Walking downhill from Myeongdong toward Namdaemun, a heavy stone building emerges among luminous commercial signs. The present Money Museum was originally planned for the late Korean Empire's Bank of Korea. But after Japan formally annexed Korea and reorganized the institution as the Bank of Joseon, the building was completed in 1912 as that colonial bank's headquarters. Separating the original commission from the institution occupying the completed building prevents confusion between an imperial Korean bank and a Japanese colonial central bank.
The Bank of Joseon was more than an ordinary commercial bank
The Bank of Joseon issued currency and controlled finance, serving colonial rule and Japan's expansion onto the Asian continent. Its monumental Western-style stone architecture projected stability and authority, but visitors should also ask whose industry and political power the institution supported. Architectural beauty and an unequal system can coexist in the same place.
Mitsukoshi turned consumption into spectacle
Across the road, an older section of today's Shinsegae Department Store carries the history of Mitsukoshi's Gyeongseong operation. Department stores sorted and displayed goods under one roof and offered elevators, dining facilities, and rooftop attractions as experiences in themselves. Anyone could look at the windows, but only a limited class could actually purchase imported luxury products.
After liberation, the buildings housed a different state and consumer culture
The Bank of Joseon building became the main building of the Bank of Korea and opened as the Money Museum in 2001. The Mitsukoshi building passed through roles including Donghwa Department Store and a US military post exchange during the Korean War before becoming part of Shinsegae. The survival of architecture is not proof that its operating system remained continuous. Exhibition labels help separate institutional, ownership, and functional changes.