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Trail of National Humiliation

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Plate marking the trail (2025)

The Trail of National Humiliation (Korean: 국치길) is a trail in Seoul, South Korea, that connects various sites related to the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period in Korea.[1] The trail began to be constructed in 2017 and was completed on August 28, 2019.[1]

The trail is 1.7 km (1.1 mi) long,[1][2] and is marked with ㄱ-shaped (short for 기억; lit. memory) plates on the ground indicating the direction of the trail.[2] It also is decorated with yellow butterflies, symbolizing hope.[3] It goes around the base of the mountain Namsan.[4] It starts at Namsan Yejang Park (남산예장공원), near exit 1 of Myeong-dong station.[2] The trail passes, in this order: a memorial to comfort women, the former site of the Japanese Residency-General of Korea Building (where the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was signed[1][5]), the former site of a Government-General of Chōsen building, the former site of Nogi Shrine, the site of a former memorial to Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the former site of Keijō Shrine, the entrance sign to the former Hanyang Park, and finally the former site of Chōsen Shrine.[2]

The day after the trail opened was August 29: the anniversary of Korea's annexation. The Seoul Metropolitan Government held a group tour on that day, with descendents of Korean independence activists in attendance.[1][6] A 2023 article claimed the path was relatively unpopular with locals; some of the sites are on private property of several schools[5][3] and some of the signage was described as inadequate.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e 고, 현실 (2019-08-28). 남산 자락에 '국치길' 1.7㎞ 조성…국권상실 역사 돌아본다 | 연합뉴스. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2019-08-28. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  2. ^ a b c d 조, 수봉 (2021-03-03). 어두웠던 역사를 간직한 '국치(國恥)길'을 아시나요?. opengov.seoul.go.kr (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  3. ^ a b c 김, 세훈 (2023-03-03). [르포]3·1절 이튿날 찾아가 본 국치길···역사 현장에서도 지워지는 일제강점기 치욕사. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  4. ^ Lim, Sun-young (2017-06-19). "Tourist paths map colonial history". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  5. ^ a b 국치·경제침탈·고종의 길 등 아픔 기억하자…서울 다크투어 주목. Newsis (in Korean). 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2025-01-10 – via The Chosun Ilbo.
  6. ^ 남산 자락에 '국치길' 1.7㎞ 조성…국권상실 역사 돌아본다. The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). 2019-08-28. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
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