🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide
Deoksugung Palace & Stone-Wall Road
Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS.
🎵 Background music: Letter on the Wind (바람의 편지) — KVIBE IDOLS · Listen to the full song →
Full transcript
Annyeong, yeoreobun! Yul here. Today's palace has wooden halls, a Western stone mansion, a coffee story, and a love curse. Welcome to Deoksugung!
When the Japanese invasions burned Seoul's palaces, King Seonjo returned to the city in 1593 and stayed here because there was nowhere else left. Later it was upgraded into a real palace called Gyeongungung.
Fast forward to the 1890s. After Queen Min was assassinated in 1895, King Gojong took refuge in the Russian legation. In 1897 he came out, moved here, and proclaimed the Korean Empire. The king became an emperor! Look at the mix: traditional wooden halls right next to Seokjojeon, a neoclassical stone building finished in 1910. There's also Jeonggwanheon, a Western-style pavilion where, people say, Gojong enjoyed his coffee.
But the plot twist is sad. In 1907, Gojong was forced to give up the throne, and the palace was renamed Deoksugung. He died here in 1919, and his funeral became a spark for the March First independence movement.
Now, the curse. Legend says couples who walk the stone-wall road beside the palace will break up. Why? For many years, Seoul's Family Court, where people went to get divorced, stood at the end of this road. Couples walked in married... and walked out single!
Yul's tip! Catch the royal guard changing ceremony at Daehanmun gate, and come back in the evening when the palace is lit up. Closed on Mondays.
Next, a shrine where the spirits of Joseon's kings and queens still have their own rooms. Kaja!
