Once a colonial-era structure, Seoul Station has today been transformed into a symbolic exit sanctuary for global tourists, a place where foreign visitors consume Korean culture before departure, turning memory into merchandise. This striking transformation reflects a broader cultural shift in South Korea, as the nation moves from erasing traces of colonization to strategically reframing them within a globalized, postcolonial identity. This study investigates how Seoul Station has been culturally reproduced through a multi-layered process of reinterpretation, reframing, and global tourism. Adopting a qualitative research approach, the analysis draws on urban policy documents, architectural modifications, and consumer practices to explore how the station evolved into a hybrid cultural landmark. The research is guided by a three-part analytical framework that integrates Griswold's Cultural Diamond to map the relationships between cultural objects, producers, receivers, and their social world; Elizabeth L. Krause's conceptualization of authenticity as a culturally situated practice shaped by emotional resonance, ethical considerations, and lived vulnerability; and Pierre Nora's theory of lieux de mémoire to interpret Seoul Station as a layered site of national memory and identity. This integrated perspective enables a critical examination of how authenticity is not fixed or preserved, but actively reproduced through spatial storytelling, affective engagement, and intercultural reinterpretation. These findings offer broader implications for postcolonial societies navigating the transformation of colonial-era infrastructures into intercultural memory sites. This research contributes to the field of cultural and memory studies by demonstrating how postcolonial heritage spaces can be reframed as sites of intercultural convergence and global identity reformulation.

Authors:
Seri Yoon, Waseda University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Seri Yoon is Master’s student at Waseda University focusing on economic growth and higher education under macroeconomics and education professors, exploring sustainable development and fostering economic resilience through higher education policies.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/seri-y-711ab5333

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