Tear down that tax office

Seoul will destroy a 87 year old building as part of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation. It doesn't seem to be a major asset of the colonial heritage, and hosted the Namdaemun annex of the national tax services - an administration that moved to Sejong City a while ago. A section shall remain as a 'memorial wall'. Seoul citizens, among which a little bit more than 9% were born before the Liberation, are invited to share their own take at 'My Liberation'.

Tearing down a place associated with the Japanese rule and the IRS is likely to appeal to primal instincts among some voters, and that's certainly not the spirit of revenge we want Korea to display for this minefield of an anniversary, unless the aim is to further alienate the public opinion in Japan, and fuel Shinzo Abe's imposture.

That said, this section of Sejong-daero (between Sejong-daero 19 and 21-gil) could look a lot better without it: everybody on the boulevard will enjoy the view on "Seoul-upon-Han and Yeongguk-dong", and not just the occasional (sorry James) rare glimpse at the Anglican Cathedral.

On this view, you can see from left to right the trees lining the Deoksugung, the Cathedral, the old building to be destroyed, the Seoul Metropolitan Council (and its tower), and the side of the Koreana Hotel. Across the street: City Hall, old and new.

As far as former Empires are concerned, the United Kingdom may lose even more than Japan: the end of ye olde quiet days, plus a direct view on the ugliest side of "Seoul Tsunami City Hall, The Other Korean Wave".

Seoul Village 2015
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NB: in 1995, for the 50th anniversary of the Liberation, the Japanese Government Building destroying the Bukhansan-Gyeongbokgung-Gwanghwamun perspective was taken down. This tax office somehow obliterates the view to the Deoksugung.

A 6 Star Hotel in Gwanghwamun?

If Korean Air's ambitious 7-Star 'hanokish' hotel near Anguk* remains on hold, Mirae Asset's project for a 6-Star hotel at Gwanghwamun Station seems back on tracks.

As we saw earlier, many office buildings are to be delivered over the next few months and years in this area, and across the capital, some projects are already being partly converted into hotel rooms because the boom in tourism is expected to continue as Seoul catches up with rival world magnets. No wonder Jongno-gu wanted developpers to come up with something different than the office space initially planned at this prestigious address (Gwanghwamun Naegeori or the Saemunan-ro / Sejongdae-ro intersection).

We first heard about the project last March but today, more details were released in the media: 26 floors, 316 to 348 rooms, and an inauguration scheduled for 2016. To operate the hotel, Mirae would love to deal with Four Seasons. The franchise usually settles for buildings with a long history but here, the location is loaded with culture and history : in Shinmunro, between Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeonghuigung, just opposite Cheonggyecheon, and halfway between Gyeongbokgung/Seochon and Deoksugung/City Hall**. Bonus: a relatively low competitive pressure (not far from the Koreana Hotel, but clearly in a different area than the Westin or the Plaza).

Hankyung (Korea Economic Daily) published an update of the tourist hotels under construction in Seoul (""외국인 관광객 잡아라" 서울 도심 호텔 6000실 '공사중'"): a total of 6,000 rooms, and a few other Jongno-gu projects (JW Marriot in Jongno 6-ga, Waterfront in Gwansu-dong, and Ibis Ambassador in Ikseon-dong).

I hope the sketch presented in that article as the future Gwanghwamun landmark is just a first draft.

Seoul Village 2012
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*"Korean Air Grounded : Seoul 7 Star Hotel Delayed"
** and don't forget Baekundongcheon ("Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It")!

Seoul city center in Namsan ? Heresy !!!

Seoul City plans to erect a monument at its precise geographical center, located by GPS two years ago at the feet of the Namsan Tower (N Tower) :



Why not indeed ? Provided the monument doesn't destroy too much wilderness in an area already plagued by the said tower... and provided it only celebrates the geographical center and nothing more. It doesn't take a GPS (nor even to fold a map) to know Yongsan lies at the center of modern Seoul.

Let me be clear : locating THE REAL CENTER of Seoul anywhere outside of the Sadaemun (Four Gates) area would be a monstruous heresy.

Picking Gwanghwamun itself would make infinitely more sense, and respect the origins of the capital city : the gate to the royal palace somehow symbolizes the starting point for Hanyang, which would later become Seoul.

The only rival I could accept would be City Hall : it's also a political center, but furthermore a symbol of democracy... and still within the Sadaemun limits, an absolute must for such a powerful symbol.

Last nail in the coffin of this new Namsan candidate : there's already one ugly monument to mark Seoul city center : Dorowonpyo (도로원표) signals the starting point to measure distances to other major Korean cities, very much like Notre Dame's "parvis" in Paris*.

Dorowonpyo lies on the tiny triangle of concrete next to Koreana Hotel, on Taepyeongno (see Seoul Village map). Between Gwanghwamun and City Hall (respectively 800 m and 400 m away), just opposite Cheonggyecheon, the river that cut Hanyang, the old Seoul**, and almost at what is undisputedly Seoul's most central crossroads : Sejongno Sageori.

But Dorowonpyo is also questionable : the location was chosen 94 years ago by Japanese colons ! Retrospectively, we're lucky they didn't select the exact location of Gwanghwamun itself : the occupants destroyed the gate to build their own headquarters, so beyond the historical starting point of Seoul, Dorowonpyo would also celebrate the Japanese Government-General Building !

So I guess I can tolerate a small plaque to signal the GPS center of XXIst century Seoul in Yongsan.

Seoul Village 2010

* sans le ugly monument, of course : a simple plaque does it. BTW : I was born in Paris and I understand the historical value of the symbol, but a religious reference like Notre Dame de Paris doesn't seem fit for a secular republic.

** I often joke about Gangnam not belonging to Seoul : and use, "Gangnam", South of the (Han) river, for "Gangcheon", South of the (Cheonggye) stream ! Apgujeong ? A Bundang suburb, I tellya ! Of course, I don't mean it totally : there are so many parts of Seoul I like South of Hangang.

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UPDATE 201005

This article on Seoul Metropolitan Government's website : "Namsan, geographic center of Seoul". I'm particularly scared by the expression "part of the city's beautification project for the mountain". Administrations have a knack for "beautificating" Seoul mountains.