Abstract

In this article, I examine the Historical Cultural Markers, a commemorative program in Seoul to mark and preserve historic sites through 347 markers as of July 31, 2024. Most of its academic influences come from cultural and historical geographers who focused on tangible aspects, and GIS serves as a key method to restore and visualize historic sites in a shapefile format. Markers differ from other texts with the absence of physical remnants on the ground, and this nature results in conflicting information in space and time. The conflict in space occurs when a marker is installed away from its corresponding historic site, whereas the conflict in time means a discrepancy between outdated and updated information. Seoul implements its countermeasures to prevent the public misunderstanding caused by spatiotemporal conflicts, and I categorized its countermeasures into four: text and map, data accumulation, relocation, and removal. The measures help the city officials cope with contradictory data, but their treatment is always subject to unexpected incidents or the citizens’ complaints. By explaining these problems and solutions regarding the Seoul markers, I argue that the markers, the storytellers, have as much academic significance as the stories they tell.