Interest in Korean heritage tourism and local history content has been rising steadily on Korean online communities, with museum field trip posts gaining traction as a niche but dedicated genre. The exhibition's relatable framing โ showing that Joseon bureaucracy looked a lot like modern government paperwork โ is sparking amused recognition among Korean netizens.
A Korean history enthusiast recently shared a detailed field trip report from the Seoul Museum of History's special exhibition called *'Hanseongbu-imnida'* ("This is Hanseongbu") โ and it's a fascinating deep dive into the bureaucratic machinery that ran Seoul long before it was called Seoul. The post is getting attention online for showing just how surprisingly modern Joseon-era city administration actually was.
Hanseongbu was the official governing body of the capital during the Joseon Dynasty (1392โ1897) โ essentially the ancestor of today's Seoul Metropolitan Government. The exhibition walks visitors through how the city was divided into five administrative districts (called *obu*) plus an outer zone extending about 10 *ri* (roughly 4km) beyond the city walls, a system of urban governance that actually traces its roots all the way back to the Goguryeo Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms era.
One of the most eye-catching parts of the exhibition? The *hopae* โ Joseon-era ID cards. Yes, people in the 1600s and 1700s carried government-issued identification tags, and several are on display here. The blogger noted one name on a hopae that stood out as unusually quirky even by modern standards.
Then there are the property documents, which feel shockingly familiar. A 1897 *gagyae* (official property deed issued by Hanseongbu) records the sale of an 8.5-*kan* tiled-roof house for 2,100 *nyang*, complete with the buyer, seller, broker, guarantor, and an official government seal โ basically a modern real estate contract. Even wilder: another 1897 deed records a foreigner named **Brinkmeyer** purchasing a 47-*kan* house for 9,500 *nyang*. The blogger's reaction: "Who even is Brinkmeyer?" Foreigners buying property in late Joseon Seoul โ that's a whole story waiting to be told.
The exhibition also displays *junhogus* โ household registration certificates โ including one issued to **Shin Pil-hwi**, a *sangseon* (head eunuch) of the royal court. His rank was *jong 2-pum* (Senior 2nd Grade), equivalent to a modern Deputy Minister. The blogger's note: "Don't mess with a eunuch who outranks most of the government."
The organizational chart of Hanseongbu is also on display, and the blogger helpfully maps it to modern equivalents: the *Panyun* (top official) = Mayor of Seoul, *Jwayun* and *Uyun* = Deputy Mayors for Policy and Administration, and so on down the chain. The first person to hold the top post was Seok Seong-rin; the last, before the office was dissolved, was Jang Heon-sik โ the 2,209th person to hold the title.
Outside the museum, the blogger also stopped to photograph the **Dongsibjagak** โ a lone watchtower turret from Gyeongbokgung Palace that now sits stranded like an island in the middle of a busy road. It was originally connected to the palace walls, but Japanese colonial-era demolitions severed it from the rest of the complex, and it's been isolated ever since. The blogger's wistful comment: "When will it ever be reconnected to the walls again..."
If you're into Korean history, urban planning, or just love seeing how bureaucracy has basically never changed across 600 years, both the Seoul Museum of History and the Seoul Museum of Craft Art are well worth a visit.