The historic Deoksugung Palace was not originally a royal palace. It was originally the home of Prince Wolsan (1454-1488), the older brother of King Seongjong, but the palace burned down during the Japanese invasions of 1592 and it began to be used as a temporary palace in 1593. King Seonjo fled to Uiju, returned to Hanyang, and stayed at Deoksugung Palace. Gwanghaegun, who succeeded King Seonjo, ascended to the throne at this temporary palace in 1608, renamed it Gyeongungung in 1611, and used it as the royal palace for seven years. He then moved it to Changdeokgung Palace in 1615, imprisoning Queen Inmok, the second wife of the previous king, King Seonjo. In 1618, the title of Lady Inmok was abolished, and Gyeongungung Palace was lowered to Seogung. In 1623, King Gwanghaegun was dethroned due to the Injo Rebellion, and King Injo took his reign here at Jeukjodang and moved it to Changdeokgung Palace. It was used as a separate palace for 270 years. In 1897, when Emperor Gojong returned from his official residence in Russia, this place was used again as the royal palace. From then on, it was called Gyeongungung Palace again and its size was expanded again. And after Emperor Gojong abdicated to King Sunjong in 1907 and moved the royal palace to Changdeokgung Palace, he stayed here. From then on, it was called Deoksugung Palace to pray for Emperor Gojong's long life. For this reason, some have argued that the original name, Gyeongungung Palace, should be used these days. There were many buildings in Deoksugung Palace in the past, but the ones that remain within the 18,635 pyeong grounds are Daehanmun Gate, Junghwajeon, Gwangmyeongmun Gate, Seogeodang, Junmyeongdang, and Jeukjodang. , Hamnyeongjeon, Deokhongjeon, and Seokjojeon. Deoksugung Palace is particularly famous for the fact that the unfortunate Emperor Gojong at the end of the Joseon Dynasty was forced to abdicate under pressure from Japan and lived out the rest of his life until he was poisoned by the Japanese and died in Hamnyeongjeon of Deoksugung Palace on January 22, 1919, which was the direct impetus for the March 1st Independence Movement. This is where it was.
* Daehanmun - Daehanmun is currently the main gate of Deoksugung Palace. The original name of this gate was Daeanmun (大安門), and it was the eastern gate of the palace. Daeanmun Gate was rebuilt in 1906 and was named ‘Daehanmun Gate’. The text on the plaque was written by Nam Jeong-cheol, who served as Panyun of Hanseongbu at the time.
* Gwangmyeongmun - This gate is the main gate of Hamnyeongjeon, the king's quarters, and was rebuilt in the same year after being burned down in a big fire in the 8th year of King Gwangmu's reign (1904). When Seokjojeon was opened as an art museum in 1938, the temple bell of Heungcheonsa Temple in Jeongdong and the Jagyeoknu Pavilion in Changdeokgung Palace were moved to their current location.
* Seokjojeon - Received foreign envoys during the Korean Empire. This is where it was done. It is a stone building that began in the 4th year of King Gwangmu's reign (1900) and was completed in the 3rd year of Yonghui's reign (1909), and was the last large-scale building built in the Joseon Dynasty. The exterior of the building follows the neoclassical style that was popular in Europe in the early 19th century, with the upper part of the pillars on the front being treated in the Ionic style and the interior decorated in the Rococo style. It has three floors in total. The first floor was used as a meeting place, the semi-basement floor was used as a waiting area for attendants, and the emperor lived on the second floor. After liberation, it was used as a meeting hall for the US-Soviet Joint Committee, the National Museum, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the royal relics exhibition hall.
* Hamnyeongjeon - Hamnyeongjeon, designated as a treasure, was built in 1897 and was the residence of Emperor Gojong. It was destroyed by a fire in 1904, but was restored in the same year and still stands today. Emperor Gojong died in Hamnyeongjeon on January 21, 1919. Afterwards, furniture, calligraphy, paintings, and utensils used at the time were placed in this empty space to recreate the palace life of about 100 years ago.
* Junghwajeon - This is the main hall of the Korean Empire, where you can get a glimpse of the confidence of Gojong (高宗, 1852-1919, reigned 1863-1907), the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty, in building a modern nation. In particular, if you look at the canopy right above the throne in the main hall, you can see a pair of dragons. This is the same pattern as the dragon on the ceiling of the main hall, showing that Deoksugung Palace was the imperial palace of the emperor of the Korean Empire. The Junghwajeon that remains today was built as a two-story building in 1902, but was destroyed by fire in 1904 and rebuilt as a single-story building in 1906.
* Jungmyeongjeon - Jungmyeongjeon was designed by Russian architect Seredin Sabatin. This is the imperial library built from 1897 to 1901. It is a Western-style building with two floors above ground and one floor underground, and was initially called Suokheon (漱玉軒). After restoration in December 2009, it has been open to the public as an exhibition hall ('The place where the fate of the Korean Empire was decided, Deoksugung Jungmyeongjeon') since August 2010.
* In addition, Seogeodang, Junmyeongdang, Jeukjodang, Jeonggwanheon, There are Deokhongjeon Hall, Borugak Jagyeonggnu Pavilion, etc.