Gwanghyewon Hospital Founded

At the suggestion of the American missionary doctor Horace Allen, Korea’s first Western-style hospital opened in Jae-dong, Seoul; it was soon renamed Jejungwon.

Horace Allen, physician to the US legation, won the trust of King Gojong and the court by saving Min Yeong-ik, who had been gravely stabbed in the Gapsin Coup of 1884. On his proposal the government opened Gwanghyewon in the house of Hong Yeong-sik, left empty after the coup, and soon renamed it Jejungwon.

Jejungwon was a state hospital staffed by missionary doctors, and it began medical teaching in 1886. In 1894 its management passed to the American Presbyterian mission, and in 1904 it became Severance Hospital, built with a gift from Louis Severance.