Seoul Museum of History's 'Permanent Exhibition Hall' Transformed After 10 Years... Reopens on the 30th

Completion of 3-Year Renovation, Full Replacement of Aging Facilities Used for Over 20 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Museum of History announced that it will complete the renovation of its permanent exhibition hall, which began in 2020, on June 30 of this year to mark its 20th anniversary, and will reopen it. This is the first full renovation in 10 years since the 10th anniversary in 2012.

The permanent exhibition hall is a representative content that shows the identity of the Seoul Museum of History. This renovation incorporates the accumulated achievements of the museum’s exhibition, artifact collection, research, and preservation projects to strengthen the vivid “Stories of Seoul People,” and also replaced aging exhibition facilities to enhance the safety of the viewing environment. The exhibition layout of Zones 1 to 5 in the permanent exhibition hall covers the lives of Seoul citizens living in the urban space of the capital Seoul from the Joseon Dynasty to the modern era, as well as the history of urban changes.

Zone 1, “Seoul in the Joseon Dynasty,” is structured as a journey from north to south through the urban space of Hanyang, the capital established during the founding of Joseon, up to the late 19th century. It introduces stories of Hanyang residents living in Yukjo Street, Bukchon, Seochon and Dongchon, Unjongga, Jungchon, Namchon, and Seongjeo Sipri. The large wooden model “1481 Hanyang,” showing the appearance of early Joseon Hanyang, and the “Reorganization of Hanyang” after two wars are displayed. By area, the exhibition includes “Seochon (西村),” the best scenic spot in Hanyang and a cradle of the middle-class culture; “Jungchon (中村),” featuring the inheritance of professions among middle-class people and marriage networks within middle-class families; and “Dongchon (東村),” where Ming Dynasty people who came to Joseon with Prince Bongrim formed the Mingin Village around Prince Bongrim’s Eoigung Palace. Additionally, four “Gyehoe-do” paintings depicting social gatherings of Hanyang people, Joseon’s version of SNS, are on permanent display.

Zone 2, exhibiting Seoul during the Korean Empire period dreaming of a modern city through the opening of ports, reinforces content about the activities of the Northern Learning faction who embraced enlightenment ideas, Emperor Gojong who declared the Korean Empire and sought modern reforms, and the people who voiced their opinions through writing in the Independence Newspaper and actions on the streets, highlighting the new modern citizens born in the Korean Empire. Furthermore, a digital exhibition experience zone called “Street of Enlightenment, Jongno” was created using cutting-edge immersive technology to provide an interactive exhibition space for visitors.

Zone 3, which exhibits the distortion and transformation of Hanyang’s urban prototype under the guise of modernization, added the timeline “Loss of National Sovereignty: 1904-1910” summarizing the prehistory of the Japanese colonial period, detailing the urgent situation of national sovereignty loss from 1904 to 1910. New content related to the “Anti-Japanese Nationalist Movement” includes a video production of “Tapgol Park and Daehan Independence Manse.” Items related to the annexed branch Dilkusha and the Taegeukgi flag are newly introduced. Urban planning artifacts such as road markers and rickshaws, a major public transportation means during the Japanese colonial period, are introduced for the first time.

Additionally, content related to Gyeongseong Station, considered the gateway to Gyeongseong at the time, was added, strengthening the exhibition with original blueprints from the station’s completion and the video “1930 Gyeongseong Station.” Materials related to rice rationing during the intensifying Pacific War, such as rice purchase passbooks, and documents about the creation of public notice boards around Jongmyo Shrine and Sewoon Shopping Center are introduced for the first time, allowing visitors to observe the lives of Gyeongseong citizens under the exhibition system.

Zone 4, which exhibits the process of rebuilding Seoul devastated after the Korean War and achieving the Miracle on the Han River, expanded the temporal scope of the existing exhibition from 2002 to the 2010s, introducing the diverse and dynamic aspects of today’s Seoul as a global city and recent urban changes. In particular, the large 6-meter-long city model “Seoul 2002” is presented with mapping videos in a complex production to show changes in downtown Seoul such as the restoration of Cheonggyecheon Stream and the creation of plazas.

Moreover, the urban growth history of Seoul after liberation in 1945 is conveyed through major events by era such as Gangnam development and the Olympic Games to enhance visitors’ understanding. Along with this, the lives of Seoul people and the shadows of rapid growth were also expanded and reorganized. Industrial sites that led Seoul’s rapid growth such as Pyeonghwa Market, Sewoon Shopping Center, and Guro Industrial Complex, the joys and sorrows of Seoul people contained in cultural and artistic works, and the hardships of displaced residents pushed out by urban development are variously shown through artifacts, models, and video productions from the time.

Zone 5, the city model video hall, created a “digital immersive video room” with an overwhelming atmosphere by producing a 1:1500 scale model of Seoul and using multi-surface video spaces with a central screen, left and right walls, and floor model projection mapping videos. Kim Yong-seok, director of the Seoul Museum of History, said, “Interest in Seoul has never been higher recently due to the global influence of Hallyu,” adding, “Based on the newly renovated permanent exhibition hall, we will continuously strengthen the role of ‘Seoul’s Historical and Cultural Guide’ to properly inform not only domestic but also international visitors about Seoul’s history and culture.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.