Bukchon Hanok Village

Description

The area of Bukchon, which means "north village", is so named because it is located north of the stream Cheonggyecheon and Jongno. The area consists of the neighborhoods Wonseo-dong, Jae-dong, Gye-dong, Gahoe-dong and Insa-dong.

In 2014, there were about 920 hanok institutions for commercial use. Artisan businesses like Kum Bak Yeon, which works with gold leaf on clothing, are found in some of these.

The number of people who reside in the area has decreased in the 2010s. There were 8,719 residents in 2012, 7,438 in 2017, and around 6,100 in 2024.

Regulations have been put in place to manage the high volume of tourists in the area. For instance, beginning in November 2024, tourists are only allowed to enter the village from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m (excluding tourists staying in guesthouses). Residents have posted various notices asking that tourists respect their privacy and manage their noise levels. The Seoul tourism website advises visitors to keep noise levels to a minimum, avoid littering, keep group sizes small (fewer than 10 people per group), and respect the privacy of each home.

History

The area was traditionally the residential quarter of high-ranking government officials and nobility; a family register in 1906 recorded that 43.6% of its population were such people. Many notable figures of the late Joseon and Korean Empire periods resided in large houses in the area, including Pak Yŏnghyo and Kim Okkyun. A number of such figures that contributed to the Japanese colonization of Korea received rewards from the Japanese that enabled them to expand their estates in Bukchon.

Colonial period and redevelopment

In the early colonial period, Seoul's population rapidly increased and a housing shortage emerged. In addition, around the 1920s, an increasing number of Japanese settlers began acquiring land from and displacing Koreans in the Bukchon area.

Korean real estate developer was responsible for much of the current Bukchon Hanok Village. Around 1920, he established the first Korean-owned modern real estate company: Kŏnyangsa (). According to Chŏng's descendents, he intentionally focused on redeveloping the Bukchon area in order to prevent it from being taken over by Japanese people. According to Chŏng's daughter, he intentionally built hanok instead of Japanese-style buildings, despite pressure from the colonial government. The hanok were modernized, with amenities such as glass windows and electricity. These houses were often smaller than the houses previously owned by the elites. This enabled Koreans of various economic backgrounds to move into the area. Unlike many Korean businessmen of the time (who tended to be pro-Japanese), he then used the proceeds to fund various Korean nationalist efforts, such as the Korean Language Society. He was eventually punished after the 1942 Korean Language Society incident; he was tortured and much of his property was confiscated by the colonial government.

Liberation of Korea and preservation efforts

Hanok continued to be built in high density in the area through the liberation of Korea in 1945 until the early 1960s.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the character of the area changed rapidly. The Gangnam area (south of the Han River) began to be redeveloped, and many institutions in the Bukchon area began to move there. This includes Kyunggi High School (former site is now Jeongdok Public Library) and (former site is now the Constitutional Court of Korea). In 1976, the area was designated a folk landscape (). It received two more similar designations in 1977 ( and ). This resulted in a 1983 designation for the area () that restricted the new construction of modern buildings. The number of stories allowed for new buildings was strictly limited; one story for single-family homes, two for multi-family, and three for commercial buildings. These restrictions became seen as overly restrictive by a portion of the residents; their pushback eventually resulted in the easing of some restrictions in May 1991. In 1994, responsibility for managing these standards was transferred from the Seoul Metropolitan Government to the government of Jongno District, and height restrictions were further eased. However, this caused more hanok to be demolished and made into multi-story homes. Major development projects in 1993 and 1996 resulted in the demolition of dozens of hanok.

To prevent the further loss of hanok, policies regulating the area were completely revised in 1999 and further revisions were made in 2001. While previous regulations were made from the top down, new regulations and efforts were designed to incorporate the opinions of residents. A writer for the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture evaluated these efforts as relatively successful.

Recent history

According to data by the Bukchon Traditional Culture Center, 30,000 people visited the area in 2007. However, after the village was featured in television programs, such as 2 Days & 1 Night and Personal Taste, the number rose to 318,000 in 2010. Between October 2016 and June 2017, the Tourism Research Institute reported that an estimated 37,100 people visited during the week and 54,200 people visited on weekends. In 2024, the area received 6.4 million visitors. The large number of visitors, especially compared to the small number of residents, has resulted in complaints of overtourism. From 2018 to 2023, the population of the village dropped 27.6% and the number of complaints from residents increased from 56 to 202.

References

References

1. "Hanok Village – History". [[Seoul Metropolitan Government]].
2. "Jo, W., Lee, C.-K., & Reisinger, Y - Behavioral intentions of international visitors to the Korean ''hanok'' guest houses: Quality, value and satisfaction. Annals of Tourism Research, 47, 83–86".
3. Hong, Ji-yu. (2023-03-29). "Even after 160 years, the biggest headache of this craft remains the same".
4. Jung, Da-min. (2018-06-17). "Seoul to limit visiting hours at hanok village".
5. Jung, Da-min. (2018-05-20). "Bukchon residents protest excessive tourism".
6. "Visit Seoul - Bukchon Hanok Village".
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14. Kim, Hyung-eun. (16 November 2012). "Historic Bukchon besieged by tourists, businesses". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
15. Choi, Soo-hyang. (2018-09-21). "(Yonhap Feature) Overtourism challenges plague S. Korea's top attractions".
16. Lee, Hae-rin. (2024-10-30). "Seoul's Bukchon Hanok Village to restrict visits to resolve overtourism".