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Deoksugung (), also called Deoksu Palace or Deoksugung Palace, is a former royal palace in Seoul, South Korea. It was the first main palace of the 1897–1910 Korean Empire and is now a major tourist attraction. It has a mix of traditional Korean and Western architecture that reflects its history. Inside the palace are the Daehan Empire History Museum and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung branch.
The palace was first used as a temporary palace by King Seonjo during the 1592–1598 Imjin War, when the other palaces had been destroyed. In 1611, it was made an official palace named Gyeongungung (it was renamed "Deoksugung" in 1907). The palace then went largely unused until the late 19th century.
In 1897, Gojong declared the creation of the Korean Empire and made Gyeongungung the empire's main palace. He attempted to make the palace a symbol of Korea's efforts to modernize. He rapidly expanded it by acquiring land from nearby properties and constructing new buildings in both Korean and Western styles. Under his tenure, the palace's major buildings Junghwajeon and Seokjojeon were constructed. Despite his efforts to keep Korea independent, he was forced to abdicate in 1907 and Korea was colonized by Japan in 1910. He lived in the palace until his death in 1919.
After Gojong's death, the colonial government moved quickly to sell off and dismantle the palace's property. By 1930, 18 of the original buildings were left. In 1933, the palace was made a public park. In 1938, a West Wing was constructed for Seokjojeon, and together the two buildings became the . After these efforts to open the palace to the public, just 8 of the original buildings remained.
Even for decades after the 1945 liberation of Korea, the palace continued to function as a public park, with some public works projects further altering or decreasing the size of the palace. One scholar estimated the palace's current size to be 1/3rd of its peak size. Efforts to restore its pre-colonial appearance began in the 1980s. In 2004, a comprehensive plan to restore aspects of the palace was enacted. As part of this plan, a number of buildings and structures have been recreated or moved back to their original pre-colonial spots based on historical research.
King Gwanghaegun then ascended the throne at the palace. In 1611, Changdeokgung was adequately repaired, and Gwanghaegun moved over to that palace. He then upgraded Haenggung to a full palace and selected a new name for it: Gyeongungung (). He ordered that Gyeongungung's facilities be maintained so that they could be used as a secondary palace. Several months later, he moved back to Gyeongungung. While repairing other palaces, he ordered that several of Gyeongungung's structures be disassembled and their materials used in other palaces. In 1618, Seonjo's former wife Queen Inmok was forcefully confined in the palace. In 1623, King Injo ordered that all buildings except for two in Gyeongungung be returned to their original owners.
For much of the later Joseon period, Gyeongungung was considered to have lesser facilities, and thus went largely unused by the Korean royal family. It was renovated in 1679 and visited four times by King Yeongjo between 1748 and 1775. An article in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture argues it was otherwise disregarded to the extent of not appearing on a number of late Joseon maps. After 1884 failed Gapsin Coup, various foreign missions were granted permission to be established around Gyeongungung. To its west was the and . To its north is the Embassy of the United Kingdom. In 1893, the Korean monarch Gojong held a ceremony at Gyeongungung for the 300th anniversary of Seonjo returning to Seoul. Historian An Chang-mo () argues that the palace held symbolism to Gojong as a place where the monarch stayed during a foreign invasion crisis.
On April 14, 1904, a major fire started in Hamnyeongjeon. While Hamnyeongjeon was Gojong's sleeping quarters, at the time he was at Gwanmyeongjeon while Hamnyeongjeon was undergoing repairs. The fire destroyed most of the buildings, including Jungmyeongjeon, Seogeodang, and Jeokjodang, which had dated to the time of Seonjo. A number of buildings on the north, northeast, and east side of the palace were spared from the fire. Numerous valuables were destroyed, with only some rescued. Most of Gojong's ministers and the Japanese minister advised Gojong to return to Gyeongbokgung, but Gojong refused. Restoration work began the following day. Repair costs were enormous and exceeded the total annual budget of the Korean Empire. By 1905, the buildings Jeukjodang, Seogeodang, Gyeonghyojeon, Jungmyeongjeon, Heummungak, and Hamnyeongjeon were rebuilt. A number of these were built smaller than their original form. The gates Junghwamun and Jowunmun were also completed in that year. In 1906, the main building Junghwajeon and the main gate Daeanmun were both completed.
The death of Gojong in 1919 was a significant turning point for the palace. The palace was managed by the Office of the Yi Dynasty, although the royal family ceased using the palace significantly. The Government-General of Chōsen began downsizing, dismantling, and selling off portions of the palace. The Seonwonjeon area, in the northwest of the palace, was the first to be dismantled and sold off; two schools were built in its place by 1923. By 1930, there were 18 of the original palace buildings left. In May 1931, the Office of the Yi Dynasty announced that of Deoksugung would be turned into a public park called "Central Park" (). After around a year of construction work, it was opened to the public on October 1, 1933. Ten buildings were removed from the palace. The remaining former guest houses that were separated from the palace during Taepyeongno's expansion were demolished in 1933. Plans were created for a swimming pool in place of Dondeokjeon, which could be used as a skating rink during the winter. The plan was deemed too offensive to the legacy of the palace, and was scrapped. Alterations to the palace during this process were among the most significant in the palace's history. A water feature was moved from another palace Changdeokgung to the garden in front of Seokjojeon. The gardens of the palace were significantly renovated; only a few trees and decorative elements have persisted until the present. Numerous Peony were planted in the park. These became a popular attraction during the colonial period and even after the liberation. They were replaced in 1985 with pine trees and after it was determined they were a product of the colonial period.
In 1933, Seokjojeon was converted into the Seokjojeon Art Museum. From 1936 to 1938, a three-story West Wing building for Seokjojeon was constructed. Together, these buildings became the .
After the aforementioned projects, just eight of the original buildings were left.
During the 1950–1953 Korean War, the palace was largely spared from war damage, although Seokjojeon's interior was destroyed by fire. During the Second Battle of Seoul, North Korean soldiers amassed in the palace. U.S. lieutenant James Hamilton Dill persuaded his superiors not to shell the palace because of the palace's cultural heritage. In 1996, after this story came to the attention of the South Korean government, he was awarded a plaque of gratitude. In 1961, a project to expand the nearby road Taepyeongno affected the palace. The palace walls were torn down and replaced with a see-through fence. In 1968, the walls were further pushed back during another road expansion program. Daehanmun was initially not pushed back along with the wall, and stuck out into the road. From August 1970 to January 1971, the gate was moved west into the wall, to its current location.
Beginning in the 1980s, efforts began to be made to restore the palace to its pre-colonial state. In 2004, a plan for this, entitled the Deoksugung Restoration and Maintenance Basic Plan (), was drafted. As part of these efforts, Jungmyeongjeon was restored in 2009, Seokjojeon was restored in 2014, and Gwangmyeongmun was moved back to its original location in 2018.
An Chang-mo argues that the current Deoksugung is around a third the size of its peak size.
() is the current main gate of the palace and is located on the east side of the complex. It was originally called Daeanmun (). It was completed in 1898. The original main gate was Inhwamun, but that gate declined in use and status compared to Daeanmun. In 1900, Daeanmun was made the official main gate. The gate was destroyed in the 1904 fire and rebuilt in 1906. On April 25, 1906, it was renamed to Daehanmun and made the main gate. Its new name board was written by . The gate was moved inwards towards the palace in 1914 during a road expansion project. It was moved again in 1970 to its final location. It is decorated with ''dancheong'' decorative coloring and statues of various beasts.
() is a building that was used as Gojong's sleeping quarters. The building was originally completed in 1897 but was destroyed in the 1904 fire. It was the ''ondol'' system of this building that caused the 1904 great fire. It was rebuilt by December that year, with the new building in an L-shape instead of the original rectangular form. Gojong died in this building on January 22, 1919. The building was used as Gojong's funeral home and his [[spirit tablet]] was kept here. The building's layout and style is typical with other Korean palaces. There are windows on all sides of the building. It has an ''[[ondol]]'' traditional floor heating system.
() is an American-style brick building with a wooden porch. It has Romanesque columns on the veranda and Korean-style elements in its roof. It was built before February 1901 and was unaffected by the 1904 fire. The building was used for a variety of purposes that possibly changed over time, including enshrining the portrait of King Taejo, a space for drawing royal portraits, and serving food during banquets. The building was modified over time, but specific records of how and when it was modified on some occasions have been lost. In the 1930s, its floor was changed from wood to concrete, its interior walls were removed to make it a single room, and its roof was changed to a Japanese-style architecture. In the 1960s, glass doors were installed in it and it was used as a cafe.
Jeukjodang () is a building that is adjacent to and connected with Junmyeongdang. It dated to Seonjo's time, before it was destroyed in the 1904 fire and rebuilt at smaller scale. When Gojong first moved into Deoksugung, he used Jeukjodang as the main hall. He dubbed it Taegeukjeon () and then Junghwajeon (same name as the later main building). After the construction of the larger main building, that building went by Junghwajeon and this building returned to using the name Jeukjodang.
After the 1945 liberation of Korea, the buildings were largely used as museums. In 1998, the West Wing became part of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung branch. Beginning in the late 2000s, the main building began to be converted into a history museum. Efforts were made to restore the pre-colonial interior as accurately as possible. The Daehan Empire History Museum opened in 2014.
The garden in front of both these buildings was first completed in March 1913.
() is the first Western-style building in the palace; it was completed before 1897 under the name Suokheon () and was originally a single-story building that possibly previously belonged to foreigners. It was originally an imperial library. The building was destroyed in a November 16, 1901, fire and rebuilt; the rebuilt form has two stories. After the 1904 fire, it was temporarily used as Gojong's office. Around this time, he changed the name of the building to Jungmyeonjeon. In 1905, the infamous [[Eulsa Treaty]] was signed here. In 1906, the wedding between Emperor Sunjong and Empress Sunjeonghyo took place at this building. The building was once directly part of the palace complex but eventually became separate amidst a reduction in the palace's size during the colonial period. Afterward, it was leased out to and used by a number of different entities. In 1925, a fire severely damaged its interior. It was eventually purchased by the Cultural Heritage Administration. In February 2007, it began to be managed as a part of Deoksugung.
The headquarters for the Board of Marshals was located in two buildings to the right of Inhwamun (the original main gate in the south). They had entrances both in and out of the palace. At least one of them was made of brick and was two stories tall. Photos of the buildings are sparse, so little is known of their appearance otherwise.
There were three brick three-story watchtowers along the palace walls that looked to be built in Western style. There were two overpass bridges () at the palace. One connected the palace to the former German legation (some portion of that legation's land was purchased by the Korean government) and another led to another palace Gyeonghuigung. The bridge to the legation had a single arch; traces of its structure still remain on the walls of Deoksugung and on a Seoul City Hall annex building.
Inhwamun () was the original main gate of the palace and was located to its south. However, it led to a narrow and poor-quality road. It declined in use and status compared to Daeanmun. In 1900, Daeanmun was made the official main gate. Inhwamun was demolished and its materials were recycled some time around 1900 to 1902. It was possibly located around the current location of Junghwamun.
Jowonmun () was a gate constructed to complete the traditional three-gate system (where visitors must pass through three gates to arrive at the main hall) employed in other palaces. These gates for Deoksugung were, in order, Daeanmun, Jowonmun, and Junghwamun. It was built concurrently with Junghwajeon. It was destroyed in the 1904 fire and rebuilt in a different location, more to the east. It was likely demolished in 1913, during the construction of an Office of the Yi Dynasty building. In 2019, it was reported that there were active plans to reconstruct the gate in the 2020s.
Guseongheon () was a two-story Western-style building north of Seokjojeon, to the northwest of Junmyeongdang. Little is known about when and how it was built and when it was demolished. Its use is attested to in 1899 and 1907 records. It had verandas with arches over them. Its entrance possibly faced to the north, as there was a gabled roof on that side.
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