This area is Madusan Hill within Hamchunwon Garden. The red-brick building on top is Daehan Hospital. Isn’t it truly beautiful? People might assume such brick buildings were for foreigners, but it was built in 1907 during the Daehan Empire era by King Gojong, the 26th king ofJoseon. Under King Sunjong's order, the 27th king of the Joseon, it opened as a modern national clinic, like today's national hospitals. While the main building appears substantial now, originally, it housed seven wards, an anatomy room, and a medical school, making it a grand medical institution.

Daehan Hospital wasn't Joseon's first Western-style hospital. As mentioned earlier, King Gojong supported the establishment of a clinic center called Jejungwon in 1885. During the mid-19th century, Kim Okgyun, a key figure in the Enlightenment movement and the initiator of the Gapsin Coup, founded the radical Enlightenment party called ‘Gaehwadang.' In 1884, just a year before the construction of Jejungwon Clinic Center, the Gaehwadang initiated the Gapsin Coup, resulting in casualties and injuries.

During the Enlightenment era of Joseon, Min Youngik, a member of the moderate Enlightenment party, was stabbed several times and faced a dangerous situation. With medical care from Allen, a missionary and doctor, Min Youngik narrowly avoided death. King Gojong, deeply interested in Western culture, followed Allen's counsel and set up a Western-style hospital on land once owned by Hong Youngsik, a notable figure in late Joseon's Enlightenment movement and a key participant in the Gapsin Coup. This hospital was first named Gwanghyewon and later became Jejungwon.

But because of the ongoing chaos, Jejungwon Clinic Center couldn't function properly. It ended up becoming a clinic affiliated with the medical school set up by foreign missionaries, and it continued its role.

In such circumstances, King Gojong unified the national hospital, Gwangjewon, the medical school and its affiliated hospitals, and the Korean Red Cross Hospital for the impoverished in 1907. This led to the establishment of Daehan Hospital, a modern state-operated hospital aimed at fostering medical progress through the incorporation of Western knowledge. Following King Sunjong's order in 1908, Daehan Hospital commenced its operations, symbolizing our country's advancements in the medical domain.

Unfortunately, the history of Daehan Hospital didn't last long. In 1910, our sovereignty was taken away by Japan, which was really a truly tragic event.

Afterward, Daehan Hospital was renamed the Japanese Colonial Government Hospital of Joseon, and its medical school transformed from being an affiliated medical training institute under the Japanese Colonial Government Hospital of Joseon to becoming the Kyungsung Medical School. Subsequently, the Japanese Colonial Government Hospital became an affiliated hospital of Kyungsung Medical School, eventually merging with Kyungsung Imperial University's Medical Department, forming what is now Seoul National University College of Medicine.

The journey might have been complicated, but in the end, Daehan Hospital of the Daehan Empire evolved into what is now Seoul National University Hospital in modern-day South Korea. It's remarkable how an institution established under a king's order continues to thrive even after a century. The flow of history is truly remarkable; don't you think?