Over 100 years old, a Seoul ginkgo tree is dying — poisoned by the museum next door

Landscaping workers are seen near a ginkgo tree beside the Whanki Museum in Buam-dong, Seoul, on April 22. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

"They drilled deep holes and injected chemicals."

Security camera footage captured two landscaping workers drilling holes near the roots of a century-old ginkgo tree on a Seoul street and injecting an unidentified substance — an act residents believe was a deliberate attempt to kill the tree.

Neighbors first grew suspicious in May, when the tree began shedding large numbers of leaves at a time of year when it should have been in full green bloom.

Residents then launched their own investigation, and what they uncovered was shocking.

Residents of Buam-dong, Seoul, examine the ginkgo tree beside the Whanki Museum. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

The entity suspected of poisoning the tree was the Whanki Museum, whose wall stands directly adjacent to it. The museum was established to preserve the artistic legacy of Kim Whanki, one of Korea's most celebrated abstract painters.

What followed made matters worse. Residents repeatedly pressed the museum to disclose the composition of the injected substance and to cooperate on emergency measures to save the tree.

The museum has refused to reveal what the substance was. Nearby residents say they are also worried about potential soil and water contamination from the unidentified chemical.

"Whanki truly loved trees. Whenever a branch broke in the wind or rain, he would worry about it all day long."

— From the memoir "Our Own Story" by Kim Hyang-an, spouse of painter Kim Whanki

김환기 화백의 배우자 김향안 작가의 회고록 『우리끼리의 얘기』중에서

In front of a museum bearing the name of an artist who cared even for a single broken branch, a tree more than a century old now stands on the verge of death, its trunk riddled with dozens of holes.

The Whanki Museum in Buam-dong, Seoul. [Herald DB]

On June 29, the Seoul Environment Federation held a press conference in front of the Jongno Police Station, filing a criminal complaint against Whanki Foundation Chairman Jang Jae-ryong and Whanki Museum Director Park Mi-jeong on charges including property destruction. The complaint was filed in the name of "60 Savers of the Buam-dong Ginkgo Tree" — a group of 60 public figures formed together with local residents.

According to the group, the museum hired two outside landscaping workers who, around 9 a.m. on April 22, used an electric drill to bore more than 10 holes near the roots of the over-100-year-old ginkgo tree in Buam-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and injected a substance of unknown composition.

Traces of herbicide use found on the ginkgo tree beside the Whanki Museum in Buam-dong, Seoul. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

The incident came to light in May. Hong Se-jin, a Buam-dong resident who first noticed the problem, said, "It was May, but green leaves were carpeting the ground." He added, "At first I thought it might be fertilizer, but when I saw the leaves turning yellow around the 20th of that month, I knew something bad was happening."

Hong and other Buam-dong residents, while monitoring the tree's deteriorating condition, discovered artificially drilled holes and traces of plastic injection devices near its base. Hong then went to the museum's front gate with police, carrying CCTV footage provided by a nearby resident. There, the museum acknowledged that herbicide had been injected into the tree.

Messages left by residents hang on the ginkgo tree beside the Whanki Museum in Buam-dong, Seoul. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

On May 26, the Seoul Environment Federation held a press conference with Buam-dong residents outside the museum, demanding an official apology and follow-up action. Tree doctor Woo Jong-yeong attended to assess the ginkgo's condition and explore ways to save it. The examination found that roughly 90 percent of the leaves had lost color or changed color.

Woo said, "Trees often die when herbicide seeps in from a distance, but cases where it is injected directly into the body are rare." He added, "When a tree has suffered herbicide damage, large amounts of water must be injected immediately to dilute it — it is a shame that action was not taken sooner."

A press conference is held in front of the Whanki Museum in Buam-dong, Seoul, on the morning of May 26. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

The residents' demands were straightforward: an official apology from the museum, full disclosure of the injected substance to enable a response, and cooperation on emergency treatment.

On June 1, the museum posted an apology on its website. In it, the museum said safety complaints related to the ginkgo tree had been raised for more than a decade — citing the risk of accidents caused by roots protruding onto the road and damage to the museum's perimeter wall from the roots.

The Whanki Museum sign. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

The museum also said it had contacted 45 landowners individually to resolve issues caused by the ginkgo tree but received no response. However, the museum did not meet the residents' core demands — it neither officially acknowledged injecting herbicide nor disclosed the substance's composition.

The tree's condition has not improved since. A field inspection by the National Institute of Forest Science on June 16 found typical signs of herbicide damage across roughly 60 percent of the tree's canopy. Whether the tree will survive remains uncertain.

Residents continued to press for further action beyond the apology, but the museum offered no meaningful response to their demands in the month following the statement's publication — the reason the poisoning case ultimately escalated to a criminal complaint.

Attorney Kim Bo-mi, who filed the criminal complaint on behalf of the group, speaks at the press conference held in front of the Jongno Police Station in Seoul on June 29. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

Hyun Kyung, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York who attended the June 29 press conference, said, "The Whanki Museum injected poison into a 100-year-old ancestral tree and has for two months thoroughly ignored requests for an apology and disclosure of the substance."

The group also issued a declaration addressing the museum's stated concern about wall damage. It said that even if a structural risk were confirmed, the museum should first consider less harmful alternatives before resorting to measures that harm living things — specifically, a non-destructive root survey, adjustments to the walking surface, and a redesign of the perimeter wall.

A participant speaks at the press conference held in front of the Jongno Police Station in Seoul on June 29. [Provided by Seoul Environment Federation]

The group hopes the criminal complaint will lead to identification of the substance used. Attorney Kim Bo-mi of law firm Won, who filed the complaint, said, "Once a complaint is accepted, investigative authorities are obligated to open a formal investigation, and through compulsory measures such as search and seizure and the summoning of those involved, key facts that have not yet been disclosed — including the substance's composition, total quantity and number of injections — can be established."

Meanwhile, the group declared it would advance a broader campaign to grant legal personhood to non-human life — including animals and plants — and protect their inherent rights. The group said current law, which treats non-human life as mere objects or property, must be reformed.

woo@heraldcorp.com