Goyang Byeokjegwan Site

This description was machine-translated from the Korea Tourism Organization's Korean original.

The Byeokjegwan Site in Goyang is the place where Byeokjegwan, a guesthouse of the Joseon period, once stood. Built in the 11th month of 1476 (the 7th year of King Seongjong’s reign), Byeokjegwan was where public lodging facilities for Chinese envoys coming to Korea were located. Situated at a point linking China and Joseon, it played a pivotal role in diplomacy with China at the time. When the then Goyang County Office was damaged by the Imjin War in 1592, it was moved here together with it in 1625 (the 3rd year of King Injo’s reign). During the Japanese colonial period its original form was damaged by the Japanese Government-General of Korea, and Hasegawa, the second Governor-General, illegally took to Japan the Yukgakjeong, an auxiliary building of Byeokjegwan. Buildings and walls were burned during the Korean War, and in the 1960s even the remaining three-gate structure was torn down. Today only some of the stones that once supported the building pillars remain, making it hard to find traces of the past, but its historical significance through battles arising from its geographic location and in the history of Korea–China diplomacy has been recognized, and it was designated a Historic Site in 1965.