[Seoul = Text and Photos by Lee Daily Kang Gyeong-rok, Travel Correspondent] Gangbuk Samsung Hospital on Saemunan-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Passing the emergency room and walking between the hospital buildings, a two-story Western-style house comes into view. This is “Gyeonggyo-jang.” It is the place where Baekbeom Kim Gu, who returned to his homeland after 27 years in exile, breathed his last, and it served as a base of operations for key figures of the Provisional Government immediately after Liberation. Amid the noise of the hospital and the footsteps of passersby, this house alone remains quiet, as if time has stood still. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Kim Gu’s birth and the 81st anniversary of Liberation. To commemorate these milestones, I walked the path of his final journey, from Gyeonggyo-jang to Hyochang Park and the Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Hall.

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◇The Provisional Government’s Final Headquarters, Preserved in the Heart of the Hospital
Gyeonggyo-jang is a three-minute walk from Exit 4 of Seodaemun Station on Subway Line 5. Originally built in 1938 by a gold miner as a Western-style mansion, it was first named “Jukcheom-jang.” After liberation, Kim Gu made it his residence and renamed it Gyeonggyo-jang after the nearby bridge. From November 1945, when Kim Gu took up residence, until June 1949, this site served as the final headquarters of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea upon its return to the homeland. At that time, meetings of the State Council were held here, and officials from the U.S. Military Government, as well as domestic and international figures, frequently visited. Although the building is only two stories tall, the weight of history it holds is by no means light.

Passing through the entrance hall leads to the reception room and the VIP dining room; climbing the stairs takes you to Kim Gu’s office and bedroom. It is a modest space, considering it was where the tumultuous modern history of Korea was discussed. Looking closely at the expressions of the figures in the old photographs hanging on the walls, one is struck anew by the weight of history this small space has borne. The window of the second-floor study features a reenactment of the bullet marks from the time of Kim Gu’s assassination on June 26, 1949. On that day, Army Second Lieutenant Ahn Du-hee shot Kim Gu in this very room. It was less than four years after Korea’s liberation. Although Ahn Du-hee was arrested at the scene immediately after the incident, he was subsequently released and had his sentence reduced multiple times; the controversy surrounding those behind the assassination remains an unresolved mystery of modern history to this day.
Kim Gu entered Gyeonggyo Hall on November 23, 1945—the 100th day after liberation. It marked his return to Korea after 27 years of living in exile in China—having moved between Shanghai, Hangzhou, Changsha, and Chongqing while working alongside the Provisional Government since 1919. However, he had to return in a personal capacity rather than as an official representative of the Provisional Government, and a division line had already been drawn across his homeland. Determined to prevent the establishment of separate governments in the South and the North, he traveled as far as Pyongyang in 1948 to discuss the formation of a unified government, but he was unable to achieve his goal. The following year, he passed away at Gyeonggyo-jang. In the homeland to which he had returned after 27 years of wandering, the time granted to him amounted to less than four years.

◇Comrades Who Returned First, and the One Unfilled Spot
Leaving Gyeonggyo-jang and taking public transportation for 20 to 30 minutes brings you to “Hyochang Park” in Yongsan. Unlike Gyeonggyo-jang, which is surrounded by hospital buildings, this place is a forest with trees and walking paths. Originally known as Hyochangwon, it was the site of tombs for royal family members, including Crown Prince Munhyo, the son of King Jeongjo; however, after the royal tombs were relocated during the Japanese colonial period, a burial ground for independence activists was established here following liberation. The Japanese colonial authorities had even built a golf course and an amusement park here, undermining the dignity of the royal burial ground; yet the fact that it became a final resting place for independence activists after liberation imbues the history of this space with a certain irony.
One of the initiatives Kim Gu urgently pursued after liberation was to repatriate the remains of his comrades who had passed away before him. In 1946, the remains of the three patriots—Lee Bong-chang, Yoon Bong-gil, and Baek Jeong-gi—were returned from Japan and China. Lee Bong-chang was executed in Tokyo after throwing a grenade at the Japanese emperor; Yoon Bong-gil was captured and died following the Hongkou Park attack in Shanghai; and Baek Jeong-gi died a martyr’s death in prison while waging an anti-Japanese struggle in China. None of the three lived to see liberation. It is said that when their remains were repatriated, Kim Gu personally served as chairman of the funeral committee and ensured they were honored with a ceremony equivalent to a state funeral.

There are four burial mounds in the Three Martyrs’ Cemetery. Three of them hold the remains of the three martyrs, while the fourth is a symbolic grave for Martyr Ahn Jung-geun. Since the remains of Martyr Ahn, who died for his country in the Lüshun Prison in 1910, have not yet been found, the space left empty for his future return remains as it is to this day. Eighty-one years have passed since liberation, yet this burial mound remains empty. The government and academic circles are still conducting excavation surveys near Lüshun, but have yet to yield any concrete results. Visitors tend to pause particularly long in front of this empty mound.
Following the path through the cemetery leads to the graves of key figures of the Provisional Government—Lee Dong-nyeong, Cha Ri-seok, and Jo Seong-hwan—and a short walk further brings one to the grave of Kim Gu. Kim Gu, who had laid his comrades to rest in Hyochang Park in 1946, was himself buried here three years later. The grave is remarkably simple, consisting only of a low mound and a few stone artifacts. Instead of elaborate decorations, only a few pine trees surround the grave, giving the impression that it mirrors the frugality he championed during his lifetime. On the walking path directly below the grave, everyday scenes unfold as residents stroll and children play, allowing history and the present to naturally overlap in a single space.

◇150th Anniversary of His Birth: “My Wish” in the Spotlight Once Again
Coming down from the Hyochang Park Cemetery, you’ll find the “Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Hall.” The permanent exhibition traces Kim Gu’s life from his days as the young Kim Chang-am, born in Haeju, Hwanghae Province, through his involvement in the Donghak Peasant Movement and the Righteous Army, to his roles in the Provisional Government, the Korean Patriotic Corps, and the Korean Liberation Army, and finally to his life after returning to Korea. As you walk through the exhibition halls, the story unfolds chronologically, showing how the young man who joined the Donghak Peasant Movement spent over twenty years safeguarding the Provisional Government and preparing for independence. It takes between 1 hour and 30 minutes and 2 hours to tour the area from the Three Martyrs’ Cemetery, through Kim Gu’s tomb, to the memorial hall.
His pen name, “Baekbeom” (白凡), combines the terms for “baekjeong”—the lowest social class—and “beombu,” meaning an ordinary person. This reflected his conviction that everyone, regardless of social status or class, should be a master of their own country. In “My Wish,” at the end of *Baekbeom’s Diary*, the nation he dreamed of is vividly captured. It was not a nation that overwhelmed others with military or economic power, but one that brought happiness to its people through the power of a rich culture. What he desired was not the “strongest nation,” but the “most beautiful nation.”

This year, marking the 150th anniversary of Kim Gu’s birth, is also designated as a UNESCO Commemorative Year. At Gyeonggyo-jang, the special exhibition “Baekbeom Kim Gu: Becoming a Global Treasure,” organized by the Cultural Heritage Administration and the Seoul Museum of History, will run through the 30th. The exhibition highlights Kim Gu’s journey after his return to Korea, including his settlement at Gyeonggyo-jang where he wrote *My Wish*, and his participation in the 1948 North-South Joint Conference in Pyongyang to prevent the division of the country. Visitors can view this exhibition as part of their tour of Gyeonggyo-jang without having to visit a separate exhibition hall. Admission is free.
The Cheonan Independence Hall is also hosting a special exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of Kim Gu’s birth, titled “Baekbeom’s Thoughts and Vision: Illuminating the Whole World,” from the 15th through December 13. After completing your tour in Seoul, extending your journey to Cheonan as part of a separate itinerary will help you gain a more complete understanding of Kim Gu’s life.
◇ Travel Notes
△ Recommended Itinerary = Gyeonggyo-jang (30–40 minutes) → Hyochang Park (1 hour–1 hour 30 minutes) → Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Hall (30–40 minutes); total duration: approximately 3 hours 30 minutes