The Last Breath of Master Kim Joongup: The Former Mokpo MBC Fades into History

by Jung Seunghyun

Published 02 Feb.2026 12:30(KST)

Daebang Elyum Mixed-Use Apartment Complex Planned for the Site

The former Mokpo MBC site will be demolished and replaced by the Daebang Elyum mixed-use residential complex. Photo by Jang Yonggi, PhD in Social Welfare at Chodang University

The former Mokpo MBC building in Yongdang-dong, which delivered local news for 35 years, recently began demolition work.

After Mokpo MBC relocated to its new headquarters in Myeongnyun-dong near Mokpo Station in October 2023, the old building stood vacant for about two years. Now, it is gradually disappearing to the sound of excavators.

This site was more than just a broadcasting station. It was designed by Kim Joongup (1922-1988), a master architect of Korea’s first generation of modern architecture, during the final years of his life. Known as a space imbued with his last breath, the building-designed by Kim, who received personal guidance from the world-renowned architect Le Corbusier-will ironically remain only in the memories of citizens as it is demolished.

▲ The Curves of a Master, Resembling the Lines of the Land

Completed in 1989, the Yongdang-dong headquarters was a work that encapsulated Kim Joongup’s signature sense of “curvilinear beauty” and “dynamism.” The exterior, echoing the gentle lines of Yudalsan Mountain and the Yongdang-dong landscape, was distinctly different from the authoritative and rectilinear image typical of broadcasting buildings at the time.

The “mass division” technique, which broke up the large volume into smaller units, reduced the building’s visual weight and created an open impression that made it more approachable for local residents. The three-dimensional arrangement of windows and the texture of exposed concrete-considered radical in the late 1980s-were long regarded as the pinnacle of modern architecture in Mokpo.

Front view of the former Mokpo MBC building. Photo by Yonggi Jang, PhD in Social Welfare, Chodang University

▲ The “Painful Finger” Denied by Its Architect

However, alongside its many accolades, the building also carries a painful story. Architect Kim Joongup removed it from his official portfolio during his lifetime, due to alterations made during construction that compromised his original design.

Because of the client’s demands and construction limitations at the time, much of the delicate proportions and spatial aesthetics he envisioned were changed. Upon seeing this, Kim Joongup reportedly expressed deep disappointment, stating, “This is not my work.” Ultimately, the building became a “tragic final work” erased by the master’s own hand.

Although it disappeared from his portfolio, the building remained in Yongdang-dong for 35 years, quietly bearing its scars.

▲ The Face of an Era Erased in the Name of Development

The site has now been sold, and construction of a Daebang Elyum mixed-use apartment complex is underway. Once demolition, which began in December 2025, is completed, the space layered with the master’s stubborn vision and the memories of local residents will be gone for good.

An expert in local architecture commented, “Even if the architect himself denied the building, his reflections on Mokpo’s landscape and his sculptural experiments were evident throughout the structure. The disappearance of this space is more than the demolition of a building-it is the erasure of a chapter from Mokpo’s modern history.”

▲ It Is Not Only the Building That Disappears

The demolition of the Yongdang-dong headquarters is not just the removal of a building, but also the process of letting go of an era’s memories. It was a broadcasting station that reported local news for 35 years, a space that quietly witnessed the city’s modernization, and the final trace of a master architect.