Text:Heritage:D00-0289-0000

영문 해설문

현장 안내판 해설문 내용 - 영문

Former Japanese Consulate, Mokpo Historic Site No. 289 Designation Date: September 25, 1981

This historic building was built in 1900 by Japan and used as the Japanese consulate, whose main goal was to protect the interests of the Japanese people who settled in Mokpo at the turn of the nineteenth century. The building is located as a site under Nojeokbong Peak of Yudalsan Mountain, which commands a fine view of the port of Mokpo.

It is a two-story 13-meter-high building os a rectangular, symmetrical shape whose main entrance projects from the center front. The building’s exterior is attractively decorated with a combination of red and white bricks, while circular “rising sun” symbols adorn the tops of the windows. The central window of the second floor used to display a chrysanthemum emblem symbolizing Japan, but it has been worn away by the elements.

The development of relations between Korea and Japan led to the building being used as the local administrative agency (Isacheon) of the Office of Residence-General from 1905 and as the Mokpo-bu Office from 1910. The building housed the city administration of Mokpo after the Korean liberation in 1945 until 1974, when it was turned into the Municipal Library of Mokpo, and it became the Mokpo Culture Center after 1990. The building underwent repairs of its interior in 2014, and has since then housed the Mokpo Modern History Museum.

The Old Mokpo Japanese Consulate is regarded as a historically significant building in that it is the oldest, and largest, piece of modern architecture remaining in Mokpo. The architectural merit of the building, including its fine state of preservation and its close connection with Korea’s turbulent modern history, led to its designation as a National Historic Site in 1981.