Seodaemun Prison History Hall

A harrowing and grisly reminder of Korea under Japanese occupation can be found at Seodeamun Prison. Watchtowers, cells and execution rooms are all preserved complete with graphic dioramas depicting the torture of prisoners.

It is not for the weak-hearted.

But what a visit does do is help convey the extent of Japanese brutality while they were masters of the peninsular from 1910 – 1945. The brutality may not match that of which Nazi Germany metered out in her occupied territories but there was brutality none-the-less.

Some 40,000 people passed through the prison in the years of its operation and perhaps 400 died at the hands of the guards.

Starting the tour in the video and exhibition rooms, background information is provided about its establishment and the spirit of the Korean independence fighters who were incarcerated here. But a great deal of the explanations are devoid of English translations (until the second floor at least). Which makes a tour by an English speaking guide a much more fulfilling experience. And personal.

The second floor gives way to the national resistance room and more history of the prison including the glorification of a fighter who attempted to assassinate the Japanese governor.

Armed with this knowledge the tour continues into the basement of the building, to the temporary detention and torture rooms. The recreation of the torture scenes using animatronics is quite simply: graphic and gory. Speakers concealed about the rooms emit noises of the prisoners screaming in pain.

The most unsettling part however is yet to come, the visit to the execution and torture buildings. Both of which are still intact and preserved.

The original execution building has been standing since 1923. Peer inside to see where the prisoner would sit to go to their death.

Upon coming out of the execution area view the corpse removal tunnel that extends for meters into the earth. Here the guards dumped the bodies in what has now been covered by large apartment block structures.

It’s all rather designed to extract an emotional response from the visitor. And rightly so - bad things happened here. The Korean people still carry the scars of those things that took place.

A visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left him speechless. Visits by Japanese tourists leaves them re-educated. And a visit by you should leave some kind of lasting impression.

With the help of an English speaking guide Seodaeum prison is a must see site in Seoul, unfortunately not for the good things, but the bad things that happened here.

Getting there: By subway Line No.3 (Orange line) until Dongnimmun station. Exit 5.
Adults 1,500won