The afternoon began with a visit to another palace, Changdeokgung. Built as a sort of vacation home for the rulers who set up their primary residence in Gyeongbukgung, the buildings were closer together, interspersed by trails that hugged a rolling landscape of trees and grass. In the often cramped confines of Seoul, it was easy to see how the palace became the kings' retreat of choice, and was often the primary residence for rulers. Sadly, much of the palace was destroyed during the Japanese occupation, leaving only about a third of the original buildings intact.
At one point in the tour, we passed by what looked like a greenhouse on the other side of the palace wall, within Changdeokgung's property but set apart from the trails. I asked Sang In about it, who in turned asked one of the guides who stand at various places throughout the property to ask questions. He returned with a somber expression on his face.
"What I heard was a tragedy," he explained. "There was once a great residence there, where the queen lived, filled with beauty. Upon the invasion, the Japanese wanted to show their power by destroying it and turning it into a zoo." Sang In had visited the zoo as a child before Korean restoration efforts removed it, not realizing the former glory of the land he had stood on. While much of the Korean hostility towards the Japanese has faded, it's not difficult to understand frustration over the still-lingering aftermath of the occupation.
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