10-story stone pagoda in Tapgol Park receives first up-close public viewing in 27 years
Sungkyunkwan University student Yang Seo-yeon points to carvings on the 10-story stone pagoda of Wongak Temple, kept in central Seoul's Tapgol Park, March 13. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
Class wrapping up on a Friday afternoon should have marked the start of the weekend, but Yang Seo-yeon still had something to do. Leaving Sungkyunkwan University, the global economics major rushed to Tapgol Park in Seoul’s Jongno District to guide visitors to the park's iconic 10-story stone pagoda, designated National Treasure No. 2 in 1962.
Yang started off by explaining to the group of visitors why she was introducing this monument, hidden behind 21.5 millimeter thick glass for over a quarter century.
Yang and her peer, Park Gyeong-eun, had been part of S-Global Challenger, an extracurricular program run annually by Sungkyunkwan University that works on problem-solving through overseas exploration. Both were graduates from high schools in the Jongno area, and they formed part of a four-person team called “Yeoksa Jom Ail.”
For their project, the team focused on interpreting the historical significance of Tapgol Park. Yang explained that despite passing Tapgol Park every day while commuting to school, they never felt they really knew it or that it was easy to enter.
Student guides talk about the 10-story stone pagoda of Wongak Temple enclosed behind glass in central Seoul's Tapgol Park, March 13. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
Since the IMF crisis in the 1990s, Tapgol Park has been a central gathering place for older people looking for connection as well as people in poverty since it was frequented by groups offering aid.
Despite not being history majors, the students were keen to make sense of the space. They spent a year studying and devising a plan for sharing their knowledge with others. Besides conducting interviews with professors at their university and researchers at institutions such as the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, they also traveled to Dublin, Ireland, for two weeks of field research.
The March 1st Independence Movement came only weeks after Irish Republicans declared independence from the British, who they saw as an army of occupation.
Besides speaking to Irish experts, Yeoksa Jom Ail visited sites such as Kilmainham Gaol Museum and benchmarked heritage interpretation programs like the kind they experienced in Dublin. Upon returning to Korea, they developed a proposal for a citizen docent program and pitched it to Tapgol Park management. This led to a pilot program in December 2025 that invited participants through the Seoul Senior Welfare Center.
Jongno District Office’s Cultural Heritage Division contacted the Yeoksa Jom Ail team again this year and asked them to lead a series of docent tours as it promotes Tapgol Park’s history and improves the visitor experience. In the first two weeks of March, 18 40-minute sessions were offered with spots for 270 people in total, including 90 reserved for residents of the district.
Jongno, under district head Jeong Mun-heon, is currently promoting an improvement project focused on Tapgol Park, including designating it an alcohol-free zone and relocating the popular games of baduk and janggi to a space in Nagwon Arcade, just next to the park.
With a budget of 100 million won secured through joint national and municipal funding, Jongno District is cooperating with the Korea Heritage Service to develop a plan for the marble pagoda, which was constructed in 1467 as part of Wongak Temple.
The 10-story stone pagoda in central Seoul's Tapgol Park, March 13 / Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
The restoration and relocation of the park’s west gate to its original location is also under consideration. It was demolished and rebuilt 20 meters south by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 1983.
There is still debate about whether the pagoda's enclosure should be permanently removed and how religion, preservation and public access can be balanced.
Although the pagoda survives in its original location, it has not escaped harm. The three top stories were pulled down by the Japanese during the Imjin War in the 1590s. They remained next to the main body of the pagoda until February 1946, when an American naval officer who was trained as an archaeologist helped secure a military crane to hoist it back into position. Lower tiers were also vandalized after the fence around the pagoda was removed by colonial authorities when metal resources were requisitioned during the Pacific War. Barriers were not replaced until 1948, through a donation by a citizen named Lee Jung-hwa.
The present enclosure was installed in the late 1990s, and was meant to protect the marble pagoda from environmental damage including pigeon droppings, acid rain and pollution. During construction, a fire blackened and charred some sections.
Trading a microphone back and forth, Yang and Park shed light on the park’s heritage. Starting with Samil Gate, the main entrance, they described the effects of an urban redevelopment project on Tapgol’s perimeter and the relocation of the old main gate to Seoul Hyoje Elementary School in Daehangno.
The group then moved on to the statue of Son Byeong-hui, part of the independence movement, and a stele erected in 1471 to record the story of Wongak Temple’s construction. At each stop, mover visitors joined the group, applauding the students.
People hang out beneath a statue of Son Byeong-hui in central Seoul's Tapgol Park, March 13. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
The program culminated with the pagoda. Entering the enclosure requires climbing down a ladder. Once face-to-face with the relic, there are endless details to absorb that aren't visible when trying to peer through the reflective, foggy glass of the modern enclosure.
Yang highlighted the elaborate carvings, from five-clawed dragons to scenes of the Buddha preaching at Vulture Peak. Her words helped to transform the images, blended into the masses of stone, into a record of ancient beliefs and authority. By the time the group stepped back out into the park, the pagoda had become easier to read, but harder to overlook.
The 10-story stone pagoda in central Seoul's Tapgol Park, March 13 / Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
Jack Greenberg works as a consultant, researcher and freelance writer. His current focus is on heritage and conservation issues, historical memory debates, truth-seeking and reconciliation, and civilian massacres of the 1950-53 Korean War. He was the recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship and earned a master’s in international studies at Korea University. He is also an alum of McGill University in Canada.