On the second day of our weekend in Seoul, our first stop was Gyeongbokgung Palace, the biggest and oldest palace of the Joseon dynasty (~ 1400 - 1900 C.E.)  Imagine that New York City has been the capital of the United States for 600 years; that Central Park was a bit smaller, and was a gated and walled palace with 300 buildings; and finally that just north of Central Park stood the White House and an imposing mountain.  Oops, forgot to mention the part about a neighboring country attacking your new country after 200 years, the palace lying in ruins for the next 300 years, then being rebuilt, only to have the neighboring country attack again and begin dismantling that castle again.  Fast forward another 100 years, Seoul finally rebuilt again, palace being restored, and you are up to date.

This picture was taken in the guest house at the Yun Posun Residence, the only remaining traditional estate of its size and architecture in central Seoul.  Built ca. 1870, the buildings survived both the Japanese occupation and the Korean War.  Five generations of Yun family have lived here since 1910.  In 1945, in the very room pictured above, the first democratic political party in Korea, called Hanmin-Dang, was born.  In the 1960s and 1970s, the guest house became the meeting place for the leaders of the opposition party and a sanctuary for anti-dictatorship pro-democracy fighters, becoming one of the main theaters of Korean politics.