Background

In early 1895, the Government of Joseon abandoned its long-standing diplomatic policy of sadae. Under sadae, Joseon treated China as its superior in geopolitics. To celebrate this change, the Government of Joseon demolished Yeongeunmun in February 1895, which they had built in 16th century as a symbolic gate for welcoming Chinese diplomats to the country.^[4] And in March 1895, the Joseon Government was formally released from China's sphere of influence with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War.^[3][5][6]

Soh Jaipil proposed the building a new gate near the former site of Yeongeunmun's ruins to symbolize the country's desire for freedom. This plan was approved by King Gojong, and the gate was named Independence Arch (Korean: 독립문).^[5][3][6]

Plan for construction

To support construction of the gate, Soh created the Independence Club and published Korea's first modern newspaper named Tongnip Sinmun. Regular citizens of Joseon donated to the construction of the gate via a public campaign run by the newspaper.^[7] Soh wrote the following in the English edition of that newspaper:

The croakers may croak and the pessimists may growl and the independence of Korea may be treated as a joke by those who can see nothing but the fact that His Majesty is still enjoying the hospitality of the Russian legation but they all argue from their fears and not from either present facts or future probabilities. Today we rejoice in the fact that the King has decided to erect upon the ruins of the arch outside the West Gate, a new one to be entitled Independence Arch. 독립문. We do not know as its inscription will be written in on-mun but we wish it might. For centuries the arch stood there as a constant insult to the autonomy of Korea, an autonomy which China always hastened to assert when called upon to stand responsible for any tremble in the peninsula but which site always denied when it was safe to do so. She denied it once too many times and now her "suzerainty" is where the old arch is, namely op-so. And now an arch is to be raised on the same spot to stand forever as a negation of Manchu dominance to show that Korea is once and for all cut off from the blighting influence of Chinese patronage; cut off, we hope, also from the system of fraud, corruption and trickery which today makes that most populous empire the laughing-stock of the world. This arch means independence not from China alone but from Japan from Russia and from all European powers. …

— Soh Jaipil, Editorial, The Independent, June 20, 1895^[8]

Construction and relocation

The design of Independence Gate was inspired by the design of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. An unknown Swiss architect working for the German legation in Joseon created the blueprint for its construction.^[7] Its construction began in 1896, and finished in January 1898. The construction process was overseen by Korean engineer named Sim Ŭi-sŏk.^[1]

Subsequent history

The Government of South Korea designated it as a historic site of South Korea in 1963. The gate was initially located north of the ruins of Yeongeunmun, but was relocated 70 meters northwest from its original place with Plinths of Yeongeunmun Gate, Seoul, due to construction of a modern city road.^[6][2] It is now located in Seodaemun Independence Park, where Dongnimmun is located, is easily accessed from Exit 4 or 5 of Dongnimmun Station on Seoul Subway Line 3.