Deoksugung Palace

This guide to Deoksugung Palace in Seoul opens with the mysterious death of Emperor Gojong within these walls in January 1919, and the rumors of poisoning that spread after witnesses described his body. It follows the crowds who gathered here to mourn him and how his funeral procession helped spark the March First Movement for independence. The palace's mismatched buildings, a Korean throne hall beside a stern gray European facade, stand as Gojong's own attempt to drag his empire into the modern world.