Unhyeongung

The modest and plain natural-wood design of this minor palace reflects the austere tastes of Heungseon Daewongun (1820–98), King Gojong’s stern and conservative father, whose policies included massacring Korean Catholics, excluding foreigners from Korea, closing Confucian schools and rebuilding Gyeongbokgung. Gojong was born and raised here until 1863 when he ascended the throne aged 12 with his father acting as regent. Rooms are furnished and mannequins display the dress styles of the time, giving some idea of how people here used to live. As was the custom, women were hidden away in their own separate quarters. An hour-long re-enactment of the marriage of King Gojong to Queen Min is held here every year, where the actual event took place in 1867 when he was 15 and she 16.