Jun 22, 2022

Sodaemun Prison History Hall

Updated: Jun 24, 2022

★★★ Korea Allimi Special Article - 대한민국 알리미 특별 조항★★★

In Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea, there is a museum and a former prison called Seodaemun Prison History Hall. Beginning in 1907, construction on it started. Gyeongseong Gamok was the name given to the prison when it first opened on October 21, 1908. It was known as Keijo Prison in the early years of Japanese colonialism. Seodaemun Prison became its new name in 1923, and it thereafter went by a number of additional titles.

Initially able to house about 500 detainees, the prison was used to detain Korean liberation militants during the Japanese colonial era. For women and young girls, there was a separate building. The number of prisoners dramatically surged in 1919, just after the March 1st Movement. The number of detainees reached 3,000 just before the colonization came to an end in 1945.

The prison was used by the South Korean government after the colonial era ended in 1945. It was known by a number of official names, including Seoul Prison until 1961, Seoul Correctional Institute until 1967, and Seoul Detention Center until its closure in 1987.

The area became a part of Seodaemun Independence Park and was consecrated as the Seodaemun Prison History Hall in 1992. Seven of the original fifteen structures that make up the jail complex have been conserved as historical landmarks. The History Hall continues to serve as a memorial hall while displaying all people who were detained during the Japanese colonial era.

Seodaemun Prison, which symbolizes the anguish and pain experienced by Koreans during the modern era, is preserved and displayed as a museum. Independence and pro-democracy activists were imprisoned and killed in this place. Koreans managed to win freedom and democracy despite a long history of suffering. With such unwavering vigor and promise, the Seodaemun Prison History Hall reflects the history of the struggle for Korea's independence and democracy.