Before the dynasty of dictators took over: Fascinating photographs capture the opulent life of the royal family in a UNITED Korea more than a century ago

The pictures give a glimpse of what life was like in Korea at the end of the turn of the 20th century

The nation, then united, was in the midst of huge upheaval with a 500-year-old dynasty about to lose power

The decades that followed set the scene for the division into North and South Korea and the bloody Korean War


With a young leader trying to assert his authority, mounting international tension and a growing army trying to establish itself as a military force to be reckoned with, life in Korea at the end of the 19th century would probably not sound all that alien to the inhabitants of at least one half of the former empire today.

But far from the acrimoniously divided pair of states we know now, Korea was still a vast single sovereignty.

And instead of threatening global powers with aggressive threats of martial action - as in North Korea's case today - the nation, known until 1897 as Joseon, was desperately trying not to be bullied in a power struggle between China and Japan.

This fascinating set of pictures gives a rare glimpse into life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Korea - a time of great change for the state.

Defences: Namdaemun, pictured, is one of the Eight Gates in the Fortress Wall of Seoul which surrounded the city in the Joseon Dynasty. The image is one of a series which give a fascinating insight into Korean life more than a century ago

Taking a breather: A western man sits with his straw boater on the grass on a visit to one the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty scattered across 18 locations in Korea

Resting place of the kings: A Korean man strolls in the sunshine at one of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

Traditional dress: A young child, left, and a woman, right, show what traditional Korean dress looked like at the turn of the 20th Century



The pictures show iconic palaces and fortresses of the soon to be ousted Joseon dynasty, including the Gyeongbokgung Palace - first constructed in 1395, later burned and abandoned for almost three centuries, and then reconstructed in 1867 - the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the dynasty.

Koreans are pictured walking among the final resting place of the kings, the Royal Tombs of Joseon - Korea's answer to the Pyramids of Giza - and peddler merchants trying to sell their wares.

Of particular note, are early pictures of several of a series of eight gates which were part of a fortress wall which surrounded the city of Seoul during the Joseon rule, including the stunning Namdaemun gate - which is undergoing resotration work following an arson in 2008 - pictured complete with its historic 24-hour market.

In one picture, the Korean class system is illustrated - at one stage during Joseon rule, a third of the population were said to be slaves.



Grand: The Gyeongbokgung royal palace in Seoul was first constructed in 1395, later burned and abandoned for almost three centuries, and then reconstructed in 1867, it was the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty

Trading place: The historic 24-hour Namdaemun market is located next to this 14th century gate, one of eight surrounding Seoul

Play time: Korean children climb on a statue outside one of Korea's grand palaces

Taken in 1904 in Chungcheongbuk-Do, a woman of the upper class of old Korea is pictured riding in a 'kama'. The palanquin is carried by the two men in the background. A lady's personal maidservant follows the palanquin on foot.

The class system was banned in 1894



The pictures illustrate a great turning point in Korean history.

At the tail end of the 19th century, Korea had been in the grip of the Joseon dynasty for 500 years - formed following a largely bloodless coup by general Yi Seong-Gye in 1392.

The dynasty had survived intact a bloody invasion by the Japanese in the late 16th century, which saw invading warriors take around 200,000 noses cut from Korean's faces back to their homeland as souvenirs following defeat, and numerous attempts at a coup by the Manchu of China.

FIVE CENTURIES OF RULE - THE JOSEON DYNASTY (1392-1897)

The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea for just over five centuries. It was founded when the Goryeo Dynasty was overthrown in what is now the city of Kaesong.

The dynasty was the last of Korean history and the longest-ruling Confucian reign.

During its long reign, the dynasty encouraged the inclusion of Confucian ideals and doctrines in everyday society and imported and adapted much Chinese culture.

It oversaw the height of classical Korean science, literature and technological advances.

Cultural legacy: South Koreans wearing traditional costumes perform a ritual for the deceased Kings of the Joseon Dynasty at the royal shrine of Jongmyo during an annual royal memorial service in Seoul But the dynasty was weakened in the 16th and 17th centuries when both Japan and China invaded - leading to the country adopting an isolationist attitude to its politics.

It thus became known as the Hermit Kingdom.

After a 200 year period of peace, its power waned however through the 18th and 19th centuries with international pressure and numerous rebellions taking their toll.

The dynasty has left a substantial legacy to today's Korea including much of Korean etiquette, culture and dialect.





Helping out: Two Koreans are pictured gathering water at a city well, helped out by a young Korean boy

Class system: In this picture, taken in 1904 in Chungcheongbuk-Do, a woman of the upper class of old Korea, riding in a 'kama'. The palanquin is carried by the two men in the background. A lady's personal maidservant) follows the palanquin on foot

Fortress: Another picture of one of the eight gates in the fortress wall surrounding Seoul. At that time, it was called Hansung

Leisure time: A Korean fisherman takes a break from the day job and enjoys a pipe, left, while a newly married Korean couple pose for their first portrait



But the longstanding Joseon rule, which had also overseen the emergence of Confucianism as the national religion and great advances in science and technology, was unstable once again at the close of the 19th century, after more than two centuries of relative peace.

Korea had long been a tributary nation to China and its Qing dynasty, but the two countries association was to end when Japan and China went to war primarily over Korean control and Japan was victorious.

With the Chinese influence over Korea defeated, the 26th Joseon king, Gojong, proclaimed the Korean Empire and King Gojong became Emperor Gojong.



The imperial government aimed to become a strong and independent nation by implementing domestic reforms; strengthening military forces, developing commerce and industry, and surveying land ownership.



Organisations like the Independence Club also rallied to assert the rights of the Joseon people, but clashed with the government which proclaimed absolute monarchy and power.

Celebration: The groom traditionally sat on horseback for Korean weddings, but this horse is part of a large procession

Workers: At one stage of the Joseon dynasty, an estimated third of the population were classed as slaves

No child care back then: One woman is pictured working with her baby on her back alongside an elderly couple

Sun shades: Two men in traditional dress attempt to hide from the glare of the Korean sun, left, while an elderly man with a stick smiles for the camera while Korean peddler merchants work in the background



But the Empire was short lived - it lasted 13 years in all.

Russia became increasingly influential in the country, much to the irritation of the Japanese and the two nations went to war over the sovereignty in 1904.

Korea effectively became a protectorate of Japan in 1905 after the Japanese and Russians signed a treaty without the knowledge of Gojong at the end of the war.



Gojong was forced to abdicate in 1907 and the Empire finally fell as the nation became an annexe of Japan in 1910.



After the annexation, Japan set out to repress Korean traditions and culture, develop and implement policies primarily for the Japanese benefit.

Getting around: Two servants carry an upper class man on what looks more akin to a unicycle than a comfortable mode of transport

Musical interlude: A young woman stands in the background and watches a band of men as they play traditional Korean music

Lookout: Korea underwent a partially successful phase of modernisation when it became the Korean Empire largely expanding its army

Happy: Elderly Korean peddlars pictured smiling for the camera as they smoke pipes at a market stall

European-style transport and communication networks were established across the nation in order to extract the resources and labour; these networks were mostly destroyed later during the Korean War.



The banking system was consolidated and the Korean currency abolished. The Japanese removed the Joseon hierarchy, destroyed much of the Gyeongbokgung palace and replaced it with the Government office building.

Despite various anti-Japanese uprisings in the years that followed, the nation remained under Japanese rule until the aftermath of World War Two.



A NATION DIVIDED: HOW KOREA WAS SPLIT INTO NORTH AND SOUTH

The division of Korea into North and South came following the Japanese surrender to the Allied forces at the end of World War Two in 1945.

Japan had occupied Korea before the end of the war and it became divided into two areas of influence once the fighting stopped - North Korea under Soviet influence and South Korea under US influence.

With Cold War tensions building, the US and Soviet Union were unable to come to an agreement over a joint trusteeship over Korea and in 1948 the two Koreas formally separated, with each following a separate ideology - communism in the North and capitalism in the South.

Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers move in single file toward Korea's east-central front near Lookout Mountain, east of the Pukhan River, on June 28, 1953 during the Korean War But the Southern state came under attack from the North just two years later when the North Korean People's Army tried to invade the South and reunite the two states under a communist ideology.

The Korean Civil War saw some 1.2million people killed including more than 36,000 US soldiers, 500,000 South Koreans and 215,000 from the Korean People's Army.

Civil war raged until July 1953 when, under the supervision of the United Nations, the two parties signed the Korean War Armistice agreement.

Since then a Demilitarised Zone has separated the two nations, and technically they are still at war because only an armistice was signed and not a peace treaty.

While North Korea has gone on to become a totalitarian state which is thought to be in the grip of poverty, South Korea has gone from strength to strength and is now one of Asia's most affluent countries.