Yeonghwiwon and Sunginwon Tombs

Between Cheongnyangni Station and Korea University, in the middle of the city, two royal tombs lie hidden in a patch of forest. Yeonghwiwon is the tomb of Imperial Noble Consort Sunheon (Lady Eom), a consort of Emperor Gojong and mother of Crown Prince Yeong, and Sunginwon is the tomb of Yi Jin, the crown prince's first son, who died before his first birthday. Together they tell a small, personal story from the last years of the Korean Empire.

From palace attendant to imperial consort

Lady Eom (1854–1911) entered the palace as a young girl and served Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong). After the queen was murdered by Japanese agents in 1895, she attended Gojong and is said to have planned his escape to the Russian legation in 1896. Still only a senior palace attendant, she reportedly went in and out of the palace in two palanquins for several days until the Japanese guards grew used to it, then smuggled out Gojong and the crown prince in the palanquins.

She then became Gojong's consort, gave birth to Crown Prince Yeong in 1897, and was raised to Imperial Noble Consort in 1903. She championed education for women, helping to found Jinmyeong Girls' School and Myeongsin Girls' School (today Sookmyung Women's University) as well as Yangjeong school. She died in 1911 at Deoksugung Palace and was buried here, in what was then the precinct of Empress Myeongseong's original tomb, Hongneung. Hongneung was later moved to Namyangju, but Yeonghwiwon stayed.

A "won" rather than a "neung"

Tombs of kings and queens are called neung; those of crown princes or of a king's birth mother are called won. Following the rules for a royal birth mother's tomb, Yeonghwiwon has no screen stones or railing – just a ring of edging stones – with single pairs of civil officials, horses, lanterns, pillars, sheep and tigers in stone. Below the mound are the T-shaped shrine, a stele pavilion and a red gate; the stele inside reads "Sunheon Gwibi Yeonghwiwon".

Sunginwon, the prince who lived nine months

Yi Jin (1921–1922) was born in Japan to Crown Prince Yeong and his Japanese wife, Yi Bangja. In 1922 he travelled to Korea with his parents, and on the day before they were due to return to Japan he died suddenly at Seokjojeon Hall in Deoksugung. Emperor Sunjong, grieved by his death, ordered a generous funeral, and the tomb was built on the hill east of Yeonghwiwon. Its mound and stone figures are noticeably smaller, which is easy to see when you compare the two.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: February–May and September–October 09:00–18:00, June–August 09:00–18:30, November–January 09:00–17:30, with last entry one hour before closing. The regular closing day is Monday; when a Monday is a public holiday the site opens and closes on the next weekday instead.
• Admission: KRW 1,000 for adults (Koreans aged 25–64, foreign visitors aged 19–64). Entry is free for foreign visitors aged 18 and under or 65 and over, and for anyone wearing hanbok.
• Time needed: 40 minutes to 1 hour is enough to see both tombs at an easy pace.
• Getting there: the address is 90 Hongneung-ro, Dongdaemun-gu. It is about a 10-minute walk from Korea University Station (Line 6) and just over 1 km from Cheongnyangni Station.
• Good to know: as won-type tombs, these are not part of the 40 World Heritage royal tombs, so few visitors come. It is a calm stop if you want a short forest walk in the city.