Old Korean Legation

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The Old Korean Legation, prominently located on the north side of Logan Circle, was initially a private residence designed by Thomas M. Plowman in the Second Empire style and constructed by Joseph Williams in 1877. Seth Ledyard Phelps, a veteran of the Civil War who also served as a DC Commissioner and Minister to Peru, resided here until 1885, when he passed away.

The United States and Korea established formal diplomatic relations that same decade, in 1882, with Korea sending its first permanent diplomatic envoy, Park Jeong-yang (Pak Chung Yang), to Washington five years later. Korea's presence in a growing, international city furthered its assertion of sovereign status, separate from China. After a short stint at a property that is no longer standing (located at 1513 O Street NW), the Korean Legation moved into the former Phelps Residence in 1889. Korea purchased the property two years later.

During its years of operation, the Korean Legation supported Korean students who enrolled at U.S. universities, including the George Washington University and Howard University in Washington. Additionally, a program for Korean students was established at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, where over 30 Korean students eventually attended, including Korean independence activist Kim Gyu-sik (Kimm Kiusic).

Other important individuals associated with the first diplomatic envoy in the 1880s and the Korean Legation between 1887 and 1905, include: Seo Gwang-beom, who, amongst many other accomplishments, helped document Korean music through wax cylinder recordings that can now be found at the Library of Congress; Seo Jae-Pil (Philip Jaisohn), who was the first Korean immigrant to gain American citizenship and the first Korean immigrant to obtain a medical degree from a U.S. university, and who also organized the first overseas Korean independence movement; and Syngman Rhee, who was also involved in the overseas independence movement and became the Republic of Korea's first president in 1948.

At the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), Korea's sovereignty from China was recognized. However, Korea soon found itself in the middle of Russian and Japanese conflict, which culminated in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Following Japan's victory, a treaty was forced on Korea in 1905, resulting in the closure of the Korean Legation that same year. By 1910, Japan had annexed Korea. That year, a Japanese minister sold the former legation building to a private American citizen. Over the following years, the closed legation inspired independence activists and the wider Korean diaspora.

After serving as a private residence, the building housed the Local 639 (Teamsters Union) headquarters and then served as an office for the National Council of Negro Women. Between 1977 and 2012, it was, once again, a private residence, at which time the Republic of Korea purchased the former legation – 107 years after its closure. From 2015 to 2018, Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration restored the property to its 1889 to 1905 appearance. It is now open as the Old Korean Legation Museum.

The three-story Old Korean Legation, clad in red brick masonry, is located on Logan Circle behind a short iron and steel fence. The primary facade, facing 13th Street NW, includes two projecting bays and a central tower with a pair of oval windows in its steep mansard roof. The tower is the location of the main entrance – a pair of wood and glass paneled doors located at the top of a staircase, just behind the porte-cochère. The south elevation along Logan Circle has a semi-circular projecing bay (and chimney) and double-story porch that is enclosed on the first floor and open on the second. Just north of the building's projecting bay is a small garden, recently completed. Its most prominent feature is a bullomon (a carved stone gate), which symbolizes Korean-American relations.

The building, in line with its Second Empire styling, has window hoods, decorative brackets supporting the cornice, and a mansard roof clad with slate and topped with cast-iron cresting. Both the exterior and interior exhibit details from the era's Eastlake Movement.

The building's metal and granite porte-cochère, accessed by a semicircular driveway from 13th Street, was added by the Korean government in 1891. Due to a street widening, it was demolished in 1950. During the 2015 to 2018 restoration, it was reconstructed – thanks in-part to guidance from an 1893 photograph. The porte-cochère pediment includes a symbol from the Korean flag (Taegeukgi).

DC Inventory: July 25, 2024
Within Logan Circle Historic District and Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District

This site is a part of the Finding Asian American History in Washington DC digital tour.