By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
It has been one year since Sungnyemun, Seoul's 600-year-old landmark gate listed as National Treasure No.1, was destroyed by fire.
With the scars of ruined national pride deeply inscribed in the hearts of Koreans, all efforts are under way to reconstruct the dismantled gate to its near-original shape.
A gigantic metal wall and temporary installations now surround the site.
To mark the one year since the collapse of the gate following an arson attack, the site will be open to the public Feb. 10 to raise awareness of the importance of cultural heritage.
The Cultural Heritage Administration said restoration of the gate will be undertaken in three phases.
The first phase of preserving the fire-stricken site was completed last May.
Now, the second phase of investigation, excavation and design is underway. Digging will resume soon to discover the exact location of walls, roads and ponds that used to surround the gate in the past.
A design is expected to be finished in November and the third phase of reconstruction will begin around January next year for completion in 2012.
The government will spend about 25 billion won on the reconstruction project.
``We'll try to restore it to the original shape as much as it was before the fire and also reconstruct the broken parts of the stone building supporting the wooden structures and the side walls of the gate tower which were destroyed during the Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War,'' Kim Chang-jun, team manager of the restoration project, said.
The administration has secured pine timber for the reconstruction.
Some 10 trees more than 70 centimeters in diameter were cut down in Samcheok, Gangwon Province. The 100-year-old lumber will be dried in the storeroom of Gyeongbok Palace for two years.
Also, an additional 167 pine logs will be provided from personal donators around the country.
A wooden tablet hanging on the gate written in Chinese characters survived the fire that destroyed all other wooden parts of the structure.
The tablet, 230 centimeters in height and 106 kilograms in weight, is undergoing restoration at the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. In the process, the institute discovered it sustained scratches on its edges with 38 sections requiring repair.
Also, the institute said that as the writing style was different from that of the late Joseon Kingdom, it is trying to recreate the original text. The restoration of the table will be finished around March.
On the tablet was written ``Sungnyemun'' by Yangnyeongdaegun (1394-1462), King Taejong's (1367-1422) first son and the elder brother of King Sejong the Great.
The tablet has a unique pattern, which is vertically written, and was believed to have been designed to counter the fiery spirit from Mt. Gwanak in southern Seoul. When King Taejo (1335-1408) constructed the capital city, he believed that fire would reach Gyeongbok Palace as well as the capital city as it faced Mt. Gwanak, which was shaped like the flames of a fire, according to feng-shui (the theory of divination based on topographical principles).
Meanwhile, some 3,000 pieces collected from the site were also moved to the storeroom of Gyeongbok Palace for measurement and preservation.
However, the most difficult task is whether the stone bases of the fire-ravaged structure should be dismantled. The stone structure didn't sustain any external damage but absorbed some water while emergency crews extinguished the fire rendering them too weak to support the upper wooden parts.
The administration said that any decision will depend on safety test results, which will be released in April.
Sungnyemun, made of wood and stone with a two-tiered, pagoda-shaped tiled roof, was the oldest wooden structure still standing in Seoul. It was designated as National Treasure No. 1 in 1962. Construction of the gate started in 1395 during the reign of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) and was completed in 1398.
Sungnyemun, which means ``gate of respecting propriety,'' was the southern gate of the original walls surrounding Seoul during the kingdom.
The structure was rebuilt in 1447 in accordance with the theory of divination, based on topography, and underwent major repairs in 1479. The gate also underwent extensive restoration from 1961 through 1963 to repair damage inflicted during the Korean War.
Since then, the gate has undergone minor repairs several times, but the basic frame has been maintained. The national treasure was surrounded with a lawn in 2005 and opened to the public in March 2006.
On Feb. 10, the ruined site will open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Anyone can visit the site on the day.
To arouse the public awareness, the National Palace Museum of Korea will hold an exhibition ``Sungnyemun ― Memory, Regret and Tomorrow'' through March 8.
The exhibition will display photographs and paintings of the gate and the excavated relics from the site.