Today, I visited Gyeongun Palace, which is also known as Deoksu Palace. It is a place where King Gojong lived in the last years of the Joseon Dynasty. Against my expection, the palace had many beautiful buldings, such as Jeonggwanheon, a Gojong' s coffee place, and Seokjojeon, the only western building built in a palace. It also had a unique garden with a fountain and grasses. Therefore, the palace seemed to be the most gorgeous one among the five palaces in Seoul to me. Consequently, I felt greatly proud at first.

         However, while wandering around the palace, I felt  strangely upset. I began to feel angry at Japanese people when I learned that the name "Deoksu" is not the real name of the palace. The name had been made by them, not Koreans. At first, I could not understand the fact that foreigners could change the name of our palace. That seemed quite unfair to me. 

         Then, I spotted Hamnyeongjeon, the king' s sleeping place. At first, I thought that the building would not have anything related to foreign cultures since Gojong was not fond of tolerating them being spread to his people. I had heard that he didn' t even let his son be cured by a foreign doctor. Therefore, I was quite surprised to see chandeliers and Russian traditional patterns on the ceiling. It seemed a little awkward :he shouldn't have let those stuffs in his bedroom if he really wanted his people to conserve Korean traditions. Actually, they weren' t even supposed to be there. I felt both confused and resentful of Gojong.

         I think Gyeongun Palace had to overcome several difficulties because Joseon was too weak. I truly wish it could had been much more stronger. If it were, we could have conserved more of our cultures. I hope Korea can become a powerful country from now on and conserve our culture.