Seodaemun Prison History Hall

Seodaemun Prison History Hall is a modern prison built under Japanese rule and preserved as a museum. It opened in 1908 and held prisoners for almost 80 years until 1987: independence activists such as Kim Gu, Yu Gwan-sun and Ahn Chang-ho, and after liberation the pro-democracy activists who opposed South Korea's military governments. Right next to a subway station in central Seoul, it is one of the most direct ways to understand Korea's modern history.

History: from Gyeongseong Prison to Seoul Detention Center

The Japanese Resident-General began building a prison in today's Hyeonjeo-dong in 1907 to lock up members of the Righteous Armies and other resisters, and it opened in October 1908 as Gyeongseong Prison. The first building was a wooden block for about 500 inmates; later extensions turned it into a layout where guards in the centre could watch several cell blocks at once. The name kept changing: Seodaemun Prison in 1912 and 1923 (first as a "gamok", then as a "hyeongmuso"), Seoul Prison in 1945, Seoul Correctional Institution in 1961 and Seoul Detention Center in 1967. After the March First Movement of 1919 the number of prisoners rose sharply; for the end of the colonial period, sources differ: 2,890 or 2,980 inmates.

In 1983 the government decided to move the detention centre out of central Seoul ahead of the 1988 Olympics, and at one point planned to demolish everything and lay out a park. Public pressure changed that, and in March 1987 it was decided to keep part of the prison as a memorial. The detention centre moved to Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province in November 1987, and most of the buildings were then torn down. Only the security office, cell blocks 9 to 12, the workshop, the leprosy ward, the execution building and a few other structures were kept. They were designated a Historic Site in 1988, and Seodaemun District opened the Seodaemun Prison History Hall on 5 November 1998.

What to see

The exhibition hall, cell blocks, execution building and watchtowers are spread across a 28,112 m² site. Start with the exhibition hall by the main gate, then walk on to the cell blocks and the execution building.

• Exhibition hall (former security office): a two-storey building from 1923 that once ran the whole prison. Today it houses a prison history room, a video room and three galleries on the national resistance movement. The basement, used for interrogations, shows torture tools and a cell so narrow that a prisoner could not move.
• Central block and cell blocks 10 to 12: the central guard building from the mid-1920s, with three cell blocks fanning out from it. Long corridors lined with cell doors and skylights show how the prison worked.
• Cell block 9: the only block separate from the central building, used to isolate and watch so-called "thought criminals".
• Women's prison: where female independence activists were held. Yu Gwan-sun died at Seodaemun Prison in 1920. One cell holds figures recreating the reunion of Park Jin-hong, arrested five times between 1932 and 1944 and imprisoned for more than ten years, with her friend Lee Hyo-jeong.
• Execution building and corpse exit: a wooden building surrounded by a 5-metre wall, probably built around 1916. Nearby is the tunnel through which bodies were carried out of the prison.
• Exercise yard and watchtowers: look for the yard divided into small separate sections, the two guard towers at the front and back of the wall, and the workshop and kitchen where prisoners worked.

Good to know

Under Japanese rule, independence activists such as Kim Gu, imprisoned here in 1911, Kang Woo-kyu, Ahn Chang-ho, Shin Chae-ho, Yun Bong-gil and Lee Hoe-yeong passed through these gates. The prison's role did not end with liberation. When the North Korean army captured Seoul in June 1950 it released more than 8,500 inmates and filled the cells with political prisoners, at least 1,000 of whom were executed when it withdrew in September. The government that retook the city then locked up those accused of collaborating, and under the military regimes it held pro-democracy activists. Critics point out that the exhibitions focus almost entirely on the colonial era, so it is worth keeping the later history in mind as you walk around. In August 2015 former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama knelt before the memorial here to apologise, a gesture that drew wide attention.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: March to October 09:30–18:00, November to February 09:30–17:00; last entry 30 minutes before closing.
• Closed: every Monday (the following day if Monday is a public holiday), 1 January, and on Seollal and Chuseok day.
• Tickets: adults KRW 3,000, teenagers KRW 1,500, children KRW 1,000. Free for visitors aged 65 and over and children aged 6 and under.
• Getting there: Dongnimmun Station (Line 3), exit 5, about 50 m away. Independence Gate (Dongnimmun), which gave the station its name, stands in the same Seodaemun Independence Park.
• Buses: trunk buses 701–709 and 720 and branch buses 7019, 7021 and 7025, among others, stop at the Dongnimmun Station · Hansung Science High School median stop.
• Guides: guided tours can be booked on the website, and there is a smartphone audio-guide app.
• Time needed: allow 1.5 to 2 hours for the exhibition hall and the cell blocks.
• Note: some rooms recreate torture, so prepare younger children before you go in. Parking is limited and card-only, so public transport is easier.