Korea's First Piano

Gwanghwamun Gate (광화문; 光化門), Seoul, around 1890s

King Gojong (고종; 高宗) of the Joseon Dynasty,
Later the Gwangmu Emperor (광무제; 光武帝) of the Korean Empire

The date as to when the piano was first imported to Korea is yet to be found; however, a newspaper article that records the first two pianos ever imported to Korea survives.

Traditional Korea, isolated and suspicious towards westerners, was only exposed to European culture in the late 19th century, and Korean royal family was usually the first to receive cultural artifacts from Europe. Therefore not surprisingly, the two pianos mentioned in the article belonged to King Gojong.

The article, published by Maeil Sinbo (매일신보; 每日申報) in January 26th, 1918, is as follows:

"[왕세자 전하께서는] 음악에 취미가 특별히 깊으시와 이번 경성에 건너오신 뒤에도 태왕 전하께서 그 말을 들으시고 왕세자 전하의 어리셨을 때에 가지고 노시던 피아노 두 채 를 함녕전으로부터 석조전에 옮기게 하시고 그동안 병이 난(고장 난) 것을 악기 점원이 밤을 새워가면서 급히 고쳐서…."

Trans: "[The Crown Prince] was very deeply involved with music; hence during his visit to Seoul, Your Majesty heard the news and ordered two pianos once toyed by the Crown Prince to be moved from Hamnyeongjeon to Seokjojeon, while an instrument clerk spent a night quickly repairing ill parts of pianos caused by long storage..."

(Note: Hamnyeongjeon and Seokjojeon are buildings located at Deoksugung Palace, Seoul)

Since the Crown Prince Yeongchinwang (영친왕; 英親王) was forced to study in Tokyo in 1907, the article suggests that the pianos were imported at least before 1907.


King Gojong later donated one of the pianos to a church located in Pyongyang. But Korea split up into North and South Korea shortly after its independence from Japanese rule in August 15th, 1945, and the piano fell under North Korea's possession.

In 1990s, North Korea sold some of its historic artifacts, including this piano, to the Chinese after experiencing a devastating femine. South Korea, in order to protect these cultural artifacts, recovered and imported them safely back to South Korea in 1997. However, the piano is still not released to the eyes of public as of today.

A mystery in history is always fascinating. I am very curious as to how the piano looks like.