By I found this image browsing through the Mishalov site and it is simply labeled as the entrance to the Seoul Zoo:
The entrance looked like it belonged to one of Korea’s royal palaces and sure enough after a little research I found out that one of Seoul’s historic palaces was in fact used as a zoo at one time:
It was a slaughter of the innocent.
In the dying days of the Pacific War (1937-1945), Japan, desperate for manpower and weaponry, gave orders to kill the animals in a Korean zoo.
“The Japanese poisoned 150 animals during the [war], as they had to use the zookeepers as soldiers and the iron bars as weapons,” said Oh Chang-yeong, a former manager at the zoo in Seoul Grand Park, Seoul.
Oh describes the tragic massacre in “80-Year History of the Korean Zoo,” published by the Seoul city government in 1993.
The animals that survived the end of Japan’s colonial rule in 1945 would face more hardship. Shortly after the Korean War broke out, the zoo staff fled, leaving the animals to either starve or freeze to death.
Whatever people might think about the quality of zoos in Korea today, things have obviously gotten a lot better.
Today marks the 99th anniversary since the first zoo opened in Korea. In 1907, Japan was busy extending its control over Korea and as a way of trying to diminish the authority of the Korean royal family, a zoo and a botanical garden were built in Changgyeong Palace, central Seoul.
The name of the palace was changed to Changgyeong Garden to add further ignominy.
The zoo opened to the public on Nov. 1, 1909, with a menagerie of animals including Siberian tigers, kangaroos, ostriches, camels and orangutans, and proved to be a huge hit.
In its first year, the zoo attracted 15,000 visitors and the next year, 110,000. In 1940, 1.2 million passed through the zoo’s gates.
Although the zoo reopened after the Korean War ended in 1953, it wasn’t until the 1980s that the Korean government restored Changgyeong Palace and found the animals a new home.
In December 1983, 900 animals and 2,100 plants were taken to Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Visitors feed the elephants in Changgyeong Garden (now Changgyeong Palace) on Children’s Day. May 5, 1971.
You can read more about Changgyeong Palace here.
8:57 pm on April 22nd, 2009 1
That Changgyeonggung was once used as a zoo is pretty well known; however, I did not know that the Koreans maintained the zoo after the war. When I first arrived in Seoul, I noticed on my first visit a distinctly light-colored brick building with a steep, copper-green roof in the back of the palace grounds, where the greenhouse now stands. Constructed by the Japanese, the building was finally demolished in the mid-90s.
11:04 pm on April 22nd, 2009 2
The displays around the palace made no mention of the palace being a zoo until the 1980's. The next time I am in Seoul I am going to have to walk through the palace again and see if I can spot any signs of the zoo.
8:46 am on April 23rd, 2009 3
I don't recall seeing any signs when I would visit either. I think I probably learned of the Japanese turning the palace into a zoo from a book or perhaps a newspaper article. I was mistaken about the location of the Japanese building. It was actually on a manmade hill or platform behind some Korean buildings in the vicinity of the greenhouse. There is nothing there now, just a walking path accessed by steps. The walking path has nice photogenic views of the palace grounds.
Changgyeonggung has the prettiest landscaping, but Doksugung's eclectic mix of traditional and modern European-style architecture gives one a sense of the changes experienced in Korea during the twilight of the Joseon Era.
I do miss taking weekend strolls among the palace grounds, especially in spring and fall.
4:04 pm on April 23rd, 2009 4
When I was growing up in Seoul in the 70's, my parents took me to ChangKyungWon to see the animals. I always thought ChangKyungWon was Korean for zoo instead of "DongMulWon".
4:10 pm on April 23rd, 2009 5
BobDole likes to watch the monkeys in Korea.