Yulgok-ro

Yulgok-ro is a road where the stone walls of ancient palaces and street trees harmonize. Originally, Changgyeonggung Palace and Jongmyo Shrine were adjacent, but in 1931 during the Japanese colonial period, as part of the policy of cultural erasure, Japan divided Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo and built a road between them, which is Yulgok-ro. Bearing this painful history, Yulgok-ro now exudes a serene atmosphere with its antique stone walls and the street trees lining the road. In Gwanhun-dong, through which this road passes, there was a residence of Yulgok Yi I, a representative Confucian scholar of the Joseon Dynasty, and thus the road was named Yulgok-ro after his pen name. It is a major east-west arterial road spanning 30m in width and 3km in length, running from Dongsipjagak through Ihwa-dong Intersection to Dongdaemun, and boasts excellent aesthetics.