Table 1 Key issues and contemporary implications for the conservation and removal controversy of the old general government building

Types Key issues Details Contemporary implications
Symbolic Symbolic location

Located at the center of symbolic street (Sejong-daero) in Seoul

Feng shui controversy

Understand the importance of the symbolic landscapes
Discoveries and responses of new historical facts

Propulsion of the restoration of Gyeongbok palace (the late 1980s)

Controversy over the structure and decoration of the building

The 600th Anniversary of Seoul's Capital (1994) and the 50th anniversary of the national liberation (1995)

Changes in value criteria as a result of changes of historical research and consciousness

Reaction and intervention of a related country

Japan's history distortion

Anti-Japanese sentiment in response to Japan's criticism to demolish the Japanese general government building in Seoul

Need to analyze international situations and coordinate opinions between stakeholders
Functional Financial conditions

Costs of demoliton or relocation

Costs of building the national museum of Korea

Need alternatives of the construction, management and operating costs
Function and usage of the landscape

Availability as a museum for the history of Japanese invaders

Preservation and relocation of cultural assets according to the transfer of museum

Give appropriate new functionality and prevent functional vacancy
Changes of urban, historical and architectural policies

Removal of buildings constructed in Japanese occupation period

Securing the site of the museum according to the relocation plan of the U.S. 8th Army in Yongsan

Reflect changes in national policies