Poseokjeong Pavilion Site

All that remains of Poseokjeong is a groove: a shallow channel of cut granite, about ten metres round, shaped in a looping outline that resembles an abalone shell, set into the ground under trees at the foot of Namsan. Water was led into it, and the Silla court played a drinking game along it - a cup floated round the loop, and whoever it stopped beside had to compose a verse or drink. The pavilion that stood over it is long gone. The site carries a heavier association as well: it is where King Gyeongae was surprised at a banquet in 927 during the collapse of the kingdom, and Korean writers have used it ever since as shorthand for a court amusing itself while the state failed. Today it is a small free enclosure with the channel, a stone marker and some old trees. Recent research suggests the channel may date from earlier than long assumed. Ten minutes covers it.

What you actually see

• The stone channel - the abalone-shaped groove in the ground.
• The wooded enclosure - old trees around the site.
• The marker - the account of the game and the 927 banquet.
• The Namsan foot - trailheads for the hill above.

When to go

April to June and September to November. It is free and open, quiet on weekdays, and takes minutes.

Honest expectations

There is one carved channel and nothing else - no pavilion, no building, no water running. Visitors expecting a garden are surprised by how small it is.

Nearby

Oreung is close; the Namsan Buddhist trails start nearby.