Seodaemun Prison & History Hall

Seodaemun Prison was built in 1907 for anti-colonial (AKA anti-Japanese occupation) activists and was used for that purpose until 1945 when the Japanese left. The prison was then used by the Korean government till 1987. In 1992 it was dedicated as a history hall and a part of Independence Park. (see blog post here) The first stop on your self-guided tour once entering the compound is the exhibition hall, which gives a brief overview of Korean history as it relates to the jail, mostly anti-colonial activities. There are some relics of the prison, original pieces of wood, an old guard chair, handcuffs, things like that, on display. There is one room in which the the walls are covered with the mugshots of people who (I assume) died in the prison. 

A panaromic of one wall.

Communicating with neighboring
cell mate by tapping.

The next building is the former office center of the jail, which you walk through as it is connected to the cells for better control (that's what the sign said). There are several jail cells open for you to go in and view, though some cells are still 'occupied'. There was one cell in the solitary confinement area that once you walk close a sensor is triggered and a holographic type guy starts screaming. It was a bit startling. There are quite a few things in the jail to give you a touch of the creeps. The torture areas are also recreated, some with a little too life-like mannequins.

You can't see because the bar is blocking it, but
there are fake blood stains on the table.

 Next there were a few ancillary buildings, nothing of note. There was a memorial, then you get to view the execution center. As you can imagine, quite a few people died from the torture or simple privation, but apparently there were numerous others executed. It's a wooden building surrounded by a tall brick wall with what appears to be a judging area, and a noose. The building was built much later, so I assume it used to simply be a gallows within the brick wall. There aren't any details in English, so you just have to guess at how all that came about. Nearby is a what used to be a secret tunnel the Japanese used to remove the bodies from the premises. You can look, but cannot enter.

There is a separate small building that housed the women.  A memorial from the inside:

It was an interesting trip, more so than I expected, and even my daughters must have found it somewhat captivating as there were no complaints of "I'm bored!".

Jail cells with Inwangsan in the background.