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| ▲This photo, provided by Cultural Heritage Administration, shows Gwanghwamun and woldae. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲This photo, provided by Cultural Heritage Administration, shows Gwanghwamun and woldae. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, September 1 (Yonhap) -- Ganghwa National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage announced Thursday to conduct an academic excavation and investigation to restore “woldae” in front of Gwanghwamun Gate, which Japanese Empire damaged.
Woldae refers to a wide platform that can also be seen in Geunjeongjeon, which is the main hall of Gyeongbokgung palace, Jongmyo Hall, and Royal Tombs of the Joseon dynasty’s Jeongjagag. Gwanghwamun woldae was a place where the king and the people met to communicated during important national events, but disappeared during the Japanese occupation.
This excavation, which will be conducted until the end of the year, is one of the “Gyeongbokgung Gwanghwamun Woldae Restoration and Surrounding Renovation Project,” which the Cultural Heritage Administration has been promoting with Seoul since 2018.
Cultural Heritage Administration has been conducting excavation to recover historical features of Gyeongbokgung palace, which were altered and damaged during the Japanese colonial era. In 2007, it was verified that Gwanghwamum woldae’s length is 8.3 m and width 29.7 m.
Part of Gwanghwamum woldae was primarily restored in 2010 based on this research, but it still has not been fully restored until today due to the road built on top of it. This is the first official excavation for the woldae restoration.
Royal Palaces and relics division of Cultural Heritage Administration will open it to the public once the excavation is completed and woldae is restored until 2023.
Official of Cultural Heritage Administration said, “We will continue to restore precious cultural heritage to enhance and shed new light to our cultural values and also spread the excellence of our cultural heritages at home and abroad.”
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Jiwon Woo.)
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