Editor Pick
Pagoda (Tapkol) Park
- June 6, 2007
- Rated 2 of 5 by
Chonan from Yakima, Washington
Pagoda Park, also known as Tapkol Park, is located in the heart of downtown Seoul. It is the city's oldest, and arguably most famous Western-style park. It is a quiet Mecca of peacefulness and tranquility, a place where the past interacts with the present.
The creation of the park in 1897 was through the inspiration of McLeavy Brown, a Scotch-Irish barrister who served as the Commissioner of Korean Customs and as the financial adviser to the Korean government. It is not surprising that this information is not noted on any of the signs in English or Korean.
The signs themselves are poorly done, the language is boring and reads more like a doctor's prescription rather than a tourist information posting.
The park is open from early in the morning until late at night, approximately 10pm, and is filled during the daytime with elderly men, businessmen on their lunch break, or young teenage couples who have stolen away from one of the many English academies in the area for a little privacy.
In the evening the park is said to be a popular cruising area for the older gay clientèle that frequent the area around the park.
The park is perhaps most famous for the March 1, 1919 independence movement which began here. The Korean people chose to protest peacefully during the funeral ceremony of Emperor Kojong but were met, as evident by the many murals on the walls, by Japanese soldiers who brutally put down the movement.
The most famous artifact in the park is the large pagoda (National Treasure number 2) built in 1467 and damaged during the 17th-century Japanese invasion. McLeavy Brown wanted to repair the pagoda when he first established the park but was prevented from doing so by the Korean court necromancers who believed that restoring the pagoda would lead to the fall of Korea. Korea eventually did lose its independence but not because the pagoda was repaired; it was repaired after Korea regained its independence.
The Korean government has gone to a great amount of trouble to protect the pagoda from the ravages of the elements, but, paradoxically, they have destroyed it aesthetically. They have encased the pagoda in an ugly glass and steel container that is completely out of harmony with the surrounding park and buildings.
Getting to the park is extremely convenient with a number of buses and subways stopping directly in front of the park or a short walking distance away. The park, because of its location to the popular shopping and art district of Insa-dong may provide you with the respite you need from the hustle and bustle of shopping and walking in Seoul.
From journal A Step Back in Time in Seoul, South Korea