On Constitution Day, July 17, the Denny Taegeukgi drew attention as it went on display at the connecting passage on the third floor of Shinsegae Department Store Centum City in Haeundae District, Busan. The Denny Taegeukgi—the oldest surviving version of Korea’s national flag and designated a national treasure—was bestowed by King Gojong to Owen N. Denny, an American who served as a diplomatic adviser to the Joseon court. In 1981, Denny’s descendants donated the flag to the Republic of Korea. Installed as part of a public campaign marking the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation, the flag will remain on display through August 15.
SEOUL, July 17 (Korea Bizwire) — To mark the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the National Museum of Korea has unveiled a striking digital tribute to the Denny Taegeukgi—the oldest surviving version of the Korean national flag. The immersive one-minute video will be screened from July 17 at the museum’s outdoor media wall and at Shinsegae Square in central Seoul.
The Denny Taegeukgi, designated a national treasure in 2021, was originally gifted by Emperor Gojong to U.S. diplomat Owen N. Denny in 1890. A former adviser to the Joseon Dynasty on foreign, legal, and economic policy, Denny advocated fiercely for Korea’s sovereignty. His flag, a hand-stitched emblem of Korea’s early independence aspirations, became an enduring symbol of the country’s national identity and resilience.
Denny Taegeukgi
Now revived through ultra-high-resolution digital scanning—measuring 10.8 billion pixels—the Denny Taegeukgi has been rendered with exquisite accuracy, down to the individual stitches and faded hues of its fabric.
The visual narrative begins with the flag’s dignified origins, transitions into darkness reflecting the Japanese colonial era, and ends with the Taegeukgi rising anew beneath a radiant blue sky, its yin-yang circle and four trigrams pulsating with symbolic harmony and peace.
The Seoul screenings employ anamorphic illusion techniques to create a three-dimensional effect, giving the illusion that the flag waves high above the city skyline.
At Shinsegae Square in Myeongdong, the film will screen every 10 minutes through August 15, with all-day showings on Liberation Day. At the National Museum, it will run through October 12, coinciding with the special exhibition “80 Years of Liberation: Faces Rediscovered.”
Visitors at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, Seoul, view the Denny Taegeukgi, the oldest surviving Korean national flag. (Yonhap)
Museum Director Kim Jae-hong described the digital project as “a vivid retelling of a vital historical legacy,” and part of a broader push to elevate the museum’s role as a leader in cultural heritage digitization and immersive storytelling.
The physical Denny Taegeukgi is also on view through October 12 in the museum’s permanent gallery dedicated to the Korean Empire.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
