Government-General Museum of Chōsen
The Government-General Museum of Chōsen was a museum in Keijō, Korea, Empire of Japan.
History
The Government-General Museum of Chōsen began as a temporary museum in the East Palace of the former royal palace Gyeongbokgung in 1909. In September 1915, in anticipation of the Chōsen Industrial Exhibition, for the 1915 Chōsen Industrial Exhibition, a permanent facility was constructed for the museum on the former site of Geoncheonggung. 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.The museum established a Gyeongju branch in 1926 and a Buyeo County branch in 1939. Related museums were established in Kaesong in 1931, Pyongyang in 1933, and Gongju in 1940.
The museum did not operate as an independent agency, and the department under which it fell was subject to bureaucratic reorganization.
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. Only 4.5% of the museum's collection was from the Joseon period; 76% was from before that. It had six exhibition halls and operated under the government-general's Bureau of Education.
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. 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. In 1998, the museum building was demolished, after it had come to be viewed as a "symbol of colonialism".