Independence Hall in Cheonan

As Daniel and I are trying to make the most of our remaining months here, in the midst of his busy work schedule, we are trying to make Saturday trips a couple times a month! Earlier in March, we visited the Independence Hall of Korea, which is in Cheonan-si, about a 45-minute drive from our place. (A side note to help some of you picture our location- imagine Pyeongtaek is Berne, Asan would be Geneva, and Cheonan would basically be Portland. Asan is where we go grocery shopping sometimes and where there is a folk village that mom loved to take pictures at.) Daniel, at this point, has come to realize and enjoy the fact that he married a history geek, which is why this place has been on our list to check out. (What is great about Korea is that most museums are free, you just have to pay for really cheap parking.)

Once we arrived at the Independence Hall, there is a long strip to walk until you reach the Hall itself, and the six exhibition halls behind it. These halls span through the start of mankind, according to Korean historians, and ends soon after Korea was finally able to gain freedom from Japan in the mid-1900s! Daniel and I had fun guessing which of the wax figures would be the scariest and be in control of the rest at midnight when they woke up due to a magical tablet. (Think Night at the Museum, just in Korea!) A couple of the neat historical pieces that we were able to see was the Declaration of Independence from March 1, 1919! This is a day that is celebrated in Korea, just like we celebrate on July 4th. Back in the 1919, it was filled with shouting protests and Koreans everywhere chanting, “Long Live Korean Independence!”

The land that the Independence Halls resides on has quite the history itself! The grounds used to hold a King’s palace, but when the Japanese came again in the early 1900s, it was destroyed by them. But, decades later, the Koreans tore down the Japanese Government General Building, which you can still see the remains of, and built a wonderfully large hall portraying their freedom and independence from Japan.

As I am doing more research for later posts, I will cover the aspect of March 1, 1919, from the perspective of some of the leaders of the protests. I have a couple bigger research projects going on the side that I am continuing to work on, but one includes the history of Christianity and missionaries in Korea and the upbringing and education of children in Korea!