By Xu Aiying and Kim Young Shin
Photos = Jeon Han

As this year marks the 73rd anniversary of the formal start of Korea’s independence movement and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean government, many cultural events are being hosted across the country to commemorate and to celebrate Korean independence.

From Aug. 13 to 19, the Korean Empire Gallery at the National Museum of Korea will have on display the oldest national flag of Korea, the O.N. Denny Taegeukgi, registered as cultural heritage item No. 382. The flag, 263-cm long and 180-cm high, was presented by Gojong (고종, 高宗) (1852-1919) of the Daehan Empire to his U.S. diplomatic advisor O.N. Denny (1838-1900) when Denny was expelled from his position and had to return to the U.S. in 1890.

In the special exhibition, there are also early versions of the national flag owned by U.S. missionary William Arthur Noble (1866-1945) and an issue of the French daily Le Petit Journal published in 1900 that introduces the Korean Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle.



The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs invited the offspring of independence patriots living overseas to come to Korea from Aug. 13 to 18. Forty-three descendants from six countries, including the U.S. and mainland China, will visit historical places, such as the Seoul National Cemetery, the Seodaemun Prison History Hall, the Independence Hall of Korea, the Unification Bell and the Demilitarized Zone.

The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History is hosting a “history concert” on Aug. 15, Liberation Day. Songs of independence and songs sung inside the jail, discovered by the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, will be played there.

The special exhibition “The Country of Which They all Dreamed” will be at the museum until Dec. 2. It reviews the three years between liberation in 1945 and the establishment of the Korean government in 1948.

The Seodaemun Prison History Hall, which commemorates the countless independence fighters who were tortured by colonial authorities at the prison, is hosting the 2018 Seodaemun Independence Democracy Festival on Aug. 14 and 15.

Finally, the Korea Forest Service, too, is hosting a nation-wide festival until Aug. 15 to celebrate the national flower, the mugunghwa hibiscus.

xuaiy@korea.kr