built a torture chamber with soundproof facilities. As a Korean, it was a representative “negative cultural property” that bears the scars of history.
After the end of World War II, the Korean Governor's Office was requisitioned and used by the US military. At that time, the name given by the US military was "Capital Hall", and the Koreans at that time literally translated it as "Central Office", and used that name for decades. It was used as a government building until 1982, and after internal repairs, it was used as the National Museum of Korea in 1986.
After the government building demolition declaration ceremony, the actual dismantling work began on August 15 of the same year. At that time, Minister of Culture and Sports, Choo Dong-shik (the department is equivalent to the Ministry of Japan), announced the removal of the symbol of Japanese rule, which would be accomplished in 50 years of liberation, before the separation of the central dome spire of the former Governor-General of Korea. I read aloud the "declaration sentence" with such content. “We will destroy the language and history of our nation and deprive our people of their survival. I solemnly inform you that the restoration work of the main palace and the construction of a new cultural street will begin today."
After that, when a large crane began to lift the top of the spire of the Government-General of Korea, the 50,000 citizens gathered in the square cheered in unison, and hundreds of firecrackers rang out. While the spire was lifted to the ground by a crane, the National Gukhak Orchestra's performance of 'Revisited Light' echoed solemnly at the event venue in front of Gwanghwamun, reflecting on its meaning.
The demolition work was completed in November 1996 by blowing up the entire building. On March 1st, 1995, when the South Korean government officially announced the removal of the former Governor-General of Korea, the Japanese government offered to bear all the relocation costs and purchase the entire building. There was also a scene that was crowded.
The demolished spire and the materials that were removed during the demolition process were moved to the ``Exhibition Park for the Demolition Materials of the Governor-General's Office'' created outside the Independence Hall in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do. What makes it different from general exhibition parks is that it is based on the concept of “ignoring”. That's because Independence Hall has chosen to display the history of national disgrace in the remnants of Japanese rule, but to treat it coldly. In the same vein, the spire, which was the symbol of the government-general of Korea, was buried five meters underground and displayed so that visitors could look down on it from above.
2023/03/04 09:23 KST
