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Okhoru of Gyeongbok Palace
(Courtesy of
the Independence Hall of Korea)

On sunny fall weekends, Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul bustles with foreign tourists and domestic citizens enjoying their holidays. In particular, the magnificent Geunjeongjeon　(勤政殿), the first structure past the Gwanghwamun Gate, and the elegant Gyeonghoeru (慶會樓) are beautiful photo spots always attracting a crowd. But I wonder how many in the crowd are aware of the tragic event in Korean history that unfolded in the northern end of this palace.

In 1873, King Gojong ordered the construction of a 250-unit, gentry-house-style complex deep inside Gyeongbok Palace. Geoncheonggung (乾淸宮), as this complex was known, its name signifying the clear sky, had a number of annexes, including a detached house known as Jangandang and the main building named Gonnyeonghab. In 1884, King Gojong moved into Geoncheonggung, where he had Korea's first electric power lines installed in 1887.

Unlike the meaning of the name of Geoncheonggung, however, the international situation surrounding Korea at that time was neither clear nor bright. After winning the Sino-Japanese War, Japan set about trying to realize its ambition of occupying Korea. And the Korean court adopted the pro-Russian and anti-Japanese policy in an effort to isolate Japan. In September 1895, Japan sent the new minster Miura Goro (三浦梧樓) to Korea,　hatching a plan to assassinate the one who they identified as the origin of the anti-Japanese policy:　Empress Myeongseong.

Geoncheonggung within Gyeongbok Palace

At 5 a.m. on October 8 in 1895, the two battalions of the Japanese army and assassins, led by Miura and divided into two groups, broke into Geoncheonggung. One group went over to Jangangdang where King Gojong slept and forced him to sign the document to dethrone Empress Myeongseong. The other group caught the Empress in Gonnyeonghab, ruthlessly murdered her, and went so far as to burn her body. This so-called 'Operation Fox Hunt' took less than one hour to complete.

The partial remains of Empress Myeongseong, collected later after some difficulties and buried in Cheongnnyangni in 1897, two years after the incident, were moved into Hongreung, the royal tomb of King Gojong, in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and buried next to him in 1919. Geoncheonggun, which was torn down by the Japanese Government-General of Korea when it hosted the National Exhibition in 1915, was restored in October 2007. But we all know that after what happened in the palace, the heart of Korea, which was too terrible even to believe, the fate of King Gojong and Korea was like that of a candle in the wind.

Gonnyeonghab and Okhoru within Geoncheonggung, restored in 2007