Kim Woo-young Gwanggyo Column A Person Suwon Must Remember: Yi Seung-eon (Part 1)

Discovery of Colored Drawing of Hwaseong Haenggung Provides Starting Point for Restoration

Recently, former director of the General Affairs Division of the Suwon Cultural Center Jeon Heung-seop, Chief Editorial Writer of Suwon Ilbo Jeong Jun-seong, and I gathered together. All three of us are members of the Hwaseong Research Institute.

We shared many memories at that gathering. The most significant part consisted of stories from 35 years ago when the restoration of Hwaseong Haenggung was being promoted.

At that time, the determination and wisdom of then-Mayor Shim Jae-deok, myself in my role as publicity director of the Hwaseong Haenggung Restoration Promotion Committee, and Jeon Heung-seop, then director of the General Affairs Division, who worked quietly behind the scenes taking on all the difficult tasks with his full might without being seen publicly—there was no end to such stories. Adding to that the encouragement of Jeong Jun-seong, a senior figure in local media circles, the glasses of draft beer continued to multiply.

Before long, the conversation turned to Yi Seung-eon (April 10, 1945–January 20, 2002).

Jeon Heung-seop, now over 80 years old, stated unequivocally: "While Mayor Shim Jae-deok (then director of the Suwon Cultural Center) was the greatest contributor to the restoration of Hwaseong Haenggung, Yi Seung-eon was another major contributor who provided the initial spark for the restoration."

On April 24, 2024, the "Opening Ceremony for the Restoration of Uhwagwan and Byeoljoo at Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung" was held. It was a significant event that essentially marked the culmination of the haenggung restoration project.

I undeservedly took a seat at the guests' section due to the modest contribution of serving as publicity director of the Hwaseong Haenggung Restoration Promotion Committee.

I was there with promotion committee members Yi Hong-gu, Im Byeong-ho, and Song Chol-ho, and Jeon Heung-seop, then director of the General Affairs Division of the Suwon Cultural Center, who had taken on the practical work and suffered greatly.

And I thought of Mayor Shim Jae-deok, who stood at the forefront of the restoration promotion movement but is no longer with us, Governor Im Sa-bin of Gyeonggi Province, Promotion Committee Chairman Kim Dong-hui, Scholar An Ik-seung, Seojihak specialist Yi Jong-hak, director of the Dokdo Museum, and Yi Seung-eon. They should have been here...

The Hwaseong Haenggung restoration project began in early 1989. Shim Jae-deok, then director of the Suwon Cultural Center, requested that Yi Seung-eon (李承彦, original name Yi Han-ki, then standing editorial committee member of the Siheung County Records), a representative regional historian, collect materials related to Suwon's Hwaseong Haenggung. Yi Seung-eon, a person of persistent determination who would travel anywhere across the country to excavate necessary materials, finally discovered a colored drawing of "Hwaseong Haenggung" at Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, and this picture created a great sensation.

"Director! I finally found it. I discovered the Hwaseong Haenggung drawing at the Kyujanggak."

In late May 1989, Yi Seung-eon visited Director Shim Jae-deok at the Suwon Cultural Center director's office.

"You finally found it!"

Shim Jae-deok, deeply moved, could not continue speaking. He began looking at the Hwaseong Haenggung drawing together with Yi Seung-eon. Since they were viewing a photograph rather than the original, they could not determine the exact size or material of the picture, but on a yellowed background, Hwaseong Haenggung was rendered in colors, and in the upper right corner, "Hwaseong Haenggung Drawing" was written in Korean. Since childhood attending Shinpung Elementary School, he had heard stories about the existence of Hwaseong Haenggung, and although he had seen the woodblock print drawing of Hwaseong Haenggung from the "Records of the Construction of Hwaseong Fortress," he could not contain his emotion at seeing such a clear photograph revealing the existence of Hwaseong Haenggung before his eyes. Shim Jae-deok immediately spoke to Yi Seung-eon and the Suwon Cultural Center family as follows:

"This is the filial lineage of Suwon. Only the restoration of the haenggung is the way to preserve the traditions of filial devotion."

—Kim Jun-hyuk, 2019, "Beautiful Toilet Revolution Mr. Toilet Shim Jae-deok Biography," Shim Jae-deok Memorial Project Association (Icon Publishing), pp. 137–138.

At that moment, there were also Suwon Love editorial committee members including myself. I can still vividly see his proud expression at that time.

With the discovery of the colored drawing of Hwaseong Haenggung, the restoration project began in earnest.

However, Suwon's Hwaseong Haenggung was the foundation of Hwaseong Fortress. Moreover, since it had been demolished by the Japanese colonial authorities, restoration was absolutely necessary from the perspective of recovering national spirit. For making Suwon a tourist city, haenggung restoration was also a necessary project. Therefore, Director Shim requested that Yi Seung-eon collect materials related to Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung, and he accomplished a great task.

With the discovery of the colored drawing of Hwaseong Haenggung, the restoration project began to gain momentum. Following the founding meeting of the Hwaseong Haenggung Restoration Promotion Committee on June 17, 1989, the "Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung Restoration Promotion Committee" was established in October 1989.

The officers elected that day were: Chairman Kim Dong-hui, Vice-Chairmen Hong Ui-seon, An Ik-seung, and Shim Jae-deok, Promotion Headquarters Director Yi Hong-gu, Planning Director Im Byeong-ho, General Affairs Director Song Chol-ho, Historical Materials Compilation Director Yi Seung-eon, Outreach Director Kim Sang-yong, and Publicity Director Kim Woo-young. Members gathered from various sectors including regional elders, cultural and artistic circles, academia, representatives of regional civic organizations, and media.

In the midst of this, when news came that Gyeonggi Province Medical Center Suwon Hospital would be reconstructed at the Hwaseong Haenggung site, the promotion committee was put on alert.

In response, Shim Jae-deok, director of the Suwon Cultural Center, and committee members Kim Dong-hui, An Ik-seung, Yi Jong-hak, and Yi Hong-gu visited Governor Im Sa-bin of Gyeonggi Province at the time. The promotion committee members, who "rushed into" the governor's office without prior notice, demanded that Suwon Medical Center be relocated and rebuilt in order to restore Hwaseong Haenggung.

Even though the design was already complete, Governor Im immediately accepted this suggestion and on the spot called the relevant bureau chief to direct the relocation and new construction. Thus, the restoration project was put on the right track. This is why Suwon citizens must surely remember the name Im Sa-bin along with Shim Jae-deok and Yi Seung-eon. (To be continued)