Japanese General Government Building, Seoul

Japanese General Government Building, Seoul
The building in 1929
Korean name
Hangul	조선총독부 청사
Hanja	朝鮮總督府廳舍
Revised Romanization	Joseon-chongdokbu Cheongsa
McCune–Reischauer	Chosŏn-ch'ongdokpu Ch'ŏngsa
Alternative name
Hangul	조선총독부 건물
Hanja	朝鮮總督府建物
Revised Romanization	Joseon-chongdokbu Geonmul
McCune–Reischauer	Chosŏn-ch'ongdokpu Kŏnmul

The Government-General Building (1916-26), also known internationally as the "Seoul Capitol", was the chief administrative building in Keijo (English: Seoul) during Japanese rule in Korea and the seat of the Governor-General of Korea from 1926 until 1945. After independence the neoclassical building was the scene of numerous important events for the South Korean government, housing first the South Korean National Assembly, and later the National Museum of South Korea. As it was long felt to be a symbol of Japanese imperialism, and it impeded reconstruction of the Gyeongbokgung complex landmarks, it was demolished during 1995 to 1996.

After the Korean Empire lost its sovereignty to Japan in 1910, Keijo (English: Seoul) was made the colonial capital of Colonial Korea. It was decided in 1911 to erect a building in Seoul to house the new colonial administration — the Government-General Building.

The Government-General Building was deliberately constructed inside the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the former Korean imperial palace, to obstruct the view of Gyeongbokgung from central Seoul and to legimitize Japanese colonial occupation and rule, and all but 10 of the 400 palace buildings were demolished; further demolitions were prevented only by a campaign by Japanese intellectual Muneyoshi Yanagi.

The Neoclassical style Government-General Building was designed by German architect Georg De Lalande, and was completed in 1926. The new structure was a grey granite building with a copperplate dome. Architect De Lalande, who had lived in Japan since 1901 and had designed numerous administrative buildings there, died in 1914 and was succeeded on the project by Japanese architect Nomura Ichiro. Construction began on June 25, 1916 and the structure was officially opened ten years later.