In Seoul’s historic Jongno district, a building with an elegant cream-colored front and a portico is nestled within a block patched with various medical facilities. Low-slung at a modest two stories, it has the qualities of an ornately crafted shoebox and is immediately distinguishable from the surrounding blocks of grey. The building, constructed in 1938, was first inhabited by a Korean mining mogul, who was a mercenary timeserver. In 1945, upon Korea’s liberation from the Japanese Colonial Empire, he donated it to state dignitaries to launder his pro-Japanese business records….
