15 Aug 2010, Posted by Matt in Best of DK.com, Historic Korea, Seoul, Video, 0 Comments

Historic Jeong-dong

Some of Seoul’s best walking streets are in the historic and verdant Jeong-dong neighborhood, site of the city’s earliest foreign churches, missionary schools and foreign legations.

14 May 2010, Posted by Matt in Art & Culture, Best of DK.com, Festivals & Holidays, Historic Korea, Seoul, UNESCO Sites, 2 Comments

The Jongmyo Royal Shrine’s Great Rite

When King Taejo founded the Joseon Dynasty in 1394, he built the Jongmyo Royal Shrine to honor his ancestors. Each May, Korea’s royal Confucian ancestral rites are opened to the public.

20 Mar 2010, Posted by Matt in Historic Korea, Seoul, Video, 10 Comments

Deoksugung: Seoul’s Palace of Virtue

Built in the 15th century, Deoksugung Palace was abandoned for centuries until the years immediately pre- and post Japanese annexation of Korea, when it was the site of fascinating political intrigue and tragedy.

02 May 2009, Posted by Matt in Festivals & Holidays, Seoul, 0 Comments

Hi Seoul Festival 2009

When Korea co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup football/soccer tournament with Japan, people around the world saw hundreds of thousands of Korean fans clad in red swarm onto Seoul’s streets. To relive that festive spirit, the city launched the Hi Seoul Festival in 2003.

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31 Dec 2008, Posted by Matt in Historic Korea, Seoul, 1 Comments

Deoksugung Palace

Korean palaces like Deoksugung don’t shy away from using bright colors like pink and turquoise.

A few months ago during a Royal Asiatic Society walking tour of Seoul’s palaces, I learned that before most of the city’s five grand palaces were burned or bulldozed, they formed Asia’s second largest royal compound (the largest was China’s Forbidden City).

Case in point is the “Palace of Virtue and Longevity,” better known as Deoksugung, or Deoksu Palace. Located in the middle of modern Seoul, it was built during the mid-1400s as a private villa for Prince Wolsan, the big brother of King Seongjong. But when the Japanese invasion of 1592 left all of Hanyang’s (now Seoul) palaces burning, the residence was renamed Gyeongungung and converted into a temporary palace for just 7 years until Changdeokgung Palace became the royals’ primary residence. The ole villa-cum-palace fell into disuse over the next 2+ centuries before it became Emperor Gojong‘s official residence in the 1890s. My guide estimated that at its height, Deoksugung was comprised of 180 structures, but most were either burned in a 1904 fire or demolished by the Japanese during the colonial period. Today, only about 12 significant buildings remain on a footprint whose size is less than half its original. Nevertheless, what remains is a beautiful reminder of the sophistication of Korea’s Joseon period.

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25 Oct 2008, Posted by Matt in Buddhist Temples, Festivals & Holidays, Gangwon, Gyeongsang, Hotels & Resorts, Jeolla, Nature, Seoul, 8 Comments

Where to See Autumn 2008 Color

A snapshot from Bukhan Mountain, just north of Seoul. The bright yellow leaves are from an old Gingko Tree.

(A version of this text aired on KBS World Radio on October 25, 2008.)

The French existentialist and philosopher Albert Camus once said, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” That famous line reminds me why this is my favorite time of the year, and Korea is a great place to see autumn in all its colorful glory. Korea’s climate has four distinct seasons, and fall is when the mild climate and limited rainfall make traveling especially comfortable.

The Korean word for autumn leaves is danpoong (단풍), … and come to think of it, it’s funny that English doesn’t have its own word, at least to my knowledge. Maybe the leaves here are just more spectacular?

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01 Sep 2008, Posted by Matt in Historic Korea, Seoul, 3 Comments

Gyeonghuigung: A Summer Palace in Seoul

Seoul’s Gyeonghuigung Palace with Gwanghwamun’s skyscrapers in the background.

On the way between my home and central Seoul’s City Hall, is Gyeonghuigung Palace (경희궁), which is also known as Gyeongdeokgung Palace. As one of the “Five Grand Palaces” of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), about ten Korean kings visited here during their daily excursions.

It’s my understanding that Gyeonghuigung Palace wasn’t actually a palace, but a royal villa. Construction occured between 1617-23, and once upon a time, the entire complex comprised some 100 different structures. A rendering of the compound circa 1820 shows an elaborate and extensive series of walls, homes and gardens that were connected by an arched bridge to Deoksugung Palace (덕수궁), which is quite a ways to the southeast. Sadly, virtually the entire palace was razed by the Japanese during their colonial occupation of Korea (1910-1945).

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