A Research Forest Took Root Where a State Funeral Once Stood

After Empress Myeongseong's remains were relocated, this site became Korea's first forestry research station in 1922, and universities and research institutions gradually settled around it, cementing the area's identity as an academic district.

Key takeaways

In 1922, the year Empress Myeongseong's tomb was relocated away, Japan's colonial government established a forestry research station on this site, and Korea's first arboretum was built here. Fact Ongoing forestry experiments and research eventually established it as a research forest managing plant genetic resources both domestic and international. Fact

Around the same period, universities including Kyung Hee University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and the University of Seoul settled in this area, giving Hoegi-dong its dual identity as an academic and educational district. Fact The commercial district in front of Kyung Hee University is said to have developed in earnest starting in the 1980s, following the opening of Hoegi Station and Kyung Hee University Hospital. Fact

What to look for on site

Old research-forest trees inside Hongneung Forest
The research facilities of the National Institute of Forest Science
How closely the forest sits next to the nearby university campuses

Editorial note

It's inaccurate to describe this as "always having been an academic district." Keep the correct order: modern research institutions moved in only after the royal burial ground disappeared.