Monday, March 16, 2009

Day 80--Seodaemun Prison/Independence Park

Saturday March 7

 I went to Seodaemun Prison first. They have an order that they want you to see the exhibits in. so there are arrows pointing that say 'this way' everywhere. I took a lot of pictures but some of the interesting stuff was off limits for picture taking. They were also doing repairs so in the pictures of the actual prison buildings all you can see is where they are doing repairs. It was interesting to walk through the prison. A lot of torture went on at that prison-water torture, beating, sexual torture. I read about all kinds of stuff. They had torture rooms, a leper house to house lepers and people with other diseases away from the general population (couldn't go inside), execution building (couldn't go inside or take pictures).

The Prison Hall is divided into the following rooms for visitors: Information Room, Special Exhibition Room, Material Room (library), National Resistance Room, Prison History Room, In-Prison Life Room, Temporary Detention Room, Torture Room, Underground Cells, Prison Building, Execution Building Corpse Removal Unit, Reverence Monument, and Walls and Watchtowers

Pictures:
https://plus.google.com/photos/106518880659515557565/albums/5451197692005684033

https://plus.google.com/photos/106518880659515557565/albums/5451186132385435633


Directions to Saedaemun Prison: Dongnimmun Station (Subway Line 3-Orange Line) exits 4 and 5


Price: Adults1,500 won / Youths: 1,000 won / Children: 500 won

From Wikipedia:
Seodaemun Prison is a museum and former prison in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It was constructed beginning in 1907 while Korea was considered a protectorate of Japan. The prison was opened on October 21, 1908, under the name Gyeongseong Gamok. Its name was changed to Seodaemun Prison in 1923.
The prison was used during the Japanese rule of Korea to house anti-colonial activists, and could accommodate around 500 people. After the Japanese occupation ended in 1945, the prison was used by the South Korean government until 1987.Seven of the prison complex's original fifteen buildings are preserved as historical monuments.

I wanted to go see Dongnimmun but half of the park is under renovations until July of 2009. I’ll have to go back when it’s complete. I did get to see some parts of the park like the exercise stations. They have exercise machines outside and a badminton court and basketball net. I also saw Independence Hall.

How to get to Dongnimmun
Subway Line 3 (Orange Line) Dongnimmun Station Exit No.4, walk 5 minutes.




No comments: