Jeong-dong forever

Thank you Chosun Ilbo for feeding this stroll-starved quarantined Seoulite with Jeong-dong news ("서울 貞洞이 확 바뀐다, 근대역사 숨쉬는 거리로" - Chosun Ilbo 20200407). So. Seoul intends to invest KRW 20 bn by 2022 into what is already one of the capital's most walkable neighborhoods. Basically, a lot of storytelling to connect the dots, plus a few new dots. 

Sidewalks and signs shall be improved along the 2,6 km scenic walk signaled on this map

But first, let me tell you another story about this neighborhood you think you know.

Jeong-dong basically draws a diagonal between two palaces: Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung, and owes its name to Jeongneung, a royal tomb of the Joseon dynasty. Actually, it used to be also known as Jeongneung-dong.

Wait a minute. Indeed, Jeongneung is located in Jeongneung-dong, but that's in Seongbuk-gu, quite far away.

Blame King Sejong's father for that: King Taejeong was the one who, in 1408, moved the tomb to the opposite end of town, and even beyond the mountain, the city, and its fortress walls. Real estate-wise and  feng shui-wise, quite a downgrade. Why would Taejeong disgrace a royal tomb? Because it honored Queen Sindeok, the second wife of his grand dad, King Taejo, the founder of both the Josson dynasty and Seoul. And Taejeong's grandmother was Taejo's first wife, Queen Shinui. So even if Sindeok played a role in the capital's genesis, she had to get out of royal sight.

Now guess where Jeongneung was located, initially: in Today's British Embassy.

To me, this anecdote illustrates perfectly Jeong-dong's shift from its royal origins to its modern diplomatic tradition.

Of course, this is where Germany, Russia, the US, the UK, France, Italy, Belgium built their consulates at the end of the XIXth century. But if the Brits are still there (see 'Seoul-upon-Han and Yeongguk-dong'), and even if the Russian Legation tower was restored a dozen years ago, most of the rest is gone.

Seoul city intends to revamp Jeongdong Park, at the feet of the Russian Legation to have it themed after the area's rich diplomatic tradition, with a tribute to these lost buildings. Will more people come than today? For the moment, this quiet green patch remains backstage from Jeongdong-gil as well as from Saemunan-ro (accessible through a steep staircase). And Jeongdong-gil itself is already a pleasant, tree-lined stroll dotted with actual buildings full of history or culture: Jeongdong Theater, Sina Memorial Hall (Asiance HQs), Chung Dong First Methodist Church, surviving structures of Ewha Hakdang and Pai Chai Hakdang (Appenzeller Noble Memorial Museum), Jungmyeongjeon Hall...

What always struck me when I saw old pictures of Jeong-dong was the fact that it looked much hillier than today, and now I know why: there was indeed a hill, named after Hwangtohyeon, but it was erased during the occupation. Among the few new dots added to the plan, Seoul will create a small Hwangtohyeon square to commemorate a hill in front of the small police station at the Sejongno intersection.

Most citizens discovered this most central neighborhood when Deoksugung-gil was redesigned in 1998, marking the revival of downtown Seoul as a pedestrian friendly destination*. Another boost came with the 2002 World Cup, when millions gathered right next door on Sejongdaero around City Hall, and what would become the new Seoul Plaza. The SeMA, inaugurated in 1988, would also be renovated in 2002, and its garden at the roundabout remains a popular, Instagrammable spot. 2002 also happens to be the birth year of my beloved Seoul Museum of History at the other end of the neighborhood. More recently, the Seoul Biennales brought new magnets on each side of Jeong-dong: Donuimun Museum Village near Gyeonghuigung (2007), and Seoul HOUR (2019) near Deoksugung.

Of course there's much more than this SE-NW diagonal**. But until a few years ago, the Northeast section of Deoksugung-gil used to be closed to the public around Habib House, the US Ambassador's residence. Thanks to Mark Lippert and Grigsby his basset hound, this key axis opened up, completing at last Jeong-dong's anchoring to all neighboring areas.

Jeong-dong will remain future-proof if it keeps at the same time respecting its past and evolving.

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* see "Jeongdong-kill"

** Note that its Southeastern half used to be known as Sojeong-dong (close to the 'somun' - Seodomun), and its Northwestern half as Daejeong-dong (close to 'daemun' - Donuimun). About Seoul's Sadaemun and Sasomun, see my small video 'Drawing Sadaemun'

Time travel: "Letters from Joseon"

Robert Neff is sick.

Don't get me wrong: he truly seems a good and decent man. I simply mean that he was feverish today. But this historian is so enthusiastic about his subject that he managed, in spite of that, to deliver a powerful and very entertaining lecture for the 10 Magazine Book Club. That's about his latest book: "Letters from Joseon - 19th Century Korea through the Eyes of an American Ambassador's Wife".




"Letters from Joseon" - Seoul Selection 2013
Robert Neff's previously wrote "Korea Through Western Eyes" and "Westerner's life in Joseon"

Robert Neff is sick.

Of reading about recurrent seasicknesses, rashes, or digestion troubles in John Mahelm Berry Sill's small family. Of decyphering this woman's scrawl. Of following John along pages and pages of dull descriptions of spiders and plants. But that's part of the job when you do your research on this kind of material: unfortunately, not all letters are written by Mark Twain or Jane Austen, and someone has to skim off the relevant bits, the hidden gems, and what is left unsaid to make it a pleasant journey for the readers. Mercifully, that's only part of the job, which certainly involves other painstaking processes, but also other rewarding moments. Also, that's a good alibi to look for and into more pictures of the past, and Robert Neff is a great collector of photos from late XIXth- early XXth Century Korea.

Robert Neff is sick.

Come to think of it, this man may have a twisted mind, after all: he does have a weakness for wicked characters. But no, that's totally normal. Put yourself into his shoes: you don't want to stay all the time with a tranquil constipated arachnophiliac stuck in his garden when there's a naughty gossiper, an incestuous felon, or a chain-beheader in the neighborhood! Not to mention "devils" at large (learn that Korean ponies are not as cute as they look). Beyond the story of an American Minister to Korea (1894-1897), there are tens of stories and portraits, hillarious anecdotes, new insights about Jeong-dong*, Seoul, Incheon-Chemulpo, Korea, King Gojong and Empress Myeongseong, the flight to the Russian Legation, and a dynasty on the verge of collapse.

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* reminded me of the recent expo Jeongdong 1900 at the Seoul Museum of History (see "A thousand villages, a thousand memories - Seoul Photo Festival 2012").

Seoul-upon-Han and Yeongguk-dong

Brittons will always excel in at least two areas : humor and gardening. The other evening, during a charming Garden Party at the British Embassy in Jeong-dong, I was admiring the flower beds facing the late XIXth Century residence of the Ambassador, when I noticed two almost identical signs at the feet of a young tree.

On the left one : "this tree was planted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999". On the right one : "this tree was replanted by Hong X-X, head gardener, 1986-2011". What could pass for lese majeste (a Korean commoner correcting a Queen's mistake !) is actually a very smart way of honoring the host country and Embassy staff.

Another smart citizen of the United Kingdom was Mr William George Aston, the British Consul-General who purchased in 1884 for a song but with his own money the land where the Embassy would be erected. And with less secular British powers headquartered next door (Bishop John Corfe bought the land six years later for the Anglican church), the whole neighborhood could be named Yeongguk-dong (영국동).

Technically part of Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, this lovely and peaceful spot can be reached from Taepyeongno, through a short street facing the Western side of City Hall, between Deoksugung and Seoul City Council.

The area comprises a rather few but remarkable buildings. If the Ambassador's Residence is hidden by the concrete bulk of the Embassy's main building (there had to be an architectural faux pas somewhere), the Bishop's residence exposes to the public its unique facade : three sections blending British and Korean architectures, surrounding a massive tree and facing the Seoul Anglican Cathedral, a striking display of romanesque style. As a transition between the Bishop's residence and Deoksugung walls, a large hanok, formerly part of the palace, hosts the Anglican church offices. Note that the Cathedral adds, beyond its definitely Mediterranean touch, yet another fusion element to the mix with the almost Byzantine mosaic illuminating its altar.



Few foreign communities contributed so positively to Seoul's skyline : I'd give an A to the Russian Legation (more than ever an undisputed cultural and historical asset), a D- to the US Embassy (they can't do much worse when they move to Yongsan), and a C+ to the Ambassade de France (where Korean architect Kim Chung-up erected an ambitious yet indigestible Corbusieresque hanok-bunker).

Of course, the longest lasting footprints are the ones Seoul is leaving on us.

But even there, Brits had a head start : the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RASKB) has been promoting Korean culture since 1900.

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Picture : the Cathedral, inaugurated in 1926 by Reverend Mark Napier Trollope (his tomb lies in the middle of the crypt)

Spotlights on the Russian Legation

It's been a couple of weeks now : they've removed the scaffoldings around the Russian Legation in Jeong-dong (Jung-gu) and started lighting it up at night*. On its snowy hill, the restored white tower shines almost 24 hours a day in spite of the nearby high-rises.

The 3-storey Russian Legation is a National Treasure because of its architecture and its role as a refuge for King Gojong in 1896-97, following the murder of Empress Myeongseong (then Min Daebi / Queen Min) by Japanese agents, and before moving to Deoksugung to declare the short lived Korean Empire.

This episode is known as the royal refuge at the Russian legation (Agwan Pacheon).

Seoul Village 2010

* from the apartments recently built just below the hill.