Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Gwanghwamun signboard ― Should it be in Korean or Chinese?
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff reporter
The restoration of Gwanghwamun, the landmark main gate to Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, is almost complete and ready for its grand opening to the public on Aug. 15, Independence Day.
But it hit an unexpected snag just weeks ahead of the much-anticipated unveiling, over whether its signboard should maintain the original Chinese characters or be rewritten in Korean.
The Korean Language Society (KLS) is leading a pack of “hangeul” or Korean alphabet supporters who are demanding for the signboard to be written in Korean as the restored gate is a new cultural property of the 21st century in Korea.
Oh Dong-Chun of the KLS said the tablet should be written in Korean in the “hunminjeongeum” font as a tribute to King Sejong (1418-1450). Hunminjeongeum is the name of the first publication of the Korean language, hangeul, during the King Sejong era.
“It’s absurd to have the signboard of Gwanghwamun in Chinese characters, right behind the statue of King Sejong, the inventor of the Korean language,” Oh said.
Some citizens also pointed out the awkwardness of Chinese characters in a representative cultural heritage of Korea.
“One of the representative images of Beijing, is Tiananmen gate of the Forbidden City, which has a signboard in Chinese characters. Gwanghwamun gate is a symbolic place of Seoul and the tablet should be written in Korean, not Chinese characters,” a blogger nicknamed Letsgo said.
However, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) maintained their stance of restoring Gwanghwamun based on historical research.
Kim Won-ki of the heritage agency said they restored the tablet in Chinese characters based on the handwriting of Im Tae-young, the restoration manager of the gate during the King Gojong era.
“This is restoration of a cultural heritage and we think it is appropriate to restore the gate to its original state if we have historical evidence,” Kim said.
The gate was originally built in the early Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) of 1395, but destroyed during the Japanese invasion in the 16th century. It was restored during the reign of King Gojong in the late 19th century, but the Japanese colonial government moved it closer to the new Japanese General Government building.
Gwanghwamun was again burnt down during the Korean War and President Park Chung-hee restored the ruined upper part, but he did not transfer it to its original position.
The Kim Young-sam administration decided to relocate the gate in its original position in front of Gyeongbok Palace based on historical documents and photos from the King Gojong period and the construction finally started in 2007.
Before the 2007 restoration, the signboard of the gate was in Korean, written by the former President Park.
However, since the restoration is based on Gwanghwamun of the 19th century, the restoration team decided to remove the Korean tablet and reconstruct the Joseon period writing in Chinese characters.
By Kwon Mee-yoo
광화문 현판, 한글? 한자?
서울 한복판에 위치한 경복궁의 정문인 광화문의 복원이 거의 마무리 되어 8월 15일 광복절에 공개될 예정이다. 하지만 공개를 몇 주 앞두고 예상치 못한 문제에 봉착했다. 광화문의 현판이 원래대로 한자여야 하는지 아니면 한글로 다시 적혀야 하는지가 문제다.
한글학회는 21세기에 걸맞게 현판이 한글로 복원되어야 한다는 지지자들을 이끌고 있다. 학회의 오동천씨는 “한글을 개발한 세종대왕 동상 바로 뒤에 한자로 적힌 광화문 현판이 있다는 것은 분명 이상하다”고 말했다. ID가 Letsgo인 한 네티즌은 “중국을 대표하는 자금성의 천안문은 한자로 적혀있죠. 서울을 대표하는 광화문도 한자가 아닌 한글로 적혀야 한다는 겁니다”라고 말했다.
하지만 문화재청은 역사적 사료에 근거해 복원하겠다는 입장을 유지했다. 문화재청의 김원기씨는 고종이 중건 완료시점에 영건 도감제조인 임태영의 필체에 따라 복원을 했다고 전했다. 김씨는 또한 “문화재의 복원은 역사적 기록에 따라 그대로 복원하는 것이 옳다고 생각한다”고 말했다.
광화문은 1395년 조선 초기에 건축됐지만 임진왜란 당시 파괴되었고 19세기 말 복원되었지만 한국전쟁 당시 불타 없어졌고 박정희에 의해 한글 현판으로 일부 복원되었다. 김영상 정부에 의해 추진된 복원사업은 2007년이 되어서야 시작 되었다. 복원은 19세기를 기준으로 하고 있기 때문에 문화재청은 현판 글자를 한글 대신 한자로 정했다.