Seodaemun Prison History Hall
서대문형무소역사관
A prison opened in 1908 and used through the colonial period and beyond, now run as a museum. Cell blocks and the execution building survive; the site is registered as the Former Seodaemun Prison. It closes on Mondays, and its hours differ between summer and winter.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 서대문형무소역사관
- Address
- 251 Tongil-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Hyeonjeo-dong, Independence Park)
- Opening hours
- Mar–Oct 09:30–18:00 Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec 09:30–17:00
- Closed
- Every Mon (closed the following day instead if it falls on a public holiday) · Jan 1 · Seollal (Seollal itself) · Chuseok (Chuseok itself)
- Admission
- ₩3,000
- Operated by
- Seodaemun-gu Office
Prices
| Adult(aged 19 to 64) | ₩3,000 |
|---|---|
| Youth(aged 13 to 18) | ₩1,500 |
| Child(aged 7 to 12) | ₩1,000 |
| Group rate, adult · Group(adults, as a group) | ₩2,400 |
| Senior concession · Senior | Free |
Nearby
Daesungjip
A long-standing house in Gyobuk-dong that built its menu around dogani-tang, ox-knee soup.
Gyeonghuigung Palace
Free, rarely crowded, and small enough to see properly in half an hour — the palace to add when the ticketed ones are full or already closed for the day.
Gyeonggyojang
The two-storey Western-style house that served as the returned Provisional Government's offices and its members' lodgings, from Kim Ku's arrival from China in 1945 until he was shot dead in his second-floor study on 26 June 1949. Built in 1938 as Jukcheomjang, the residence of the gold-mining magnate Choi Chang-hak, it lost its interior first to embassy use and then to a hospital, was restored from 2010 and reopened to the public on 2 March 2013. It still stands inside the grounds of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital and is run as a branch of the Seoul Museum of History.
Seoul Museum of History
Next to Gyeonghuigung, laying out in order how Hanyang became today's Seoul — the right first-day stop for getting the shape of the city. It closes on Mondays, which is exactly when several of the palaces are open.
Stories about this place
- Seodaemun Prison: Eighty Years, and Two Different Histories
Opened in 1908, closed in 1987, a museum since 1998. Why most of the surviving red-brick blocks were built after the March 1st Movement, and why the site's story does not stop in 1945.
- Four Major Museums in Seoul, Compared
The National Museum of Korea, the War Memorial, Seodaemun Prison History Hall and Leeum compared on what each holds, where it is, when it closes and what it costs. Three sit in Yongsan and pair easily into one day; only one charges admission.
Nearby Food
- Five Seoul Korean Barbecue Restaurants: Hanwoo, Galbi, Bulgogi and Pork Belly
- What the broth is made of — eight Seoul houses, seven different bases
- Northern Korean Food in Seoul: Naengmyeon, Eobok-jaengban, Mandu and Kongbiji
- Seven Seoul houses that open for breakfast — before eight in the morning
- Six Seoul houses that make the noodle by hand — kalguksu, guksi, sujebi
- Enjoying Seoul's Cafe Culture
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