Deoksu Palace’s Jungmyeongjeon Hall in Seoul will be reopened to the public later this week.
 
The hall was the site of the 1905 Korea-Japan Treaty, in which Japan forcibly deprived Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty and later colonized it.
 
The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Wednesday that the hall will be reopened on Saturday to mark the 120th anniversary of the proclamation of the Korean Empire.

Remodeling of the hall had been carried out since August of last year and was based on blueprints dating back to the early 20th century.
 
Exhibitions inside the hall have been divided into four themes: Deoksu Palace and Jungmyeongjeon Hall, the site of the 1905 treaty, the Korean Empire and the empire’s special envoys.
 
The exhibitions have mobilized various visual materials to help visitors easily understand how the treaty came to be signed and how Emperor Gojong sought to restore national sovereignty.
 
The Jungmyeongjeon Hall will be open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day of the week except Mondays.