Finishing materials fell from the ceiling to the floor at Gyeonggyojang, the former residence of Baekbeom Kim Gu, and some exhibits are currently restricted.
According to the Seoul Museum of History on the 21st, that morning finishing materials detached from the ceiling of the first-floor exhibition room at Gyeonggyojang in Pyeong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and fell to the floor.
Visitor access to the exhibition hall is currently restricted.
Kim In-su, head of the Baekbeom Ideology Practice Movement Union, who visited Gyeonggyojang to prepare for an event and discovered the fallen finishing materials, said, "The ceiling stones have all collapsed and even the chandelier right next to them is wobbling," adding, "The ceiling keeps caving in."
An official at the Seoul Museum of History said, "It was the finishing materials that fell; the ceiling did not collapse," and noted, "We plan to conduct a safety inspection with cultural heritage experts."
The Seoul Museum of History plans to discuss restoration measures with the relevant authorities, including Jongno-gu, and cultural heritage experts.
Gyeonggyojang is where the first cabinet meeting of the Provisional Government was held in 1945 and where Baekbeom Kim Gu died on June 26, 1949. It was sold to the Samsung Foundation in 1967 and used as the administration office of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital and as a medicine warehouse. Gyeonggyojang was designated a Seoul Tangible Cultural Heritage in 2001 and was elevated to Historic Site No. 465 in 2005.
The Seoul city government restored Gyeonggyojang and turned the interior into an exhibition space, opening it to the public starting Mar. 2, 2013.