Bumingwan

Bumingwan (Korean: 부민관; Hanja: 府民館; MR: Buminkwan; Modified Hepburn: Fuminkan) is a historic building in Seoul, South Korea.

The building was originally designed to be a multi-purpose entertainment building, with spaces for plays, movies, lectures, and meetings. Construction began on July 30, 1934, and ended on December 10, 1935. It had three floors above ground, and one underground. It had a large auditorium that could seat 1,800, a medium auditorium with capacity for 400, and a small one for 160. It had a large variety of rooms beyond that, including space for a restaurant, a barbershop, and for hosting guests. It was rare for the time for its modern amenities, which included air conditioning and heating.

After the 1945 liberation of Korea, the building was used by the United States Army Military Government in Korea. In 1949, it became owned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. On April 29, 1950, the National Theater Company of Korea was founded, and it used the building as its headquarters. Shortly afterwards, the Korean War began, and the theater company fled to Daegu for safety. The building was then used as the meeting hall for the National Assembly beginning in June 1954. They used the building until the Korea National Assembly Proceeding Hall was completed in 1975. It was then used as a civic center, then annex for the Sejong Center. Since 1991, it has been a building for the Seoul Metropolitan Council.