Scholar explores deep history of Seoul's Donam-dong

The poster for Suk Ji-hoon's upcoming Royal Asiatic Society Korea lecture / Courtesy of RAS Korea

Northeastern Seoul's Donam-dong of Seongbuk District is a typical Korean neighborhood. The area primarily consists of apartment complexes and various types of older housing, along with a few schools, including a women's university. Initially situated outside of Seoul, it was located not far from Hyehwamun Gate.

During the 1910–45 Japanese occupation, it housed a ranch owned by Hirayama Masazu, a Japanese Catholic. The area became the site of a massive complex of traditional Korean houses, or "hanok," in the 1930s.

"There isn't much left physically, other than the roads and the basic terrain of the area," scholar Suk Ji-hoon told The Korea Times. "But the reason why the Donam-dong area has a strong Catholic presence is actually quite connected to the Hirayama Ranch."

Suk will give a lecture for the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea on Tuesday, titled "Dairy Farm, Catholic Film Epic, and Hanoks: The Life and Times of Hirayama Masazu and the history of Donam-dong: a tribute to the late Peter Bartholomew."

Hirayama Masazu stands out as a fascinating figure for Suk: "ostensibly a dairy farm owner and the biggest producer of cheese in colonial Korea, Hirayama was also a restaurateur, Catholic apologist, philanthropist, film producer and a spy," he described in an online invitation to the lecture.

When asked for more details on Hirayama's espionage history, Suk remained a little vague, wishing instead to save it for the lecture.

"His Catholic faith allowed him to visit some parts of the area that was in the middle of international conflicts at that time, which I will elaborate on in my lecture," he said.

Suk plans to screen excerpts from the 1931 epic film "The 26 Martyrs of Japan," which had been filmed partly at the ranch belonging to Hirayama, who was the film's sole producer, according to Suk, having invested a large amount of his money in its making. It is a silent film that tells the story of the 1597 martyrdom of 26 Catholic priests and laymen in Japan.

Suk Ji-hoon / Courtesy of Suk Ji-hoon

The lecture is also dedicated to the late Peter Bartholomew, a former president of RAS Korea who lived in a hanok in the area. Bartholomew, who had first arrived in Korea in 1968, was known as an ardent advocate for traditional Korean architecture.

He never met Hirayama, who died in 1948, but Suk says he has uncovered a surprising connection between the two foreign men. He remained vague about what exactly that is.

"Obviously, the two figures wouldn't have had personal connections, but the place Peter lived actually does connect with this whole history, and I think I uncovered something quite interesting, which I would indeed reveal at the very end of the lecture," Suk said. "I think Peter would have loved this."

Suk said he first met Bartholomew in 2013 through RAS Korea, and the two of them "hit it off" due to their similar interests.

"I was invited quite often to his home, and we had a lot of conversations about his life. I went through quite a bit of books and photos that he had, and I occasionally played some old records on my portable gramophone at his garden while sipping some coffee that he made for me out of his kitchen. We also frequently talked on the phone," Suk said.

Bartholomew died at his home in May 2021.

"I met him on the street two or three days before he died," Suk shared. "He called me on the phone later that day, and I didn't pick it up — I still wish I had returned his phone call one last time."

Suk is pursuing a doctorate at Yonsei University. He has lectured three previous times for RAS Korea, having spoken about the early history of recordings of Korean music, the earliest filmed images of Korea and an Underwood family excursion in 1931 to Mount Paektu at the northernmost border of Korea. He recently co-wrote a book about scratch tiles. Known for his thorough knowledge, he frequently astounds Korean studies experts twice his age.

"You can't kick a rock in downtown Seoul without Ji-hoon stopping and giving you a detailed but fascinating lecture on the rock's back story," one commenter remarked.

The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday on the fifth floor of the FastFive building near Seoul City Hall. Entry costs 10,000 won, or 5,000 won for students, and is free for RAS Korea members. Visit raskb.com for more information.