An Empty Tomb Site Became a Golf Course

After the remains left, this empty tomb site sat vacant for a time before becoming the golf course of the Seoul Country Club from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Key takeaways

After Yugangwon's remains were relocated, the land was developed into a golf course starting in the 1930s, continuing operation through the 1960s. Fact The city of Seoul later received a donation of roughly 120,000 pyeong (about 40 hectares) of this former golf-course land — the site of the old Yugangwon — from the Seoul Country Club, which became the foundation for building Children's Grand Park. Fact

This progression — from a royal memorial tomb, to a golf course used by a privileged few, to a children's park anyone can enter for free — can also be read through the lens of who actually had access to this land at each stage.

What to look for on site

Traces of the old golf course visible in the park's wide, flat terrain
Gentle rolling hills that survive throughout the park
The shift in ownership from royal land to a golf club to public land

Visitor tip

Physical traces of the old golf course's hole layout are mostly buried under today's park facilities and hard to make out. You can only guess at them from the gentle terrain.