Naeja-dong and Naesu-dong, immediately south of it, sound as if their names came from one office or a common abbreviation. They did not. Naeja-dong preserves the memory of Naejasi, which supplied palace provisions and textiles and supported banquets. Naesu-dong preserves Naesusa, which managed property held by the royal house. Walking the two together reveals that palace expenditure did not emerge from one undifferentiated treasury: state administration and private royal wealth were distinct and sometimes contested.
Naejasi in Naeja-dong was a supply office under the state finance ministry
Naejasi provided rice, flour, liquor, fermented sauces, oil, honey, vegetables, and fruit to the palace and handled duties related to weaving and royal banquets. It was a subordinate office of Hojo, the Joseon ministry responsible for taxation and finance, with officials, ledgers, procurement procedures, and storage. Court meals, clothing, and festivities depended on production, tribute, market purchase, inspection, and transport outside palace walls.
Naesusa in Naesu-dong administered the royal house's private assets
Naesusa managed land, enslaved people, grain, textiles, miscellaneous goods, and income belonging directly to the royal family. Because it functioned as a private royal treasury rather than ordinary public finance, officials repeatedly criticized its expansion and practices. The abolition of its register of enslaved people in 1801 did not immediately abolish the office itself; it continued through later institutional change.
Walking adjoining neighborhoods reveals the boundary between public supply and private wealth
Schools, shops, and offices now occupy Naeja-dong, while large residential and commercial buildings dominate much of Naesu-dong. Little of either office's full layout remains visible. Walk from the Naejasi site to the Naesusa marker while considering their distances from Gyeongbokgung, the government quarter behind the main avenue, storehouses, and markets. A commemorative marker identifies a historical point; it may not define the exact outer boundary of an entire office complex.