Government-General Museum of Chōsen

The Government-General Museum of Chōsen began as a temporary museum in the East Palace of the former royal palace Gyeongbokgung in 1909.{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=132}} In September 1915,{{Sfn|Cultural Heritage Administration|2020|p=273}} in anticipation of the Chōsen Industrial Exhibition,for the 1915 Chōsen Industrial Exhibition,{{cite journal |title=Structuring Hierarchies: Archaeological and Museum Projects of the Government-General of Korea and its Colonial Legacy |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/37055/1/8%20%20Lina%20Shinhwa%20Koo.pdf |journal=The SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research |publisher=SOAS |volume=14 (2020-21) |pages=90–112 |author-last=Koo |author-first=Lina Shinhwa}}{{rp|96}} a permanent facility was constructed for the museum on the former site of Geoncheonggung.{{Sfn|Cultural Heritage Administration|2020|p=273}} After the building was used for the exhibition, the museum moved into the building and opened to the public on December 1 of that year.{{Sfn|Cultural Heritage Administration|2020|p=273}}{{Sfn|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022|p=118}}{{cite web |title=History: 1945~1954 |url=https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/content/history_1945 |access-date=26 October 2023 |publisher=National Museum of Korea}}

The museum established a Gyeongju branch in 1926 and a Buyeo County branch in 1939. Related museums (although not explicitly branches) were established in Kaesong in 1931, Pyongyang in 1933, and Gongju in 1940.{{Sfn|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022|p=119}}

The museum did not operate as an independent agency, and the department under which it fell was subject to bureaucratic reorganization.{{cite web |url=https://www.museum.go.kr/modern-history/info_museum.do |script-title=ko:문서소개 |language=ko |publisher=National Museum of Korea |access-date=26 October 2023}}

The museum and Japanese Korean studies research in general have been described as intentionally focused on Korea's ancient history, in order to portray Korea as old and Japan as modern.{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=132}}{{Sfn|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022|p=118}} Only 4.5% of the museum's collection was from the Joseon period; 76% was from before that.{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=132}} It had six exhibition halls and operated under the government-general's Bureau of Education.{{Sfn|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022|p=119}}

After the 1945 liberation, the museum was seized by the United States Army Military Government in Korea and reorganized into the National Museum of Korea.{{Sfn|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022|p=119}}{{rp|106}} That museum opened on 3 December 1945. The Government-General Museum's former building was used by an art institution until 1987. From 1897 until 1995, it was used as a traditional crafts museum.{{Sfn|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022|p=118}} In 1998, the museum building was demolished, after it had come to be viewed as a "symbol of colonialism".{{cite web |url=https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/content/history_1996 |title=History: 1996~2004 |publisher=National Museum of Korea |access-date=26 October 2023}}

• {{nihongo|Bulletin of the Government-General Museum of Chōsen|朝鮮總督府博物館報}}, 1926–{{rp|105}}{{cite web |url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/AN00374777 |script-title=ja:朝鮮總督府博物館報 |trans-title=Bulletin of the Government-General Museum of Chosen |language=ja |publisher=National Institute of Informatics |access-date=26 October 2023}}
• {{nihongo|Museum Exhibits Illustrated|博物館陳列品圖鑑}}, 1918–1943 (17 volumes){{rp|105}}{{cite web |url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA82474656 |script-title=ja:博物舘陳列品圖鑑 |trans-title=Museum Exhibits Illustrated |language=ja |publisher=National Institute of Informatics |access-date=26 October 2023}}

Official postcard of 1915 Choson Industrial Exhibition.jpg|Postcard of the 1915 Chōsen Industrial Exhibition

Exposition de Séoul de 1915 - 11 - Bâtiment des Beaux-arts.jpg|The museum building in 1915

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• Karafuto Agency Museum

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |url=https://www.cha.go.kr/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do?nttId=84545&bbsId=BBSMSTR_1021&pageIndex=2&pageUnit=10&searchCnd=tc&searchWrd=%ea%b2%bd%eb%b3%b5%ea%b6%81&ctgryLrcls=&ctgryMdcls=&ctgrySmcls=&ntcStartDt=&ntcEndDt=&searchUseYn=Y&mn=NS_03_08_01 |date=December 2020 |publisher=Cultural Heritage Administration Royal Palaces and Tombs Center |language=ko |script-title=ko:경복궁 2차: 복원기본계획 조정용역 |trans-title=Gyeongbokgung No. 2: Basic Restoration Plan |ref={{SfnRef|Cultural Heritage Administration|2020}}}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://history.seoul.go.kr/archive/ebook/view.do?bookguid=35886086-BA41-4591-B22B-933D86F9DF3A |title= |date=October 30, 2022 |publisher=Seoul Historiography Institute |isbn=9791160711462 |volume=1. 궁궐의 훼철과 박람회 |language=ko |script-title=ko:이미지로 읽는 근대 서울 |trans-title=Reading Modern Seoul Through Images |ref={{SfnRef|Seoul Historiography Institute|2022}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Shin |first=Michael |url=https://www.routledge.com/Korean-National-Identity-under-Japanese-Colonial-Rule-Yi-Gwangsu-and-the-March-First-Movement-of-1919/Shin/p/book/9780367438654 |title=Korean National Identity under Japanese Colonial Rule: Yi Gwangsu and the March First Movement of 1919 |date= |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=9780367438654 |edition=1st |language=en}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Government-General Museum of Chosen}}

Category:Museums in Seoul

Category:Museums established in 1915

Category:Museums disestablished in 1945

Category:1945 disestablishments in Korea

Category:Museums in Korea under Japanese rule

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1915

Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1998

Category:Demolished buildings and structures in South Korea

Category:1915 establishments in Korea

Category:Keijō

Category:Decolonization of Korea

Category:History of Gyeongbokgung

Category:Government-General of Chōsen