Seoul City Wall (Heunginjimun Gate - Heunginjimun Gate) & getting there | Seoul, South Korea

Seoul City Wall Hike - Heunginjimun Gate Trail

(Heunginjimun Gate -> Gwanghuimun Gate -> Jangchung Gymasium)

Heunginjimun Gate 흥인지문
서울특별시 종로구 종로 288 (종로6가) | 288, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

24 hrs

Free

Dongdaemun Station (line 1/4, exit 6/7). 1 min walk.

Note: Remains of the Seoul City Wall on this trail only available at Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Gwanghuimun Gate.

seoulcitywall.seoul.go.kr

The Heunginjimun Gate Trail covers from Heunginjimun Gate (also known as Dongdaemun Gate) to Gwanghuimun Gate to Jangchung Gymnasium in a relatively short 1.8km.

However, there are only two small remaining sections of the wall on this trail, one at Dongdaemun Design Plaza and another at Gwanghuimun Gate.

The rest of the trail does not have the physical Seoul City Wall and cuts through traffic and residential areas.

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Heunginjimun refers to 'East Gate' (Dongdaemun) of the wall. The current Heunginjimun was rebuilt in the sixth year during the reign of Emperor Gojong (1869).

According to topography of Seoul, the western part of the city is built on higher ground whereas the eastern part is on low ground. From the military perspective, Dongdaemun on the eastern side was most vulnerable to attacks as such subsidiary walls were built outside Dongdaemun.

In 1907, the walls on the right and left sides of the gate were demolished.

The ground level of the area between Site of Ogansumun Floodgate (@Cheonggyecheon Stream) and Igansumun Floodgate (@Dongdaemun Design Palza) was the lowest in Seoul.

The runoff from the four inner mountains flowed down outside the wall through these floodgates.

Igansumun Floodgate which was unearthed has been almost entirely preserved in its original form, but there are no remaining traces of Ogansumun Floodgate.

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Gwanghuimun Gate is located southeast of Seoul City Wall.

Part of the gate was destroyed during the Japanese colonial period and in the 1960’s, during a street expansion project, the remaining part was dismantled.

Then, in 1975, the gate was rebuilt at the current location, some 15m south of its original position.

The wall disappears altogether in the residential area around Janchung-dong next to Gwanghuimun Gate.

In 1930, when the Oriental Development Company (established by Imperial Japan) developed this area for housing, some parts of this section of the wall were damaged.

Years later, during the 1960s and ’70s, the construction of houses damaged the wall further.

Map

Map of Seoul City Wall | Seoul, South Korea

Seoul City Wall Hiking Course Map (Heunginjimun Gate Trail) from Heunginjimun Gate to Gwanghuimun Gate | Seoul, South Korea

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