Comments on: Memorial to Sungnyemun Gate

By: Saving Korea’s Treasures in Times of War | The Marmot's Hole

Saving Korea’s Treasures in Times of War | The Marmot's Hole — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:54:19 +0000

[...] reduced to rubble thanks to the shelling that accompanied the UN siege of the occupied capital, but Sungnyemun Gate and Deoksugung Palace survived relatively [...]

By: Young Jin

Young Jin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:28:24 +0000

they are going to rebuild it… might as well make it out of legos or something because it no longer will have a historic purpose

By: Jasmine

Jasmine — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:54:32 +0000

The stupid guy who burned it just said he is sorry… X( sorry?
I mean c’mon u destroyed a historical treasure, sorry is for 3 seconds of it. He should stay in prison 4 EVEEEEEEEER.
And yeah i read that he has done a simmilar thing to another palace. Well how could the government let go of this guy??
They should make him do all the labour for rebuilding it again..stupid bastard

By: NewYorkTom

NewYorkTom — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:28:01 +0000

Miguknamja

I spent almost twenty years of my life in Korea (I’m 35). I’m not sure if you’re asking this question to decide whether or not I’m not qualified to give my opinion about NDM but if you are…whatever. Maybe I’m just jumping the gun there.

By: cinemagauche

cinemagauche — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:56:39 +0000

So what’s the big deal? A lot of beautiful buildings have shamelessly disappeared over the years - and not from fire. I hope they build a nice officetel in its place. They can call it Namdaetel or Sungnyetel…

By: Baltimoron

Baltimoron — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:11:24 +0000

I take this incident more for a law enforcement problem than a cultural one. When someone wants to turn Manassas Battlefield Park into houses or a theme park, I’m not all that concerned, even though I love the place. If South Gate has outlived its usefulness, then why stand in the way of progress?

But, more importantly, why did the police let off this vandal the first time? And, where were the police when he was doing this act? I’m more concerned for the safety of my house, then for history. If some wacko decides to torch my neighborhood, not once but twice, I’m not going to sue him (he’s insane). I’m suing the police!

By: Curator & Collector » South Korean “National Treasure 1″ Sungnyemun / Namdaemun Gate Torched

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:53:49 +0000

[...] the Korean scene photographically better than Robert Koehler. For his own pre-fire pictures, see here. For his post with news pictures of the aftermath of the destroyed gate, see [...]

By: dda

dda — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:45:37 +0000

And what did I say, oh, a million times, here and in private, about publishing a photo book?

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:58:14 +0000

Not exactly the same situation with NDM…I realize that. But like I said, do we need a “fake” NDM to remind us that we used to have a damn gate there? I also realize that it’s beautiful to blend old and new but once the old burns down, come on… maybe even build another landmark that’s not an eye sore but still has a utility purpose?

If the Koreans had adopted that attitude a long time ago, there’d be very few architectural relics remaining, for wood is not durable like stone.

By: orchid

orchid — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:37:40 +0000

Thanks for the beautiful photos Robert. We thought of visiting Seoul soon and the Namdaemun Gate is certainly a spot to visit. But i am so saddened to hear about the news of the burning. I read that it takes 3 years to restore the gate.