Chungmuro is not a name continuously used since the Joseon dynasty. The old road was known as Jingogae, or Nihyeon. As Japanese settlement and commerce expanded after Korea opened its ports, it became Bonjeong-tong under colonial rule, called Honmachi in Japanese. The name represented a commercial center dominated by Japanese residents in colonial Gyeongseong, as Seoul was then called.
Jingogae was a name that remembered the terrain
Several explanations exist for the exact origin of Jingogae, but it was an old everyday name reflecting the hill and the condition of the ground. As roads widened and modern infrastructure such as drainage and electric lighting arrived, the character of the winding, narrow road changed dramatically.
Japanese-style neighborhood names were replaced in 1946
After liberation, the Seoul government reorganized Japanese-style place-names, including Bonjeong, in October 1946. The new name Chungmuro came from Chungmugong, the posthumous title honoring Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Korea's celebrated 16th-century naval commander. The nearby location of Geoncheon-dong, where Yi was born, further strengthened this historical connection.
A hero's name did not erase the colonial space
The new name was an attempt to restore the history and identity of a liberated city. Yet commercial structures, buildings, and road networks formed during the Honmachi period remained after the name changed. Walking Chungmuro means seeing both the memory of Yi Sun-sin and the way a colonial center acquired a different public symbol after liberation.