스타들, 주한 대사들 앙드레김 애도물결

Diplomats, celebrities mourn icon

 

Friends, acquaintances and even influential public figures ceaselessly stopped by to pay respects to Korea’s fashion industry pioneer Andre Kim at the Seoul National University Hospital mortuary in Yeongeon-dong on Thursday and Friday.

The top South Korean designer died at around 7: 25 p.m. on Thursday after being treated for colorectal cancer and pneumonia.  He had been fighting cancer for several months and was hospitalized at an intensive care unit last month due to deteriorating health.

The funeral parlor was quiet and solemn even though it overflowed with mourners and reporters.

Staff members of the Andre Kim Atelier, clad in black skirts and white blouses with puffed shoulders and bearing the Andre Kim signature label, were often spotted coming in and out to cater to the visitors.

Culture minister Yu In-chon arrived at the hospital around 11:40 p.m. on Thursday and offered his condolences to Kim’s surviving family members. Kim, who was unmarried, is survived by a son he adopted in 1982 and two grandchildren.

Andre Kim is seen in this 1992 photo with Princess Josephine- Charlotte of Luxembourg during his post-fashion show reception. The fashion show was from an invitation by the IOC. (Yonhap News)

Many actors, actresses, comedians and singers including Won Bin, Choi Bul-am, Yu Jae-seok, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Hee-sun, Jo Su-mi and Ha Chun-hwa visited the funeral parlor during the two days.

The fashion king was always very close with celebrities, as the main features of his fashion shows were always the top actors, actresses or sports stars of the moment. He had even established the Best Star Award in 2004 to award meritorious stars for their contributions to the development of the country’s popular culture and arts.

Foreign ambassadors and their wives and children often modeled for Kim’s shows as well.

“My wife and I were very good friends with Andre, he was very kind when we first arrived to Korea and his friendship with my wife blossomed throughout the years,” said Rafael A. Salazar, envoy from Guatemala. Salazar and his wife had modeled for some of Kim’s shows.

“We appreciate all that Andre did for our relationship with Korea. We will miss him very much. He was a good friend to us,” said Salazar.

“He was well known to the Australian Embassy and we express our deepest regrets. He is a man who contributed greatly to Korea’s cultural and social life over the past several decades,” said an Australian Embassy spokesperson.

The rites of placing Kim’s body in a coffin began at 5 p.m. Friday following the Buddhist tradition. The designer was Buddhist.

The funeral procession will leave the hospital on Sunday at 6 a.m. It will pass by his house, where he lived for more than 30 years, and then his boutique, followed by his new atelier that was built last year. He will be buried at the Cheonan Memorial Park in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Kim chose the site when he was alive because it is where his parents were laid to rest.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

앙드레김을 기억하다**

Remembering Andre Kim, 'the magician from fairyland'

 

Veteran fashion designer Andre Kim, who died of pneumonia Thursday, aged 74, left some unforgettable, significant traces in fashion history.

Born Kim Bong-nam in Gupabal-ri in Goyang city, which is now included in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 24, 1935, Kim started to show his extraordinary talents as a teen, when he enjoyed sketching women in graceful dresses.

“There was no such word as ‘fashion’ or ‘designer’ at the time. I opened my eyes to clothes and art through movies,” Kim said in a TV interview in May 2006.

After graduating Hanyoung High School, Kim studied fashion at Kukje Fashion Design Academy and made his debute as a fashion designer in 1962, at the age of 27. He opened his boutique “Salon Andre” in Sogong-dong, the same year.

Kim was in the limelight from the very beginning of his career, being the first and only male designer for a long time. Kim carved his own path as a designer, proving how beautiful Western dresses created by a man could look on Korean women by dressing top actresses in the 1960s such as Eom Aeng-ran.

His glamorous gowns and wedding dresses were soon acknowledged around the world -- particularly after a successful fashion show in Paris in 1966. His creations were accorded rave reviews from French fashion editors, including one at Le Figaro who called him a “Magician from Fairyland.”

Korea at the time was still a “hermit kingdom” to many countries around the world. Andre Kim was one of the first Koreans to put the country on the world map.

After that pioneering step, Kim held fashion shows at least a couple times every year in major cities around the globe, including Washington, D.C., New York, Honolulu, Singapore, Jakarta and Los Angeles.

Kim became more adventurous as the years passed and chose exotic locations for his fashion shows that were known for their elements of fantasy. He was the first fashion designer ever to stage a gala fashion parade in front of the Pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt, in 1996. The show was given the honor of the rare presence of Madam Susan Mubarak, the First Lady of the country.

He also held a show in front of another world-famous landmark, Ankor Wat in Cambodia, ten years later. The only cultural event held in Ankor Wat until then had been a performance by Jose Carreras in 2002.

Wherever the venue was, Kim mesmerized the audience with his stunning shows. They were known for featuring the top celebrities of the moment, including actresses Lee Young-ae, Kim Hee-seon, Han Chae-young, Kim Tae-hee, actors Jang Dong-gun, Song Seung-heon, Lee Byung-heon and even sports stars Lee Seung-yub and Lee Dong-guk. Showbiz insiders used to say that one finally gets approved as a star only after being featured as the main model at Andre Kim’s shows.

“Professional models are chic but they have limits in expressing feelings. Actors and actresses, on the other hand, can touch the audience by offering a dramatic show,” Kim said.

Up until his last show held in Beijing in March, Kim scrupulously took care of every single detail.

He died on Thursday from complications of pneumonia and colorectal cancer, at the age of 74. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)

“A fashion show is a total art. It should move the audience’s hearts as if they were watching the highlight scenes of an opera or a musical. That is why I personally write the scenarios, mix the background music and direct all of my shows. At the final rehearsal, I teach the models how they should act and make their facial expressions,” Kim said in May 2005.

For his splendid works and efforts to promote fashion, Kim was honored by numerous organizations during his lifetime.

Finalists of the "2010 Super Model Competition" come to pay respect to the late fashion icon Andre Kim at the Seoul National University Hospital on Friday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)

Kim was selected as the main designer for the Miss Universe Competition in 1980, designed the Korean national team’s uniforms for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was invited by the International Olympic Committee to stage shows for the Olympics in Barcelona and Atlanta.

He was awarded the Order of Cultural Merits by the government in 1977, received the Culture medal from the President of Italy in 1982, and the Art and Literature medal from the French government in 2000. The mayor of San Francisco even declared Nov. 16 and Oct. 18 as “Andre Kim Day,” in 1999 and 2003, respectively.

His name became more of a brand in his later days. Kim had cultivated the Andre Kim brand, associated with luxury and romanticism, by lending his name to a wide range of goods including golf wear, eye wear, jewelry, underwear, children’s clothing, bedding, home lighting, porcelain dishware, household appliances, wallpaper, and even credit cards.

“The name is being used in various realms but I have a principle of collaborating with only the companies that fit into the image of my designs. Some private lenders and tobacco companies recently made some offers but I declined them,” he said in an interview with a local newspaper in May, 2009.

The designer Andre Kim was very thorough at work, reading 19 newspapers and watching news from five different channels every morning. But Andre Kim as a private person was rather artless and pure.

The lobby scandal in 1999 -- in which Lee Hyung-ja, wife of Sindonga Group president Choi Sun-young was alleged to have lobbied wives of high-profile figures with expensive garments -- unexpectedly reversed the public’s prejudices about the nation’s most famous designer that he must have made a fortune selling overpriced clothes to the wealthy.

At the hearings, which Kim had to go through because garments he designed were involved in the scandal, it was revealed that Kim only used fabrics made in Korea, was an honest tax payer and that he still worked in a rented boutique.

“I learned a big lesson from the scandal, that there is always a good end if the person is honest. No matter how unfairly you are treated, or how much you suffer from misunderstanding, it will be turned into a blessing and truth will be revealed in the end if you hang in there, being honest,” Kim said, ten years after the scandal blew over.

Kim became more of a celebrity after the scandal, in a good way. The public felt closer to Kim -- partly because his rather rustic real name was revealed during the hearing -- and everything about him was the talk of town, from his makeup, hairstyle to the way he decks out in all-white, something he maintained since 1974. His unique way of speaking, especially, inspired many comedians.

“I found it a bit unpleasant at first, because I thought they were ridiculing me. But seeing people racing toward me to ask for my autograph whenever I went out, I feel like I am becoming a star. Now I consider it as a sort of popularity. Although I cannot find one who perfectly mimics me, yet,” he would say with a laugh.

He never married but adopted an 18-month-old boy in 1982. Kim Jung-do, his adopted son, was the designer’s treasure. Kim received attention for how hard he cried the day his son married in February 2004.

The fashion maestro still had more dreams to pursue and believed he would live longer, just as his fans had also hoped for.

“Georgio Armani, who is one year older than me, still actively works without having named a successor. I think I can focus on creating my works for at least the next 10 years. And then I will think of naming a successor,” he said in an interview last year.

“Later on, I would like to make a documentary movie about ‘Andre Kim.’ It would be great to leave a record of my fashion world.”

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

미디어 시티 서울 2010 어떨지?

Media City Seoul to seek trust in media art

 

Among art biennales and fairs set to take place in Korea’s major cities in September, one in Seoul will shed light on media art.

“Media City Seoul 2010,” one of the few international biennials in the world to focus on media art, will kick off on Sept. 6 at four venues in central Seoul, including Seoul Museum of Art, Gyunghuigung Annex of Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul Museum of History and Simpson Memorial Hall in Ewha Girl’s High School.

Established in 2000, the biennale hosted by Seoul Metropolitan Government and organized by Seoul Museum of Art aims to strengthen the image of Seoul as a capital of technological development. It had changed the name to “Seoul International Media Biennale” in its second year, but returned to its original name this year, its sixth.

“We did not want to give off an image as a one-time event by using the name biennale. So we are going back to the original name, to ruminate about how we had aimed to turn the whole city into an exhibition venue,” said Kim Sun-jung, artistic director of the event and vice director of Artsonje Center, at a press conference on Wednesday.

A man participating in Blast Theory’s outdoor project “Ulrike and Eamon compliant” at the 2009 Venice Biennale listens to orders given through his cellphone. Media City Seoul

The event may not cover the entire city but it does cover the central Seoul area around Gyunghuigung and Deoksugung.

“The event used to take place only in Seoul Museum of Art but expanded to using three more venues. This year’s Media City Seoul will be the best in both quantity and quality,” said Yoo Hee-Young, director of Seoul Museum of Art.

This year’s theme is “Trust.”

“Media and individual lives have become inseparable. Overflowing sources of media continue to redefine and alter everyday life and we have to choose what to see and what to trust. Now would be a timely moment to reexamine our basic notion of media,” said Kim.

Three curators -- Clara Kim, director and curator of Gallery at REDCAT in Los Angeles, Nicolaus Schafhausen, director of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam, Fumihiko Sumitomo, curator at Arts Initiative Tokyo -- selected works by 46 artists from 21 countries.

Some of the participating artists will be familiar to media art fans, such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Palme D’Or winner at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.

Other names, however, might not immediately ring any bells because they are not known much as media artists. Instead of using new media, they use various forms of media, including “old media” like magazines, newspapers, photographs, urban detritus and sounds.

As well as indoor screenings of the exhibits, the event will also experiment with outdoor projects which require visitor participation. In one interactive artwork titled “Ulrike and Eamon complaint” by Blast Theory visitors have to wander around the Jeongdong area following orders given to them through distributed cellphones.

The outdoor projects are supported by the British Council.

Media City Seoul 2010 runs from Sept. 6 to Nov. 17. Admission is free. Audio guides are available in Korean and English. For details, visit www.mediacityseoul.org.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

미디어파사드: 랜드마크로 거듭나는 새로운 방법

Media facade: New way to become landmark

 

Those who set foot in Seoul for the first time via train in the evening will be dazzled for a moment to see the brightly-lit Seoul Square building right across Seoul Station. Its whole front side turns into a giant electronic canvas after 8 p.m. everyday to show luminous media works such as Julian Opie’s “Walking People” and Yang Man-gi’s “Mimesis-scape.”

Kumho Asiana Main Tower in Gwanghwamun (Kumho Asiana)

Installed in November 2009, the 99 meter wide and 78 meter long media façade on the face of Seoul Square is the world’s largest and it may soon be listed on the Guinness Book of Records.

Media works by five more artists in addition to Opie and Yang -- Mun Gyung-won, Kim Shin-il, Ryu Ho-yeul, Lee Bae-gyung and group mioon -- colorfully light up the 42,000 LED light bulbs dotted on the façade everyday until 11 p.m.

Since Tuesday, a new show titled “Seoul Square Clock Project” has been added to the playlist. Nine graphic artists -- Cho Young-sang, Lee Gyu-man, Park Jeong-sik, Kim Ji-seon, Seok Chang-geon, Park Ho Yeon, Won Ki-hun, Gang Se-hyun, Mun Yong-ho -- created 7 minute-long-works inspired by time or clock. The works are showcased every 59 minutes past the hour.

“Composed of various numbers and clock motives, the art clock offers a unique visual experience. It will also work as a convenient public clock,” said Yeom Yeon-hwa, an official at the Seoul Square Media Center.

Many buildings throughout the world are competitively having media façades installed on their outer walls. The most famous ones like Dexia Tower in Brussels -- which used to be world’s largest until Seoul Square came along -- Millennium Park in Chicago and the Chanel building in Tokyo have all become the cities’ newest landmarks.

Led by Seoul Square, buildings with big and small media façades are rapidly becoming landmarks in Korea as well.

Bus and taxi stops in front of Seoul Station on which eye-catching media art flows continuously is called “Art Shelters.” It is a donation by Hyundai Card to the public to add to the area‘s brilliant ambience created by Seoul Square.

Kumho Asiana Main Tower in Gwanghwamun literally shines among buildings in the area with its 91.9 meter long and 23 meter wide media façades titled “LED Gallery” on its front side.

In southern Seoul, many buildings including GS Tower in Yeoksam-dong and Galleria Department Store in Apgujeong-dong light up the area.

Lotte Department Store’s Gwangbok branch became one of the landmarks of Busan as soon as it opened in December 2009, not only for its unique design, which resembles a ship, but also for the media façade which covers all of its outer walls, consisted of 400,000 LED bulbs.

In Sangam Digital Media City, which is Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ambitious digital media entertainment business cluster project in northwestern Seoul, six out of 22 buildings have media boards installed on them.

It is actually mandatory for companies that plan to construct buildings near Digital Media Street -- the main street in the DMC -- to install media boards on the outer walls.

“The purpose is to raise the brand value of DMC by showcasing something that only DMC can do. As each company has different functions, each media board will be designed to fit different identities of the companies,” said Jin Jae-hun, head of the DMC Management Team.

This media façade craze is welcome news for media artists, who were not so popular in the art market compared to artists of other genres. It is likely that they will be offered more opportunities, according to art insiders.

“The media façade on Seoul Square was made to showcase media art. We display contents made by artists and graphic designers. This could lead to great opportunities for the artists,” said Yeom.

Building owners also benefit by adding such artistic touches on their buildings.

“The building becomes a landmark when a media façade is installed on it. It is great PR. Then the occupancy rate of the building rises, leading to profits. The occupancy rate of Seoul Square actually jumped soon after Morgan Stanley bought the former Daewoo building -- today’s Seoul Square -- and installed the façade,” said Kim Min-ju, president of Read & Leader Consulting Corporation.

Media façades usually consist of LED lights which are less bright than lights used on regular electronic display boards.

“When comparing the same color, the brilliance of LED lights is less than one-tenth of the same lights used on regular electronic display boards. They do not make eyes sore nor cause harm to the buildings nearby,” said Yeom.

“I really like working near Seoul Square. It was difficult to make time to enjoy artworks in the city, but now the media façade offers some great things to see on my way home from work,” said Lim Jae-wan, an office worker who works in a building near Seoul Square.

However, some still voice concern over light pollution. Acknowledging such complaints, Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the Media Façade Guideline on Sept. 1, 2009. All buildings that are to install media facades have to pass deliberation council by the city.

“Now is only the beginning of the media façade trend. We expect to see many more in the future, and it would not be a pretty sight if media façades were imprudently installed everywhere and the city overflowed with flashy advertisements. The guideline aims to have artistic and emotionally satisfying media façades in the city which do not cause harm to the drivers or the pedestrians, cause light pollution or spoil the beauty of the city,” said Lee Myung-gi, head of the Public Design team at Seoul Metropolitan Government.

One of the major guidelines reads: “Only artworks are allowed on media façades. Advertisements, designs that have no artistic value or harm beautiful and fine customs are restricted.”

“Some buildings that use media façades for advertising were already built before the guideline was announced. In the case of BK Dongyang Plastic Surgery Clinic in Sinsa-dong, for example, we told them to make adjustments to the content of the media art and they brought a new design draft. We are currently reviewing the draft,” said Lee.

But opinions are divided concerning the formation of the deliberating council members and how exactly artistic value could be evaluated. The deliberating council currently has 13 members -- 12 lighting experts and one media façade expert.

“It is a sensitive matter, but we do sometimes think that it is illogical for lighting experts to give assessments about artworks, especially when artistic values are supposed to be subjective,” said Yeom.

“Some of the deliberating council members are lighting experts but there is also a media façade expert, Chung-ang University professor Kim Hyung-gi who studied media facades in Paris. We are planning to have one more media art expert to join the council on January, although the lighting experts also do have basic knowledge about media facades. And media arts on the facades do not necessarily have to be ones by professional artists. Only if the works are not detrimental to the public interest, there is no particular reason they could not pass the deliberation,” said Lee. 　

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

국립현대미술관 정창섭전 리뷰

Chung’s mulberry papers create cultured calm

 

The second exhibition room in the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, seems like an ideal world of tranquility that exists far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, especially after walking past Paik Nam-june’s flashy media work “Samramansang” which is installed near the room.

Monotone paintings by veteran artist Chung Chang-sub fill the walls there, amazingly turning the place even more serene and simpler than when it was void.

Chung, one of the first graduates of the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University and currently an honorary professor there, is one of the doyens of Korean art. After his successful debut in 1952, winning the special prize at the National Art Competition, Chung led some of Korea’s important art movements such as Art Informel.

Ironically, however, the “Chang-Sup Chung Retrospective” is his first-ever solo exhibition held at a national museum.

“This might be his last one, too, because he is in critical condition. He never enjoyed presenting himself or cared much about promoting his works. That’s probably why he is less known compared to his close friends like Park Seo-bo or Kim Tschang-yeul. Now is the time that a national museum shed light on his works,” said Lee Sun-ryung, curator of the exhibition.

Chung Chang-sub

Like the artist himself, his artworks are the kind that do not make a strong first impression but reveal much more by not expressing too much. His last series, “Mukgo,” which means the thoughts of silence, is the epitome of Chung’s works.

The secret to his calm but profound paintings is “dakjongi,” or Korean traditional paper made from mulberry bark.

A view of the exhibition “Chang-Sup Chung Retrospective” (National Museum of Contemporary Art)

“Chung practiced Informel paintings after learning the basics of Western painting but was not fond of the gooey and thick texture of oil paint. So he tried to come up with ways to naturalize the texture, like by painting it thin and runny as possible. And one day in the mid 1970s, he met his fate, dakjongi,” said Lee.

“The shades and colors of the works vary although they may be the same kind of dakjongi. The artist hand-dyed dakjongi to bring out the exact color and shade he wanted and made the wrinkles one by one after placing them on the canvas.”

A docent program for the hearing-impaired runs every Wednesday and Saturday, based on reservations.

Musician Hwang Byung-ki’s mini gayageum, or 12-stringed Korean zither, recital will take place at the exhibition hall on Aug.14, which will perfectly harmonize with the exhibition.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 17 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets are 1,500 won for students and 3,000 won for adults. For more information, call (02) 2188-6000 or visit www.moca.go.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

국립현대미술관 아시아리얼리즘 전시 리뷰

Asian realism blurs fact and fiction

We expect to find the truth in realism paintings. But seeing the works displayed at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, in central Seoul, that does not seem to be always the case, especially if they were created during extraordinary situations like war.

The museum is currently showcasing 104 realism paintings from ten different Asian countries ― South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and India ― at the exhibition “Realism in Asian Art.” All exhibits, except the paintings by Korean artists, are shown in the country for the first time.

Kim In-hye, curator at the museum and Joyce Fan, curator from the National Art Gallery, Singapore, co-organized the exhibition. A smaller scale exhibition featuring 79 paintings was held in Singapore in April.

“Organizing the exhibition depended a lot on the nation’s political and diplomatic situations. It was most difficult to bring artworks from China while it was smoother with India, because Korea is having good relations with the country after signing a free trade agreement. The officials in India lent us some paintings that they did not allow to be exhibited in Singapore,” said Kim.

“We also considered getting paintings on loan from North Korea, although it did not happen for many reasons. One of them was that we could not contact any North Korean scholars to discuss the paintings with. We thought it was not fair to select works solely based on our point of views,” said Kim.

“Rice Planting” by Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo National Museum of Contemporary Art

Displayed artworks meticulously reflect the countries’ political, economical and cultural situations at the time, or sometimes intrigue the viewers to search for the real truth hidden under the thick layers of paint.

“Courtesan” by Japanese artist Takahashi                                                  Yuichi National Museum of Contemporary Art

Among the exhibits, a state-commissioned war painting titled “Engineering Corps Constructing a Bridge in Malaya” by Japanese artist Shimizu Toshi is a good example of a realism painting that stretched the truth.

The painting shows Japanese soldiers building a bridge in Malaysia, which the British army had destroyed, in order launch an attack on Singapore in 1942. The artist, however, included locals helping the Japanese soldiers in the painting to glorify the professed intent of the army that the construction was carried out with the ultimate aim of liberating Asia.

Hanging across from the painting is Singaporean artist Koeh Sia Yong‘s “Persecution,” which depicts the massive purge of ethnic Chinese there by Japanese soldiers, a painful moment in Singapore’s history. The positioning of the two paintings renders the Japanese artist’s point of view a bit strange even if one is not aware of the exact history of the time.

“Most of the official war paintings were taken from the colonizer’s view. We must remember what such paintings were for. They were to promote the wars and to justify their actions. When you look at the Japanese paintings and other paintings taking different points of views, you can realize which is by the aggressor and which is by the victim,” said Fan.

Although all exhibits obviously fall into the “realism” category and are from the same continent, each work features a unique style derived from the artists’ traditional cultures.

Japanese artist Takashi Yuichi, for instance, used multiple layers of white lead to depict the rosy cheek of the woman in the painting “Courtesan.” It was a technique often used in Japanese traditional paintings. Vietnamese artist Nguyen Gia Tri, on the other hand, added layers of lacquer to better express black and gold colors. It was a traditional style of painting in Vietnam.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 10 at The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, in central Seoul. Tickets range from 2,000 won to 5,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2188-6000 or asia.moca.go.kr

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

복원된 광화문 공개임박

Restored Gwanghwamun gets final touches

 

The restoration of the panel on Gwanghwamun bearing the historic gate’s name is expected to be finished Saturday.

It will be shown to the public on Aug. 15, Korea’s Liberation Day, during the unveiling ceremony of the new Gwanghwamun.

Oh Ok-jin, master engraver and Intangible Cultural Property No. 106, announced on Tuesday that he had completed engraving each of the three Chinese characters for “Gwang-hwa-mun” on the name panel.

Together, these three characters carry the meaning, “Bestowing the great virtues of a king upon the nation and its people.”

“The panel will be attached to Gwanghwamun on July 31 after receiving final Dancheong touches,” said an official from the Cultural Heritage Administration. Dancheong is the traditional multicolored paintwork on wooden buildings.

“But the signboard will be covered with fabric until Aug. 15 because the day is when the restored Gwanghwamun will be officially open to the public for the first time,” he added.

This new name panel, a restored version of the original signboard that was written by Lim Tae-young, head of the Gyeongbokgung reconstruction team and general in 1867, will replace the former one with former president Park Chung-hee’s handwritten Hangeul letters on it. This change is part of the Gwanghwamun restoration project that started in 2006.

The gate has more than 600 years of a stormy history. It was first built in the beginning of the Joseon dynasty during the reign of Taejo, Joseon’s first king, as the main gate of his palace, Gyeongbokgung.

Gwanghwamun, which has been under restoration since 2006, will be unveiled on Aug. 15, Korea’s Liberation Day.                                                                                                 Yonhap News

But it was burnt down during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Although it was rebuilt under the orders by Heungseon Daewongun in 1864, it was moved to make room for the Japanese Government General during Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Gwanghwamun was burnt down once again during the Korean War and was reconstructed during the Park Chung-hee government but in a modified way. The current project aims to recover Gwanghwamun’s original form.

Oh is following four steps to recreate the signboard as close to Lim’s as possible, based on a photo from the early 20th century that the National Museum of Korea restored in 2005.

First, five to six professional calligraphers meticulously revised the letters on Lim’s signboard shown on the photo. Then the revised letters were enlarged, made into life-size prints and glued to the wood that would be the new name panel. Oh then engraved the letters in the wood.

These three steps took about 20 days. Now there only remains the final step: Dancheong.

The new signboard will be almost exactly the same as the original one in its size and material, said the officials.

Approximately 428.5 cm wide, 173 cm long with 54cm long wings on the bottom part and 110cm wings on both sides, the signboard is the same size as that of Park’s or Lim’s.

Geumgang pine, which was used to build palaces since the Joseon dynasty and is also assumed to have been the main material for Lim’s signboard, is used again this time.

Meanwhile, some Hangeul academies are still arguing through rallies and media that the characters on the new name panel should be in Hangeul and not in Chinese.

But the Cultural Heritage Administration is standing firm.

“It is a principle that the sign panel should be restored just like what it looked like when Gyeongbokgung was restored. This is the deliberation results from the Cultural Properties Committee,” said Kim Won-ki, head of the Administration’s royal Palaces and Tombs Division.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

에르메스미술상 최종3인 후보 전시중!

Hermes award finalists display work

 

Three finalists of this year’s Hermes Foundation Missulsang, or art award, are showcasing their works at Atelier Hermes in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. The final winner, who will take home a plaque and a prize of 20 million won ($17,000), will be selected after the second deliberation on Sept. 2.

Established in 2000 to promote Korean culture and art through sponsorship for the artists, the annual award has put many talented artists such as Kim Beom, Suh Do-ho and Park Chan-kyong in the limelight.

This year’s finalists ― Yangachi, Bae Jong-heon, Park Jina ― were narrowed down from 10 nominees by five judges including Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi; Ahn Kyu-chul, artist and professor at Korean National University of Arts, Seoul; Song Mi-sook, honorary professor at Sungshin Women’s University; Saskia Bos, dean of Cooper Union, U.S.; and Stephanie Moisdon, independent curator.

Sponsored by the Hermes Foundation for new projects, the three finalists offer some peculiar and creative works at Atelier Hermes.

“The Mountain of Casper David Fredrich” (right) and “The Sea of Joseph Mallord William Turner,” both by Bae Jong-heon                                                                Atelier Hermes

Media artist Yangachi introduces a multi-view video series titled “Bright Dove Hyunsook” which is an extension of his recent “Surveillance Drama” series. The new series showcases various points of view including a human’s, a bird’s and several CCTV cameras’.

“We become different people depending on whether we are at work, with parents, friends or a lover. When you look at people from a multi-view, like from a bird’s point of view, then a human’s and then a CCTV’s, you can understand why people are acting in such a way at the moment,” Yangachi told the press last Thursday.

“Measuring Level” by Park Jina                                                                                Atelier Hermes

In the series, a Korean woman named Hyunsook wears a hat with a dove on top and wanders around the neighborhood in Buam-dong in central Seoul and in Dosan Park, just in front of Atelier Hermes, swinging her arms and making dove-like noises.

“Doves and CCTVs are very alike. They are numerous in the city, people hate it when they are too close but just ignore them when they are not so near,” Yangachi added.

The installation view of Yangachi’s media work “Bright Dove Hyunsook – Dove view”                                                                                                                                           Atelier Hermes

Inspired by the global climate change issue and fed up with the vague weather forecasts and research, Bae proposes a new project, “A weather forecast,” to question how the scientific analysis of observing and studying natural phenomena has come to control our lives and society.

Bae Jong-heon

One of the most interesting works of the project is “My own weather forecast” in which Bae appears on the TV screen to give the day’s weather forecast for different spots inside his house using his homemade gadgets.

Park Jina

“I didn’t want to make any obvious, outdated works so I created things based on my own personal experiences,” said Bae.

Two of his automatic installations ― “The mountain of Caspar David Friedrich” and “The sea of Joseph Mallord William Turner” ― which he took from Friedrich and Turner’s masterpieces are eye-catching as well.

Yangachi

“I found it interesting how Friedrich thought of nature as a subject to conquer while Turner considered it as greatly powerful. Personally, I think humans are destroying nature. You will see what I mean when you take a look at the works from behind,” said Bae.

Looking from behind, visitors will be surprised to see that the paintings were done on a canvas made from wastes like ramen and cracker packages connected together.

Park’s works are relatively monotonous, compared to Yangachi and Bae’s adventurous works, but unique in their own way. She took snap shots of people installing artworks at a gallery or an art museum, getting ready to hold an exhibition, and painted the scenes on canvas.

“Art museums and galleries are spaces that have special purposes. They are made to be considered as familiar but actually change all the time. I wanted to capture the special place,” said Park.

The 2010 Hermes Foundation Missulsang Exhibition runs through Sep. 19 at Atelier Hermes on the third floor of Maison Hermes Dosan Park in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. For more information, call (02) 544-7722.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

언어의그늘_스페인현대미술특별전 리뷰

Spanish collection marks relations with Korea

 

Spain has much more than just its incredible World Cup-winning soccer players. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, better known as MACBA, is another of Spain’s sources of pride.

Established in 1995, MACBA has a rather short history compared to other prestigious national art museums around the world. But thanks to MACBA founder and director Bartomeu Mari’s foresight, MACBA soon became one of the world’s most acclaimed museums specializing in conceptual art.

“The Shadow of Speech” exhibition, currently underway at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, is offering visitors the chance to see 138 brilliant conceptual art pieces by 68 European artists, straight from the MACBA collection. The exhibition is celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Spain and Korea.

“Speech signifies that one is alive. But before it is spoken, language cannot make shadows by itself because it cannot be seen, like air. It can only make shadows when it is spoken,” said Mari at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The exhibition implies that language can be spoken not only through speech but also through artworks, movies and more. Most exhibits have little twists that either make visitors laugh or deepen the intended message.

Divided into eight divisions ― “It Starts In Poetry,” “Towards Writing,” “Towards Another Geometry,” “Towards Actionism,” “The Political Action,” “Media And Power,” “The Future Of Cinema”and “Theatre And Play” ― the exhibition invites visitors to see an array of paintings, installations and media art. These can all be considered results and shadows of speech ― in a unique European way of thinking, the organizers said.

“Construction of the Matrix” by Francesc Torres                                                                    MACBA

The first three divisions showcase works that are literally about language and speech. Marcel Broodthaers, a Belgian artist and poet, visualized poetry by coloring the words in poems black and merged old fashion 16mm film in another work to criticize poetry.

Tapies Antoni, a renowned Spanish informalism artist, expressed a profound message about the components of words through his metaphorical work “Cross and R” in which most of its materials ― sand, fabric, stones, paint and pencil traces ― are in their original state and visible on the canvas.

It is in the “Towards Actionism” section that the exhibition starts to get extra philosophical. Some Spanish artists seem to be still affected by the trauma of the dictatorial Franco regime which took place in Spain from 1938 to 1978.

“Vassels: Worship of the Mother” by Eulalia Valldosera                                                                                            MACBA

Francesc Torres’ work “Construction of the Matrix,” which was first shown at the 1976 Venice Biennale, is a good example of the influence of the regime.

Torres built a small hill made of sand, rocks and empty bullet shells to symbolize the regime. A bible, which the regime was established upon, and the Communist Manifesto, which the regime was strongly opposed to, each lay open under lamps on opposing slopes. The most astonishing part of the work is the faint silhouette of a fetus projected on the hill, just below a pair of dangling scissors.

“The time was when the Franco regime was about to collapse and new things were about to begin. The fetus, which symbolizes the future of the nation, was to be born as soon as its umbilical cord was cut off, but no one was sure what it would be like,” said Kang Soo-jung, curator of the exhibition.

Another Spanish artist Reimundo Patino resisted the dictatorship by painting a cartoon titled “The Man whoSpoke Vegliota” using the Galician language which was forbidden in Spain at the time. The painting, of course, could not be shown in public back then.

“You can see that, in a way, Spain and Korea have a very similar history,” said Kang.

A less serious but also a meaningful piece is “Vassels: Worship of the Mother” by Eulalia Valldosera in the “Theatre And Play” section.

Valldosera created shadows that appear like female silhouettes by placing detergents in front of beam projectors. Her whimsical way of lining up different sized bottles to express a mother getting fatter as she ages and weakens through time makes visitors realize that the very items women use when doing housework resembles their figures.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 3 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets range from 2,500 won to 5,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2188-6114 or visit www.moca.go.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

2010 베니스 건축 비엔날레 한국관 작가+커미셔너 인터뷰

Seoul’s past, present and future to be shown in Venice

 

A discussion between six middle-aged architects over the final details about the Korean pavilion was heating up Atelier 17, Kwon moon-sung’s architect office in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul.

Kwon, commissioner of the Korean pavilion for this year’s Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, and the five architects -- Cho Jung-goo, Lee Sang-koo, Lee Chung-kee, Shin Seung-soo, Hah Tesoc -- who will be representing the nation in Venice from August to November, have been holding more than 50 meetings like this during the past five months.

“Barcity vs citybar” by Shin Seung-soo                                                                  Shin Seung-soo

“The biennale is just one month away. Now is the busiest time. We usually hold meetings late at night around 10 p.m. because we all have to be at our jobs in the daytime. Today’s an exception,” Kwon told The Korea Herald.

Founded in 1980, Venice Biennale is one of world’s three major biennales along with the Sao Paulo Biennale and Whitney Biennale. The art exposition takes place on odd-numbered years, while the architecture exhibition takes place in the even-numbered years.

Korea and Japan are the only two Asian countries among 25 nations around the world that have their own pavilion at the prestigious architecture festival. This year is the seventh time that Korea is participating in the biennale. Led by director Kazuyo Sejim, the 12th biennale is to be held under the theme “People meet in architecture” from Aug. 29 to Nov. 21 at Castello Gardens and Arsenale in Venice, Italy.

Kwon chose the theme “Re-place-ing, Documentary of Changing Metropolis Seoul” for the Korean pavilion.

“We picked a theme that is familiar to Koreans but could pique the curiosities of foreigners. It is an interesting procedure how Seoul changed its look as it went through rapid economic growth, a concentrated population, the Korean War and more. The exhibition will particularly focus on the historical meanings, influences and the future of apartment houses and public spaces,” said Kwon.

The Korean pavilion will be in a form of a “Hanok,” or traditional Korean-style house, because the experts agreed that it is probably the original form of Korean-style architecture. Kwon said that he also hopes the place will act as a resting place for the Biennale visitors.

The Korean pavilion will be set up like a Hanok that visitors can take a rest in. Cho Jung-goo

“The Korean pavilion is placed at the end of the Biennale venue. So if visitors circle around the place, our pavilion will be at the mid-point. We hope the visitors can meet in the Korean pavilion,’” said Kwon.

An important task was to make the works by five architects to blend together and appear like something created by a single person or team. After numerous discussions, the architects came up with an organized format divided into three big sections, with each representing Seoul’s past, present and future. Each participant sat down to share their thoughts and introduce their works to The Korea Herald.



Section A -- “Seoul’s past” by Cho Jung-goo and Lee Sang-koo



Cho: People think Seoul is changing too quickly, leaving no original traces, but I know that the older parts of Seoul are still vividly present. It is important that we rediscover the values and treasure them as we develop the city.

(From left) Kwon moon-sung, Shin Seung-soo, Lee Sang-koo, Cho Jung-goo, Hah Tesoc and Lee Chung-kee discuss the final details of the Korean pavilion.                                                                                                          Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald

I sought to be very meticulous in depicting the streets, alleys and buildings of the areas near the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, including Naesu-dong, Naeja-dong and Hyoja-dong, into a six meter wide and 3.8 meter-long pen drawing. It appears like a view you’ll see when you are flying.

One of the alleys is made into a miniature model, complete with tiny houses and yards. I wanted to show that the history of our city and the traces of our lives are still alive.

Lee: Cities are supposed to be made by the people who actually live there. But ever since the start of the 20th century, we started to live in cities that somebody else designed. I was, therefore, moved to look into cities that its own residents had created. It is important that we learn from what we already have.

Cho: It is also my job to turn the Korean pavilion into a Hanok. I am taking the wood from an actual Hanok that used to be in Hyehwa-dong and modifying the sizes a little bit. It will not be a full Hanok complete with a tiled roof, but you will be able to see the architectural essence from the wooden structures.

It is not only an effort to show the value of Hanok as a living space but also to show the ironical situation of Seoul, where some places like the Bukchon village well preserves the Hanok but other places virtually destroy the Hanok in the name of redevelopment.



Section B -- “Seoul’s present” by Lee Chung-kee and Shin Seung-soo



Lee: Section B aims to show how many parts of the city, which is several hundred years old, is getting erased and replaced in a flash. Seoul is a city of apartments. We will be exhibiting every possible research result and historical document about apartments in the nation’s capital.

One of them is a digital map depicting the number of apartment buildings. Because the dark circles represent the congested areas, the finished map turned out to look like Swiss cheese.

We will also display photos of apartment buildings along the Han River, which plainly reveal how they are blocking the mountains and the river. I am not trying to say that it is bad or good. It is just to show the facts.

Some interesting research results will be exhibited as well, like how long or high it will be when all apartments of the city are lined up or sideways.

Shin: Based on our research, when all of Korea’s apartments are lined sideways, it can go around the earth three times.

Lee: Or it can cover the whole city of Seoul.

Shin: I subtitled my part of the exhibition ‘space bar.’ Like how the space bar on the keyboard makes spaces between words so that the following word can be written down, public places provide spaces between apartments to enable the next apartment to be placed nearby.

Public places contain memories and conversations between people filling up the space. Considering the main theme of the biennale, “People meet in architecture,” I expressed how people meet at and use public spaces, using cartoons.

Our living spaces are pretty much blocked from others by retaining and soundproofing walls. This cartoon will be like a mini scenario about how we can get the fragmented individuals to communicate with each other and about the relationship between apartments, public places and external spaces.



Section C -- “Seoul’s future” by Hah Tesoc



Hah: The problem with today’s apartment buildings is that consumers have only one way, a very passive way, of getting an apartment -- moving into one that is ready-made by some architect. And there are only two or three models.

Because everyone lives in such a standardized space, the whole city seemed to be somehow shut up in anonymity.

So I am proposing a way that enables everyone to create their own apartments that perfectly fit into each of their lifestyles. This way, the city can exude a unique identity.

One can simply download the smartphone application I made for the phone and input it as one’s source for lifestyle information. Just the right type of neighbors and apartment units that perfectly match the user’s lifestyle will be suggested. As more information is collected, cities with different identities can be created.

A beam projector will shoot this whole city-building process onto all of the six walls in section C, turning the space into a virtual apartment. Visitors can participate with the smartphones equipped at the venue or at home with their smartphones.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

백남준 미망인 자서전 발간

Paik’s widow reveals artist’s inner side

 

For an artist, his or her lover is one of the biggest inspirations.

Late Korean video artist Paik Nam-june and his Japanese wife Shigeko Kubota, who is also a video artist, were inspirations for each other.

“We often had the same ideas. I had to put my work ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ inside the house for quite a time and one day saw that Nam-june had made a work called ‘V-yramid.’ I asked him what it was about, and he said ‘I couldn’t help but see ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ everyday, whether I wanted to or not.’ He was inspired by my work,” said Kubota at a press conference on Tuesday.

“We were both artists but he was a philosopher and musician who is more symbolic and idealistic, while I majored in physical art like paintings and sculptures. I encouraged Nam-june to show his works to more audiences so that more people could enjoy his work.”

Kubota published the book, “My Love, Paik Nam-june,” which reveals previously unknown sides of Paik’s struggles, efforts and of course, their love story. Two authors, including Nam Jeong-ho, an international news editor at a local newspaper, helped Kubota organize her memories into writings.

The book starts with Kubota’s reminiscence of Paik’s very first performance that she saw in Tokyo, on May 29, 1964, which made her fall in love with the man.

Seeing Paik’s “grotesque” performance of throwing eggs against the walls, torturing two pianos with his bare hands, hooks and axes until they broke down, painting a picture with Chinese black ink using his head as a brush and finally drinking water from his leather shoes, Kubota “felt as if I had found an oasis in the desert of my mind, where there used to be only wind and sand,” she wrote in the book.

Shigeko Kubota speaks at a press conference held at The Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on Tuesday.                                                                                           Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald

“I loved him because he was so talented and was a genius. Even before I knew him, he was a legendary person in Tokyo. When you talked to him, you knew he was very special. He had knowledge about everything, from high art to low art,” said Kubota.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Paik grew up listening to the piano his sisters played everyday, said Kubota. But whenever Paik hung around the piano, his father scolded him, saying that pianos are not for boys because they cannot make a living out of it. Not surprisingly, his father was furious when Paik announced that he would study music composition instead of law or business like his father told him to.

“That was only the beginning of his struggles as an artist. After his father died, Nam-june had no money. His mother used to say ‘spend money like water’ but Nam-june did not have money to do so. You know, it is easy to sell food in the supermarket but it is hard to sell art,” said Kubota.

Paik moved to New York, the mecca for artists, met Kubota, and the two fell in love.

“Being so poor, Nam-june didn’t want to get married and be responsible for his family but just wanted to concentrate on his art. That was his style of life, which I understood,” said Kubota.

Paik’s stubborn resistance against marriage broke down, however, finding out about Kubota’s uterine cancer. As Kubota had no insurance coverage in the U.S. and had to return to Japan for treatment, Paik proposed to her right away.

Another thing Paik was generous with, despite his lack of money, was buying materials for his works, Kubota remembered.

“One day, Nam-june brought home an ugly looking Buddha that he had bought at an antique store. Using it, he showcased his first ‘TV Buddha’ at an exhibition in Bonino Gallery, and it received great response. I thought ‘Oh, this guy is a genius.’ I couldn’t complain about how he uses money!” she said.

“This is a book for young artists to tell them to never give up. Everyone is poor in the beginning. Nam-june didn’t become a big artist in one day. Someday, it will happen to you. Art has more chance than Wall Street, you know,” added Kubota.

“There were a lot more sensational stories that Kubota told me, said Nam “But I couldn’t write it in the book because the people involved are still alive. The book still contains very dramatic stories.”

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

올리브앤코; 미술작품이 그려진 티셔츠

Wear your art on your short sleeve

 

Some of Korea’s hottest contemporary artists have been offered a new way to promote their works -- through fashion.

Olive & Company, an apparel trading firm based in Korea, joined hands with Gana Art Gallery and Gallery LVS and launched a fashion brand named “Olivenco” last week.

The brand features T-shirts and bags featuring artworks by 13 artists such as Bae Bien-u, Seo Sukwon, Mari Kim, Wee Young-il and Kang Young-min.

“This will be an opportunity to familiarize the public with high-end culture and promote Korean artists in the world market,” said Olive Kim, president of Olive & Company, at a press conference last week.

While there have been collaborations between artists and companies that produce various goods like stationery, clothes, furniture and cars, the launching of Olivenco is notable because it is not another one-time project but a brand with long-term goals, aiming for the overseas market.

Artist Kang Young-min’s painting and T-shirts featuring his works                                      Olivenco

The brand’s lines will be distributed worldwide through specialty chain stores which include GAP, Limited too, Express and Chico’s. Olivenco already inked a contract with GAP to export 2.5 million T-shirts to the U.S. market starting August or September.

Olivenco expects to make more than 12 billion won ($10 million) worth of sales per year through the exportations, explained Kim.

“We plan on increasing the number of participating artists to 100 with the help from Gana Art Gallery and Gallery LVS. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami leaped to fame after collaborating with Louis Vuitton. We want to set examples like that,” said Kim. 　

Once the artists successfully gain recognition in other countries through the T-shirt sales, the organizers will hold steady exhibitions for the artists there, said Kim. Olivenco will also work with non-profit groups such as UNICEF, Jeju Olle, Another Way of Seeing and World Art Therapy Association.

Olivenco products are sold through G market and at www.olivenco.com. T-shirt prices range from 49,000 won to 59,000 won. Offline shops will soon open at Gana Art Gallery in Pyeongchang-dong and at Garosugil in Sinsa-dong.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

아이들을 위한 여름방학 전시

Cool off with the kids at exhibitions

 

One of the safest ways of entertaining kids who are already tired of the heat and bored with their long summer vacation could be taking them to a cool exhibition. Here are some exhibitions that are attracting the little ones.



Trick Art Exhibition



Water spills from cups and animals appear to be pushing through the walls -- all within the frames at “Trick Art Exhibition” currently underway at KINTEX in Goyang city, Gyeonggi Province.

The exhibition offers 160 paintings, media art and installations that create fun optical illusions. The key of making such trompe-l‘œil art is to make the painting as detailed as possible and to add a cover of special paint on top.

Divided into seven sections, the show covers pictures that feature animals, fish, dinosaurs, everyday objects and even parodied masterpieces.

Visitors make comical gestures in front of a painting at the “Trick Art Exhibition.”                                                                                                                                     Trick Art Exhibition

SBS Play Science Experience Exhibition



KINTEX is also holding an exhibition that teaches kids all about cars, science and nature. “SBS Play Science Experience Exhibition” is divided into two sections -- Kids Motor Show and Play Pump.

At the Kids Motor Show section, Kids can see the insides of real cars and learn the basic science of cars by watching and performing various experiments.

Children can also learn road safety rules, draw their dream cars of the future and drive racing karts at a specially prepared track.

The Play Pump section features a special device from South Africa that pumps up water when kids play with it, turning on the knobs. Kids can naturally learn about the importance of water and saving the environment as they play, surrounded by endangered animal characters.



Neverland



Supported by Crown-Haitai Confectionery Co., Korea’s second-largest snack maker, Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, offers a unique exhibition titled “Neverland,” which is packed with 100 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works by 20 Korean artists that feature crackers and snack boxes.

A gigantic helicopter hangs from the ceiling and various animal models such as sheep, goats and donkeys are placed in every nook and corner with comical expressions on their faces. They are made of materials familiar to children -- sweets and cracker boxes.

A related exhibition is underway at the gallery in Crown-Haitai’s headquarters office in Namyoung-dong, Seoul, as well. It aims to educate kids on various art and scientific techniques while looking at exhibits and listening to fairytales about snacks and crackers.

“Trick Art Exhibition” runs through Aug. 20 at the third hall in KINTEX in Goyang city, Gyeonggi Province. The nearest subway station is Daehwa station, line number three, exits one and two. Tickets range from 6,000 won to 12,000 won. For more information, call (02) 789-1009 or visit www.mbctrickart.com.

“SBS Play Science Experience Exhibition” runs through Aug. 22 at the second hall in KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets are 13,000 won each for Play Pump and Kids Motor Show. For details, call (02) 747-5811 or visit www.sbslovei.com.

“Neverland” runs through Aug. 29 at Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul. Tickets range from 5,000 won to 8,000 won. For more information, call (02) 580-1300 or visit www.sac.or.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

Germany opposed Japan’s plot to take Gojong to Japan

Germany took regarded Japan’s attempt to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war negatively, a note written by Kaiser Wilhem II deciphered yesterday shows.

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s handwritten message on the left side of the secret telegram sent by Saldern, German envoy in Seoul, to the foreign ministry in Germany on Feb. 14, 1905, expresses doubt about the plan, Jung Sang-su, research professor and lecturer at Myongji University, told The Korea Herald.

“It says ‘There will be no results.’ Considering Wilhelm II’s usual cynical way of saying things, it is likely that he meant that the transfer of Gojong would not easily be accomplished. We can see that he had a negative stance toward Japan’s plan,” said Jung.

A copy of the telegram that was sent by Saldern, the German envoy in Korea, to the German Foreign Ministry on Feb. 14, 1905. A handwritten note by Kaiser Wilhelm II is seen on the lower left side. Lee Sang-sub/ The Korea Herald

Saldern wrote in the telegram, “The Japanese are trying to transfer Gojong to Japan. Gojong refused, worried that he would not be able to come back.”

Several diplomatic documents, including the telegram dated Feb. 14, 1905, obtained by The Korea Herald show that Japan attempted to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War.

According to the documents, Gojong resisted the plan and Russian Czar Nicholas II opposed it, but the British are said to have agreed to the removal the emperor as well as the annexation plan. Then-U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt postponed his decision on the establishment of protectorate over Korea but criticized the plan to remove Emperor Gojong. The documents also show how the Japanese viewed Emperor Gojong as a major obstacle to annexing Korea.

“I do not know the details about Japan’s attempt to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki. But it is not a surprise that Japan planned such a thing,” said Yi Seok, nephew of King Sun-jong, the last monarch, after hearing the news.

“I have heard many stories about Emperor Gojong’s sufferings. He was slapped in the face by the five Eulsa traitors for refusing to sign the Eulsa Treaty (1905 Protectorate Treaty),” Yi said, adding that Gojong also appealed to Nicholas II saying that he wanted to die in Russia.

“I haven’t seen documents regarding this issue in Japanese diplomatic documents, but it can be recognized as a fact as the plot was discussed in German diplomatic dispatches. There is possibility that the Japanese military authorities came up with the plan as the follow-up step to their victory in the Russo-Japanese war, to completely deprive Korea of its diplomatic powers,” said Lee Tae-jin, honorary history professor at Seoul National University.

“Civilian politicians like Ito Hirobumi asserted on establishing a protectorate over Korea by simply taking away Korea’s diplomatic powers, but some hard-liners, like the military authorities, insisted on immediate annexation of Korea in 1905, as soon as the Russo-Japanese war ended. It is likely that the hard-liners came up with the plot to take Gojong to Nagasaki but it was blocked when Ito Hirobumi opposed the immediate annexation of Korea,” said Lee.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

Gojong’s Korea caught in international power struggles

Emperor Gojong, the second-to-last ruler of Joseon, suffered from invasion attempts from world powers throughout his reign from 1863 to 1907, culminating in the annexation of the country by Japan in three years later.

Afraid for his life after the murder of his wife, Empress Myeongseong, by Japan on Oct. 8, 1895, Gojong and his crown prince fled his palace, Gyeongbokgung, the following Feb. 11 and sought refuge at the Russian legation in Jeong-dong, Seoul. The flight to the Russian legation building took place in secrecy and was arranged by pro-Russian officials, including Yi Beom-jin and Lee Wan-yong.

Emperor Gojong, center, with his court aides (Yonhap News)

A renovated tower, the only remaining part of the Russian legation building in Seoul. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)

During Gojong’s one-year stay at the Russian legation, Russia exercised great influence on Korea’s internal governance. Russian officers were invited to Korean ministries and the army was reformed following the Russian manner using Russian arms.

Members of the old cabinet, including Kim Hong-jip, Eo Yun-jung, and Yu Gil-jun, were killed or forced to flee while pro-Russian figures were named to the new cabinet. Trade and resource concessions were granted to Russia and other Western powers, including the United States.

Facing pressure from both in and outside the country to break away from the Russian influence, Gojong returned to his palace -- not to Gyeongbokgung but to Gyeongungung (later renamed Deoksugung) -- on Feb. 25, 1897. He stayed there until Jan. 21, 1919, when he is alleged to have been poisoned by the Japanese.

Japan, which had long desired to invade Korea, was alarmed by Russia’s movements. The conflict between the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea led to the Russo-Japanese war which broke out on Feb. 8, 1904.

Being situated between the two major powers, Korea was a strategic point for both Japan and Russia. As the outbreak of the war became imminent, Gojong formally proclaimed Korea’s neutrality in January 1904.

Japan, however, sent troops to Seoul, occupied a number of buildings and forced the signing of a Korea-Japan protocol agreement on Feb. 23, 1904. The protocol provided legal justification for whatever political or military actions Japan might wish to take in Korea.

Japan also insisted that Japanese “government advisers” should be installed in Korean ministries and forced Korea to sign a new agreement on Aug. 22, 1904, which “invited” Japanese advisers to the peninsula. Starting with financial adviser Megata Tanetaro, a high official of the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan created a “government by advisers” in Korea, which took over the actual administrative authority. Korean ministers who had been accredited to Germany, France, Japan, China and other countries were recalled.

Following Japan’s victory in Russo-Japanese war on Sept. 5, 1905, the two countries signed the Treaty of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Aug. 10, 1905, in which Russia acknowledged that Japan possessed paramount political, military, and economic interests in Korea. Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. president at the time, had stepped in to mediate the terms.

In fact, before the Portsmouth Treaty was signed, Japan and the U.S. secretly signed the Taft-Katsura Agreement on July 29, 1905, in which the U.S. agreed to acquiesce to Japan’s domination of Korea in exchange for Japan’s recognition of U.S. hegemony over the Philippines.

England also acknowledged Japan’s right to take appropriate measures for the “guidance, control and protection” of Korea in renegotiating the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance on Aug. 12, 1905.

Having won recognition from Russia, England and the U.S., Japan moved to establish a protectorate over Korea and sent Ito Hirobumi, a former prime minister, to Korea in November 1905. Ito forced Emperor Gojong to sign the 1905 Protectorate Treaty, also known as the Eulsa Treaty, on Nov. 17, 1905 despite Gojong’s refusal.

The treaty gave Japan full authority over all aspects of Korea’s relations with foreign countries and provided the post of Japanese Resident-General, who would be directly under the Korean emperor, to take charge of Korea’s foreign relations. Ito served as the first Resident-General.

Despite having signed the protectorate treaty, Emperor Gojong worked furtively to invalidate the document, seeking international help.

A telegram sent to Germany’s foreign minister by Gojong on Nov. 24, 1905 has been found, in which Gojong writes that the Japanese used military force to make him sign the treaty, which cannot be approved of according to international law.

In June 1907 Gojong secretly sent envoys to Hague Peace Conference in June 1907 to let the world know of the injustice done in Korea. The mission failed, however, as the president of the conference ruled that Korea was not entitled to participate, having lost authority over its own diplomatic affairs. However, the worldwide publicity the incident received did create considerable international furor.

Japan used the incident as a pretext to further strengthen its power over Korea, demanding that Gojong accept responsibility for the incident by abdicating.

Gojong’s second son, Sunjong became emperor in July 1907 and was later forced to issue a proclamation yielding both his throne and his country on Aug. 29, 1910.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

[단독] 일본, 고종 납치하려했다

 [Exclusive] Japan attempted to take Gojong to Nagasaki

 

Documents show Gojong resisted the plan, Russian Czar Nicholas II opposed the plan, Roosevelt criticized it while acknowledging the protectorate treaty.

Japan attempted to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki during the 1904-1905 Russo–Japanese War, diplomatic documents obtained by The Korea Herald show.

The documents show how the Japanese viewed Emperor Gojong as a major obstacle to annexing Korea and planned to take him to Nagasaki.

The plan is discussed in the various diplomatic dispatches. The documents also indicate active interest by various powers on the issue. The Russians opposed the plan, the British are said to have agreed with the removal the emperor as well as the annexation plan and President Roosevelt of the U.S. postponed his decision on the establishment of protectorate over Korea but criticized the plan to remove Emperor Gojong.

Gojong goes on an outing upon hearing the news of his son King Yeongchin's return from Japan. (Yonhap News)

 

A copy of the letter sent by Lev Urusov, Russian envoy in Vienna, to Agenor Goluchowski, foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy on April 30, 1905. The underlined paragraph reads: “The foreign ministry has recently recognized, from a reliable source, that the Mikado government had the intention to transfer the Emperor of Korea to Japan and install him at a palace built for this purpose in Nagasaki.”

 

Karoly Fendler, lecturer of Korean history at Budapest University ELTE, Hungary

 

Jung Sang-su, history department research professor and lecturer at Myongji University (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

Hand-copied pages of the 26-page report “Japanese intention to take the Korean Emperor to Mokko.” Karoly Fendler copied the content by hand because the Foreign Policy Archives of Russian Empire prohibits making photocopies. (Karoly Fendler)

A copy of the telegram sent by Saldern, the German envoy in Korea, to the German Foreign Ministry on Feb. 14, 1905. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

Karoly Fendler, lecturer of Korean history at Budapest University ELTE, Hungary, and foreign researcher for overseas historical materials at National Institute of Korean History, discovered a 26-page report titled “Japanese intention to take the Korean Emperor to Mokko” at the Russian Empire’s Foreign Political Archives in Moscow. Earlier, in the 1990s, Fendler found a letter at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (HHSA) in Vienna, Austria, pointing to the existence of a Japanese plan to have Emperor Gojong moved to Nagasaki.

The Russian government first received information about the alleged Japanese plan from its legation in Belgrade, Serbia, on April 22, 1905, according to the correspondence between the Russian Foreign Ministry and its diplomatic missions contained in the report found in the Russian archive.

The Russian ambassador in Belgrade reported to Count V.N. Lamsdorf, Russia’s foreign minister, that G. Fontaine, the first secretary of the French embassy in Belgrade, had received the news from Tokyo concerning the plan to transfer Emperor Gojong.

“’The wheels of diplomacy’ started to move faster,” said Fendler in an e-mail interview with The Korea Herald.

The first piece of information from Belgrade was sent to Czarskoe Selo, the residence of Russian czars near St. Petersburg, without delay, on April 26, 1905 and Czar Nicholas II wrote “This Japanese activity must be prevented somehow” in Russian on the letter.

“The fact that Nicholas II was upset is understandable, not only because the Russo-Japanese War was still going on, but also because of the cruelties the Japanese committed in Korea; the killing of Queen Min in 1895, trudging on international agreements and not considering Korea as a neutral independent state at that time,” said Fendler.

The next day, on April 27, 1905, Czar Nicholas II ordered that a secret telegram about the Japanese intention to transfer the Korean Emperor to Japan be sent to all Russian embassies -- including those in Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Washington, the Hague, Copenhagen and Beijing.

The letter Fendler discovered at HHSA is dated April 30, 1905. In it, Lev Urusov, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, relays the same information about the Japanese plan to move Gojong to Nagasaki to Agenor Goluchowski, foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

“During the war, the Russian czarist government warned European governments to pay attention to Japan’s illegal, aggressive activity against Korea, in Korea and against the independence and neutrality of the Korean state,” said Fendler. Following the instruction of his government on Japan’s Korea policy, Urusov wrote the letter based on information from Russian foreign ministry’s sources, Fendler said.

While most of the replies from Russian missions said they had passed on “the Russian objection” to the respective governments, the replies from the English and the Chinese are the most interesting, said Fendler.

“We have to the best of my belief, never heard that it was the intention of the Japanese government to deport the Emperor of Corea (Korea), but I am asking enquiries, and hope to be able to make you aware before long of the manner in which the question is regarded by H.M. (His Majesty)’s Government,” British Foreign Minister Lord Lansdown replied.

At Lansdown’s request, the Japanese ambassador in London obtained a message from Japanese Foreign Secretary Komura that “the Japanese government is not planning to transfer the Korean emperor to Japan,” according to a telegram sent by Russian ambassador in London.

“It seems that the Japanese foreign minister was only denying the ‘transfer’ and not the existence of the plan,” said Fendler.

Kazakov, the Russian diplomat in Beijing, sent a telegram to Moscow from Beijing on May 1, 1905, saying that “I asked about the Chinese government’s reaction to this. They avoided giving a straight reply, saying that they cannot take sides yet, as they do not have any information about the question.”

The Russian envoy in Belgrade, the writer of the first report on the issue, sent another report on May 10 confirming his previous information. This time he enclosed Fontaine’s original report on the matter. The report, written in French on a thin, small, transparent piece of paper, read that the Japanese government was preparing to transport the Korean emperor to Japan, where a castle had already been built for him in Nagasaki.

Indeed, diplomatic dispatches between the German mission in Korea and the German foreign ministry discovered in August 2008 by Jung Sang-su, research professor and lecturer at Myongji University, at the German foreign minister’s political document archive show that Germany, Britain and the U.S. were paying close attention to Japan’s attempt to take Gojong.

A secret telegram sent by Saldern, German envoy in Seoul, to the foreign ministry in Germany on Feb. 14, 1905, reads: “The Japanese are trying to transfer Gojong to Japan. Gojong refused, worried that he would not be able to come back.”

A handwritten message is seen on the left side of the telegram, which is likely to have been written by Kaiser Wilhelm II, Jung told The Korea Herald. “The Emperor only made notes on very important telegrams. He probably read this one because it was marked secret. The letters, however, are blurry because they were written with a pencil, so it is hard to identify the specific content of the message,” said Jung.

Another telegram sent by Saldern on June 2, 1905, mentions British and U.S. reactions to Japan’s attempts. Bulow, the German prime minister, and Richthofen, the foreign minister, signed on the telegram that they had read it.

“Since a few weeks ago, Japan has been sounding Britain out about establishing a protectorate over Korea and dethroning Gojong to take him to Japan. Britain agreed on it. Japan inquired the U.S. about the same matter. Roosevelt postponed his decision about establishing a protectorate over Korea but criticized the plan to depose Gojong and take him to Japan,” reads the telegram.

“This could be the reason why Japan did not take Gojong. According to the latter part of the telegram, Morgan, U.S. minister in Seoul, said that the U.S. would aggressively intervene in the parts that are related to U.S. interests. This would mean economic interests, such as the establishment of the Hanseong electricity company. The United States probably thought that they would have to redo all the negotiations if Gojong was gone,” said Jung.

Jung said that Japan tried to take Gojong because they knew the Korean Emperor was the biggest obstacle for the annexation of Korea.

“Ever since the Russian legislation withdrew from Seoul immediately after the Russo-Japanese war began, Gojong tried to break away from Japan’s intensified control. He was looking for ways to take refuge in the German or the U.S. legation even before the actual outbreak of the war, so Japan must have searched for ways to get rid of Gojong. Gojong offered stout resistance, so it is likely that Japan later took Crown Prince Yeongchin instead,” said Jung. Yeongchin was taken to Japan in 1907 on the pretext of having the prince study there.

“The findings show that the first steps of Japan’s forced annexation of Korea were already being taken in early 1905. At the same time, we can see how Gojong stubbornly resisted Japan’s attempts, and tried to maintain Korea’s independence,” said Jung.

Not many, however, are aware of Japan’s attempt to remove Emperor Gojong.

“The fact is not yet known in Korea because no information about the matter has been found here and Japan would never leave such documents open. It was a very secret plan in Japan. None of the documents specifically mention who was the main force responsible for the plan, whether it was Ito Hirobumi or someone else, but just refers to ‘the Japanese,’” said Jung. Ito Hirobumi was Japan’s first resident-general in Korea.

However, Japan’s attempt to take Gojong was considered an important matter internationally, judging from the frequency of the telegrams sent by the German envoy.

“The German envoy in Seoul only sent telegrams to his country on very important issues, less than 10 a year,” said Jung.

“Japan probably had various ideas at the moment, and transferring Gojong seemed to have been one of them. Though it was not achieved, it is possible that many foreign ambassadors around the world had the information about the attempt. This shows what a dead-end situation Koreans faced at the time, not knowing Japan’s next action,” said Lee Min-won, head of East Asia History and Culture Research Institute.

“The diplomatic objection of czarist Russia was successful. The reactions coming from different European capitals made Japan give up such unlawful steps. They also had to take into consideration the huge international scandal caused by the killing of Korean Queen Min in 1895 by the Japanese,” said Fendler.

“Today, it is difficult to find out how real the French information received from Tokyo through Belgrade was. The final answer might possibly be found in the Japanese archives, which are difficult to get to,” Fendler said.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)