A Stroll in Bukchon, streets of spring where time stops

Bukchon is where Seoul’s past and present coexist. You can easily see skyscrapers on top of the Hanok roof tiles where faint spring colors are showered onto. Traces of history lie in all corners of Bukchon, it’s why people call it the museum of streets. Let’s take a walk and look into the Bukchon street history. How about we take off from Hyundai Engineering & Construction headquarters, which is located close to Bukchon?

Old stories Samcheong-dong streets tell

Jeongdok Public Library Garden

First let’s take slow steps towards the Jeongdok Public Library. Pass by the three-way intersection in front of the Jaedong Elementary School and go up the hill, and in 10 minutes you will find the Jeongdok Public Library. The Jeongdok Public Library is known more for its amazing landscape than its books. When cherry blossoms are in season, people swarm in to take photos. These days in late spring, the soft green hue of the walk around the place lures in passersby in cardigan.

Kim Ok Gyun House Site in the Jeongdok Public Library garden

The Jeongdok Public Library opened in January 1977, on the site of the former Gyeonggi High School. But in its garden, you can find traces of something that is much older than the library itself, going back more than a hundred years. This beautiful place filled with spring sunshine is the site of Kim Ok Gyun’s house, the very person who discussed Gapsin Coup as the leader of Gaehwapa at the end of the Chosun dynasty. The Gapsin Coup was a coup d’etat that took place in 1884 with the goal of Chosun’s independence and modernization led by the radicals including Kim Ok Gyun, based on the ideology of enlightenment. The site of the current Hyundai Engineering & Construction headquarters where palaces of Gyeongwoogung and Gyedonggung used to be was the major site of Gapsin Coup.

Jeongdok Public Library Murals on the Hwadong Streets

The tie between Jeongdok Public Library and Hyundai Engineering & Construction can be seen outside its fence as well. If you come out of the library and go up the street towards Hwadong, you will find a mural created with the theme of modern Korean literature. This is a tile mural created as a SCR project by the Hyundai Engineering & Construction employees in July, 2016. Walking the streets of Samcheong-dong gets even better when you reminisce about the classics you read in your high school days.

Gamgodang-gil, connecting Yulgok-ro and Jeongdok Public Library

Under the Jeongdok Public Library, you will find Gamgodang-gil. This is the beginning of Samcheong-dong, a street that connects Yulgok-ro and Jeongdok Public Library. It was named so because the house of Queen Inhyeon, wife of King Sukjon of the Chosun dynasty, named Gamgodang, was located here. As it is a very traditional street, it is lined with neat tiled roof fence. On both sides of Gamgodang-gil, Deokseong Girl’s Middle School and High School face each other. It’s an exotic sight to see on Gamgodang-gil, when students in uniforms and foreign visitors walk on the same street together.

Bukchon Hanok Village, a walk along the former stream

Streets of Bukchon Hanok Village

You have to walk up a quite steep hill to reach Bukchon Hanok Village, past the Gamgodang-gil. Take leisurely steps to walk uphill. Bukchon got its name as it was located above the center of former Seoul, which is Cheonggyecheon and Jongro. According to the 1906 census data, 40% of the total population of Bukchon was consisted of the upper class and bureaucrats, making it a famous upper-class town.

Streets of Bukchon Hanok Village, known as the 6 Bukchon spectacles

Once you step into the Hanok village, you will see tiled roof houses on every street, side by side. Such a collective Hanok village was created during the Japanese Imperialism days as we lacked land and housing development was done in divisions. Since the 1980s aggressive Hanok preservation policy took effect and they still remain intact to this day. The warmth Hanok exudes as a long-term living quarter must be the reason why it attracts so many visitors.

The Scenery of Hyundai Engineering & Construction

We’ve come up so far we can see our starting point Hyundai Engineering & Construction, afar. In the past, Bukchon was a village that formed along the water way. A steep hill was formatted by the water that flowed from north to south. Even now, the main roads of Bukchon such as Samcheongdong-gil, Gaheodong-gil, Gyedong-gil, and Wonseodong-gil let you know the traces of such water way. Following such traces will allow you to get immersed into the quaint Hanok vibe on a small street somewhere.

So this was a small spring stroll around Bukchon, looking into the history of its streets. Valuable culture stems out from the coexistence of tradition and present. In Bukchon, one can admire the beautiful Hanok village amidst the grey skyscraper forest. How about visiting Bukchon this weekend, if you are in for the fun of seeking out small, beautiful streets?