A Comparative Historical Review of the Location of the Government-General Building

In colonial cities, the dual structure of the space of the ruling nation and the space of the ruled nation appears. The contrast between the two was a spatial device to indicate the superiority of colonial power and the asymmetry of the relationship. It was common for colonial power institutions to be located in the space of the ruling nation, which must demonstrate the superiority and legitimacy of the empire as a core space of colonial rule. The Japanese Government-General of Korea decided to establish Gyeongbokgung Palace as the location of the new building. This was an unusual example of moving out of the dominant ethnic residence to the dominated ethnic residence. Looking at the relocation of major public institutions, the location of the Governor-General and public institution officials, and the position on ‘mixed residence’ in the housing site development process, it seems that the Governor-General intended to be a certain degree of mixed residence. It was difficult to say that the actual mixed residence was achieved, but the degree of separation of residence was relatively weak. Rather than the Governor-General’s intention to be a mixed residence in which the Japanese interacted with the Koreans and lived, it can be seen that the obsession with the separation of residence was weak. This differed clearly from other colonies in that it was impossible to demonstrate the superiority of the dominant ethnic space through clear separation of residence. In other words, showing off the prestige of the colonial authority and the modernity of the dominant ethnic residence were connected to each other in other colonial cities and performed in the same space, but not in Gyeongseong.