Seoul International City: Korea¿s Modernization and its Entanglement with Global Empire

The opening of Asia to the world is a conversation that often heavily revolves around China and Japan, as both countries were military coerced by Western powers into facilitating trade. Increased exchanges with the West saw the dissemination and propagation of new architectural and infrastructural forms, as well as technologies and ideas. Nowhere in Asia were these influences more relevant than Korea, known as Joseon, that had experienced a sudden and violent “opening” at the hands of Japan. Joseon is often overlooked in discussions of Asia’s colonization, particularly in regard to Western influence. Its annexation by the Japanese Empire obfuscates the crucial role that Western powers played in influencing the political climate in Asia, rendering Joseon an inevitable colony. This thesis explores the ways in which Korea’s entanglement with colonial powers manifests in the infrastructure and architecture of Seoul, with both Korean and foreign agents working to internationalize the city for their own designs. These relationships, emerging well in advance of Korea’s annexation, continued to shape Seoul through the twentieth century, with their remains serving as important pedagogical tools for the South Korean state.