Trail of National Humiliation

The Trail of National Humiliation (Korean: 국치길) is a trail in Seoul, South Korea, that connects various sites related to the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period in Korea.^[1] The trail began to be constructed in 2017 and was completed on August 28, 2019.^[1]

Plate marking the trail (2025)

The trail is 1.7 km (1.1 mi) long,^[1][2] and is marked with ㄱ-shaped (short for 기억; lit. memory) plates on the ground indicating the direction of the trail.^[2] It also is decorated with yellow butterflies, symbolizing hope.^[3] It goes around the base of the mountain Namsan.^[4] It starts at Namsan Yejang Park (남산예장공원), near exit 1 of Myeong-dong station.^[2] The trail passes, in this order: a memorial to comfort women, the former site of the Japanese Residency-General of Korea Building (where the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was signed^[1][5]), the former site of a Government-General of Chōsen building, the former site of Nogi Shrine, the site of a former memorial to Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the former site of Keijō Shrine, the entrance sign to the former Hanyang Park, and finally the former site of Chōsen Shrine.^[2]

The day after the trail opened was August 29: the anniversary of Korea's annexation. The Seoul Metropolitan Government held a group tour on that day, with descendents of Korean independence activists in attendance.^[1][6] A 2023 article claimed the path was relatively unpopular with locals; some of the sites are on private property of several schools^[5][3] and some of the signage was described as inadequate.^[3]