Hello, my name is Mingwan. Today, I would like to talk about the history of Gwanghwamun.

Gwanghwamun is the gate of the Geongbokgung Palace, which is located in Seoul. Gwanghwamun was built in 1395, when Geongbokgung Palace was built by King Taejo, the first king of the Joseon Empire. After that, Geongbokgung was used as the main palace for centuries. However, the terrible Japanese invasion of 1592 occurred. Japanese soldiers armed with muskets marched into Seoul after just three weeks from landing on Busan. Soon, almost all of the palaces, including the Geongbokgung Palace, were burned by the Japanese. The main gate, Gwanghwamun, was also not safe from the fire. A long time later, Heungseon Daewongun rebuilt the palace in the late 1800s. Then, in 1910, Joseon became Japan¡¯s colony. As a result, they built a government building in front of Geongbokgung and moved Gwanghwamun Gate to the east. Then, in the 1950s, Gwanghwamun was damaged in the Korean War. However, luckily, it was rebuilt later.

I think that the history of Gwanghwamun Gate is interesting. I want to visit Geongbokgung Palace again later.