The colonial period was a painful time for Korea. Under control of Japan, Korea was forced to accept harsh bureacratic rule and capitalist trade and industrialization. Farmers were forced to export their products like rice to Japan, and other citizens were forced to work in the factories of Japan. Japanese officials instated "Japanisation" policies that attempted to obliterate Korean culture from mind and memory. Newspapers and books written in Korean were banned, and the introduction of Japanese modern architecture was used as a direct method to destroy national history and culture.The population of Seoul, now the home for Japanese government officials, military personel, and public officials, had risen to 1 million. During this time of resource exploitation, the rise in commerce and manufacturing displaced rural villages and led to mass migration into Seoul, whose name was changed to Kyongsong. Korea gained independence in 1945.
Japanese officials constructed numerous new buildings, mostly
to house the new government structures that were representative of their
colonial victory. The central government building, Choongang Chung, was
constructed directly in front of Kyongbok-kung Palace, which was the first
palace of the Yi Dynasty (the dynasty that founded Seoul).
Kyongbok-kung was burned in the Japanese invasion of 1592, and rebuilt in 1868.