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Actor Ji Seung-hyun meets the owner of the ‘Sontag Hotel’ even Ito Hirobumi frequented. ‘

At 9:30 p.m. on the 10th, episode 21 of KBS1 ‘History Special- Time Traveler’ airs as the ‘Foreigners Who Loved Joseon’ two-part series - Part 1 The Emperor and Her, Marie Antoinette Sontag‘.

In the first installment of the ‘History Special–Time Traveler’ two-part series on Foreigners Who Loved Joseon, the program spotlights the ‘Sontag Hotel’, built in Jeong-dong, the diplomatic hub of the Korean Empire, and the life of its proprietor, Marie Antoinette Sontag. Who was this woman who stayed in Joseon for 24 years and worked at King Gojong's closest side? Tracing her veiled footsteps, the program examines Gojong's struggle as he pursued a modern, self-reliant independent nation amid the competition of the great powers.

Who Was the European Woman Who Became the ‘Top Court Lady of Joseon’?

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In October 1885, Marie Antoinette Sontag, a German of French birth, set foot in Joseon as part of the Russian legation. After the opening of the ports, the Joseon royal court urgently needed professional protocol to receive the flood of foreign ministers and dignitaries. Fluent in foreign languages such as English, French, and German, and equipped with refined manners and outstanding culinary skills, Sontag was the ideal talent. Having earned King Gojong's trust, Sontag oversaw Western-style protocol and banquets, conveyed information of the West, and became a key link connecting the inside and outside of the royal court.

Among foreigners, she was called the ‘Top Court Lady of Joseon’, ‘Head Chef’, ‘Manager of the Court’, and ‘Empress without Rank’. What, in fact, was her real role behind these grand epithets? The program follows Sontag's trail to reveal how she became a key figure of the royal court.

Sontag Hotel, the Diplomatic Hub of the Korean Empire

Granted a house in Jeong-dong by Gojong, Sontag established the two-story brick ‘Sontag Hotel’. Frequented by national guests such as diplomats from many countries, Ito Hirobumi, and U.S. presidential envoys, the hotel was more than a simple lodging. Fluent in foreign languages, Sontag used it as a social club and an information hub where the intelligence of various diplomats converged.

Amid the diplomatic battleground, her work that began as an informant gradually led to becoming a ‘secret emissary’ trusted deeply by Gojong. As Gojong accelerated modernization reforms in mining, railways, and banking, he sent private funds through Sontag, using her as a discreet channel to manage the Korean Empire's independence funds.

Sontag, a hidden helper who worked as one of Gojong's closest aides for the independence of the Korean Empire. Drawing on records from the time, the production team traces the missions she carried out and delves into Gojong's foreign policy aimed at a self-reliant independent state.

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The Vanished Woman, Sontag's Last Traces

After Gojong's forced abdication in 1907, Sontag left Joseon and returned to Cannes, France. Having disappeared without leaving a single line of record herself, her life remains a mystery in history. The production team tracks Sontag's traces that remain in Cannes, France, and follows her last moments, once shrouded in a veil, through her descendants.

Marie Antoinette Sontag, the woman who shared the Korean Empire's fate at Gojong's side. In a turbulent era when new things poured in after the opening of the ports, what did the end of the Korean Empire look like through the eyes of a foreigner? The story of Gojong, who did not abandon the goal of a modern, self-reliant independent nation despite pressure from the great powers, and Sontag, the aide who stayed by his side, can be seen at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, on KBS1's ‘History Special- Time Traveler’.

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