Tapgol Park (), formerly Pagoda Park, is a public park located at 99
Jongno,
Jongno District,
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, South Korea. It is in area.
The park was previously known as Pagoda Park until May 28, 1992.
It is served by
Jongno 3-ga Station on Lines
1,
3 and
5 of the
Seoul Subway.
Description
This park was once the site of the 15th-century Buddhist temple Wongaksa. The word ''tap'' means "
pagoda", and the park gets its name from the
Wongaksa Pagoda, a 10 storied stone pagoda (
National Treasure No.2
) located in the park.
It did not become a park until 1897, when it was organized as a garden via the proposal of
John McLeavy Brown, an Irish advisor to King
Gojong.
One of the monuments in the park is the Monument of Wongaksa built in 1471 to record the founding of Wongaksa (temple) in 1465.
On the front is an inscription composed by Kim Suon with the calligraphy done by Seong Im. On the back is found an inscription composed by Seo Geo Jeong with the calligraphy done by Jeong Nam Jong.
The
turtle shaped base is constructed from granite and the body is cut from marble. The monument measures 1.3 meters/4.3 feet wide and stands 4.9 meters/16.2 feet in height. Two elaborately carved intertwined dragons rising toward the sky holding a Buddhist gem reside on the top of the monument.
Tapgol Park is historically important as the site of the origin of the
March First Movement 1919, an important part of the
Korean independence movement
The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence a ...
as the first location for the reading of the Proclamation of Independence.
There are a number of
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
statues representing Korean national heroes, as well as a monument to independence movement.
Appearance in K -Drama
The park is also briefly featured in
Squid Game Season 2 episode 1 “''Bread and Lottery.”'' In the scene, the recruiter passes out lottery tickets and bread to the homeless there before stamping down the remaining bread. This contrasts the ideals of the Proclamation of Independence against the lived reality of modern day Korea.
Gallery
File:Tapgol park March 01 1919 Independence Movement.jpg, Ten bas-relief to commemorate March 1, 1919 Independence Movement
File:Entrance to Tapgol Park.jpg, Entrance, center writing says "3 1 Door" where "3 1" refers to the March 1st 1919 Independence Movement
File:Korea-Seoul-Tapgol Park Wongaksa Monument 0091&2-06.jpg, Monument to Wongaksa
File:Topgol 190913, cropped.jpg, Monument to the Korean Declaration of Independence
The Korean Declaration of Independence () is the statement adopted by the 33 Korean representatives meeting at Taehwagwan, the restaurant located in what is now Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul on March 1, 1919, four months after the end of World ...
See also
*
Seodaemun Independence Park
*
List of parks in Seoul
References
{{Seoul parks
Jongno District
Parks in Seoul
Historic Sites of South Korea
March First Movement