Whanki Museum in Jongno District, Seoul, posted an apology over injecting herbicide into a ginkgo tree more than 100 years old next to its wall.
On the 1st, Whanki Museum posted a notice on its website titled "We apologize" and said, "We deeply apologize for causing concern to those who care about Buam-dong and Whanki Museum in connection with the ginkgo tree."
The museum said it had recognized the need, for resident safety reasons, to deal with a sawtooth oak and a ginkgo tree planted to the left and right of the main gate for more than 10 years. It cleared the sawtooth oak on the premises, but the ginkgo tree was on private property, so it had been unable to proceed with additional steps.
The museum said, "Complaints about fallen leaves and stench that arose as the ginkgo tree grew did not cease, and the museum wall was collapsing due to the tree roots," adding, "We could not improve the situation because the tree owners did not reach unanimity."
The museum side said it contacted the owners twice, in 2018 and 2025, to resolve the situation but could not find a remedy.
The museum said it was "in the process of taking a multifaceted approach in view of the gravity of the matter" and would "make every effort and take necessary measures to help the ginkgo tree recover and to improve the broader related situation."
The controversy erupted after residents, suspicious that the leaves were drying up and falling rapidly, checked closed-circuit (CC) TV footage showing museum staff injecting herbicide. According to residents, on Apr. 22 in the morning, a museum official drilled holes in the ginkgo tree outside the wall and injected herbicide, and the scene was recorded.
On the 22nd of last month, residents visited the museum with police, and the museum acknowledged injecting herbicide into the tree.