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| Current white and black signboard of the Gwanghwamun Gate / Yonhap |
Cultural Heritage Administration to strengthen earthquake safety
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The three characters of "Gwang Hwa Mun" on the namesake main signboard at the main gate of Gyeongbok Palace, one of Korea's main architectural icons, will have a newly restored black-and-gold signboard, more faithful to its original colors.
The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) confirmed Tuesday an old photo from the late 19th century proved the original signboard has a black background and gold letters.
The history of the Gwanghwamun gate goes back to 1395, soon after the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom was established and the capital moved here. The original gate burned down during the 1592-98 Japanese invasion. King Gojong reconstructed it in 1867 and the wooden structure was destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Former President Park Chung-hee rebuilt the wooden structure with concrete and wrote the signboard in Korean, until the gate went through a major restoration project from 2006 to 2010. The gate's original signboard was also restored in black characters against a white background.
However, the discovery of an old photo of Gwanghwamun, presumed to be taken before 1893, in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of National History suggested the original has a darker background.
The CHA experimented with various color combinations and consulted experts to confirm the original signboard in the photo was gold on black.
The newly restored signboard will be installed in the first half of 2019.
The CHA also vowed to set up better disaster prevention measures for cultural heritage sites.
"We will establish a five-year plan for disaster prevention, which includes measures such as hiring experts, conducting more drills and employing state-of-the-art technology such as IoT," CHA director general Kim Jong-jin said.
As more powerful earthquakes hit Korea, the CHA is prioritizing the region of Pohang and Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province which have both been struck by earthquakes in recent years.
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