GTX, meet Sinbundang Line

Among the many railway projects presented one year ahead of the Mayoral elections (see "If you ain't broke, fix it: Seoul, Welfare and Railways Deficits"), the Northeast-Southwest diagonal seems to be reaching a consensus between local administrations and the government*. According to its promoters, the cost could be significantly cut - by KRW 5 trillion! - by using existing railway paths, and by sharing infrastructure between the Sinbundang Line and the GTX-A Line in the heart of Seoul.

*

According to the latest proposal (see map below), the common Sinbundang-GTX section shall link Dokbawi Station (Line 6 - Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong-gu) to Sinsa Station (Line 3 - Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu). Little surprise here:

• As expected, the first station to pop up in Pyeongchang-dong valley is at the Sinyeong-dong Samgeori. I hope the tentative name "Segeomjeong Elementary School" will be shrunk to "Segeomjeong", the closest landmark.
• As expected, one stop is added in Seochon on the other side of the Jahamun Tunnel, along Jahamun-ro. That's at Kyungbock High School in Cheongun-dong.
• As expected, the lines stop at the existing stations of Gyeonbokgung, Gwanghwamun, and Seoul Station.
• But instead of following the Jungang Line via Seobinggo Station (or Dongbinggo) - Ichon Station - Yongsan Station, the section between Seoul Station and Sinsa Station passes by Noksapyeong. I like that, because that's the opportunity to cover a gap in the map. But Noksapyong will be the only station in a stretch that, as the crow flies, takes at least 6 km. If from the GTX perspective, there should be as few stops as possible, it would be completely stupid to build a new railway along this axis without adding at least one stop. I strongly suggest Huam-dong, where a lot of projects are already under way.  Yes building a new station costs a lot, but this is a simple case of urban planning 101, check the map. A connection with the Jungang Line could be also added (for instance at Hannam Station).

*

At each end of that half-new, 8-station section, GTX and Sinbundang shall go their own ways:

• From Sinsa Station (South):
• Shinbundang Line: the extension from Gangnam Station to Sinsa Station, initially planned for 2018 included Nonhyeon and Sinnonhyeon stations (respectively lines 7 and 9). Will it be the case for the subway and not the GTX, or will these connections be scrapped altogether?
• GTX-A shall reach directly Samseong Station (Line 2): here too, no connection to line 7 and 9. Nice gift for the coex.
• From Dokbawi Station (North):
• GTX-A shall reconnect to Line 6 at Yeonsinnae Station, the station next to Dokbawi! Of course, Yeonsinnae is a much bigger hub, also connected to Line 3, but what a contrast with the situation between Seoul Station and Sinsa Station!
• Shinbundang shall reach Samsong Station (Line 3, Goyang) via two new stations: "Shindo Middle School" and "Jingwan Middle School", at the Western end of Eunpyeong New Town (Gupabal Station at the other end). Shindo lies in the Southern half, at the feet of "Bukhansan Eunpyeong Hanok Maeul", Jingwan in the Northern half. Clearly, the aim is to capture a big chunk of the new town traffic that have saturated Subway Line 3 and Tongil-ro from the beginning (typical example of the poorly planned project - see my previous posts on new towns).

The latest map - Chosun Ilbo 20141202
("신분당선·GTX(수도권 광역급행철도), 鐵路(철로) 같이 쓴다")

*

Whatever the outcome of this project, it's always fun to see how the various constraints play (topography, urban planning logics, cost, politics, speculation, transportation divide...).

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*see for instance "서울시 “국토부에 ‘신분당선 서북부 연장선-GTX’ 노선공유 제안”" (DongA Ilbo - 20141126)

Park 2 Day 1 in pictures

After 2 ROHs, 2 KIMs, and 1 LEE, I woke up with my first President PARK this morning*. The second one for many Koreans, who still now define PARK Geun-hye as "the daughter of".

The daughter of whom? Of PARK Chung-hee, of course. But the daughter of what, exactly? Of a "dictator", confirmed the BBC today, along with most international media. Of a "strongman", according to the guidelines suggested by conservative PR outlets in Korea... guidelines followed by the TIME editors, who controversially changed their December 17 cover, initially planned with the "D" word:

One thing is sure: the officials in charge of her inauguration in Yeouido could have picked a better TV background for the swear-in moment than this unsmiling Westerner with sunglasses, like a Man In Black keeping an eye on some valuable CIA asset. Even if Secretary of State John Kerry skipped the event, NK propagandists will probably photoshop a puppeteer hand out of this dark background:

Worse: if you enlarge the picture, you get Yingluck Shinawatra, a person mostly known as Taksin Shinawatra's sister, even now that she is Thailand's Prime Minister, a job she owes only to this familial tie:

So you'll probably see many official pictures framed, like this AP shot, in a tight close-up...

... unless PR wizzards opt for this picture, taken later in the day, during PARK's surrealistic stop at Gwanghwamun Square, on her way to Cheong Wa Dae:

photo Yonhap News

 
Here, the new president opened a giant purse, revealing a teletubbiesque tree of hope from which she randomly picked of low hanging fruits: wishes for a better welfare written by Korean citizens. She read a couple of them aloud, like a mom would do with poems from her kids, before rushing back to her stretch limo, as if last year's campaign never ended, with its "daughter/mother of the nation" positioning**, and its incessant succession of symbolic photo ops (eg below the tightest close up I shot from the future president - "Park Geun-hye bballi bballi campaigning" - October 2012 on SeoulVillage's YouTube channel):



 
PARK made one last stop (in front of Cheongwadae Sarangchae, welcomed by traditional music and friendly neighbors from Cheongun-dong and Hyoja-dong), before going back to where it all began: a Blue House where cameras followed her all the way up the grand staircase.
 

 
On this Oscar night and in spite of the hanbok, Park Geun-hye did much better than Jennifer Lawrence. Apparently, no Clark Gable was waiting for her. Anyway, time to lower the curtain and to get to work.

A reframed picture, a colorful tree, a big red staircase... of course these reductive images are not all there is to remember from such a historic day. There were also political messages, as expected focused on the 3 elephants in nowaday's Korean corridor: North Korea (the "biggest victim" from its own nuclear test), economy, and welfare.

But still** as this stage, we can't tell for sure who the person known as "the daughter of" truly is, and what she will eventually be remembered as.


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* technically, one should add GOH Kun, who was acting president during ROH Moo-hyun's impeachment in 2004.
** see "The Anipang Election: Park wins big, but who won?"

Seochon's Dead Poets Society (YI Sang, YUN Dong-gu)

YI Sang (1910-1937) and YUN Dong-ju (1917-1945), two of the greatest Korean poets of the last century, died at an early age in Japan after being jailed for crime of opinion. They never lived in a free country: YI was born the very day the annexation treaty was concluded, YUN died a few months before the liberation. YUN did get involved in the independence movement but anyway, being a Korean poet was already a crime of opinion since under the Japanese occupation, Korean culture itself was illegal.

Both used to live in Seochon, west of the Gyeongbokgung. And like the rest of the neighborhood, their long forsaken places are now back in favor:

. YI's hanok was until recently split between two street shops, but it has been restored by the National Trust for Cultural Heritage and Arumjigi, and hosted the "Conversations with Yi Sang" event in spring last year. The address is 18 Jahamun-ro 7-gil (formerly Tongin-dong 154-10, Jongno-gu). A temporary street name if I ever saw one. I bet this strategic diagonal street will be renamed, but not after YI Sang. To me, this is Baekundongcheon-gil, after the main Cheonggyecheon tributary (supposedly) about to be restored*.

. YUN's house (actually the house of his classmate, a novelist) is now a nondescript 'villa' about halfway along Ogin-dong's main axis, at 57 Ogin-gil, formerly Nusang-dong 9, Jongno-gu. Ogin-gil connects Tongin Market and the not sorely missed Ogin Apartment, and that's probably the way YUN went up Inwang mountain for the walks that inspired him. He must have often followed the path towards Bugaksan (under which the Jahamun Tunnel was dug half a century later**), because the spot renamed "Hill of the Poet Yun Dong-ju" ("윤동주 시인의 언덕") in 2009 is located much further, next to Changuimun, the North Gate of Seoul fortress. Making up for the lack of museum to honor the poet, a Yun Dong-ju Literature House has recently been inaugurated on this hill. It hosts a collection of artifacts as well as literary events:
Yun Dong-ju Literature House (윤동주 문학관):
3-100 Cheongun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (119 Changuimun-ro).
Tel: +82 2.765.0703.

Unfortunately, not all former residences of artists have been saved***, yet the trend is definitely positive. As Seochon reclaims its past glory and welcomes more and more tourists, cultural assets are a key differenciator compared to Bukchon. Note that the other side of the Gyeongbokgung is also promoting preservation: the home of painter GO Hui-dong (1886-1965) in Wonseo-dong was saved from destruction at the last moment, and for a long while you could see it rot between protective metal walls. The hanok is now illuminating the elbow of Changdeokgung-gil.

For centuries, the names of many Seochon neighborhoods have been resonating in Korean literature, and if I wouldn't want to see the whole place transformed into a city-museum or a theme park, I wish less prestigious landmarks were also included in the big picture. I'm thinking about the cult Daeo Bookstore (대오서점), a tiny Blue House that recently threatened to fold its last pages:

 

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* see "Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It".
** see "2 more tunnels up North"
*** not to mention a former empress (another Yun's place, see "The Empress's Last Bang").

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UPDATE 20120808: I added the 3 places on Seoul Village Map (reminder: the blue line follows Baekundongcheon's path):


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Seochon, Sejong Village, or what ?

Now officially protected from reckless redevelopment, Seochon area is preparing for its cultural rebirth. All the ingredients are there, but a marketing battle seems to be brewing over the brand. How to name the place ?

"Seochon" echoes the village West of the Gyeongbokgung, an axis we've already discussed and a waterway about to be reopened. There could be some confusion with Seocheon-gun in Chungnam, and some confusion with Bukchon : Seo means West and Buk North, but "cheon" means stream and "chon" village.

Like Gahoe-dong on the other side of the royal palace, it would be unfair to pick a dong name out of the hat : the 600 hanoks are scattered across a dozen neighborhoods, each one with its own characteristics (Naeja-dong, Chebu-dong, Nuha-dong, Nusang-dong, Pilun-dong, Ogin-dong, Tongin-dong, Hyoja-dong, Changsang-dong, Tongui-dong...).

I often refer to the area as "Chebu-dong" because that's the central dong, but that's wrong. Technically, most neighborhoods belong to the two "administrative dongs" of Sajik-dong and Hyoja-dong, the former being maybe more suitable since it's associated with a major royal site (Sajik-dan), and a clear destination West of the Gyeongbokgung. Hyoja-dong touches the palace walls, and is more associated with the North and the presidential palace (even if Cheong Wa Dae belongs to Sejongno-dong and the administrative dong of Cheongun-dong).

Recently, some residents have been pushing a "Sejong Maeul / Sejong Village" label, probably because King Sejong was born there : a plate commemorates the location of the hut where the great man was delivered, following the tradition depicted at the nearby National Palace Museum of Korea. But I'm not sure the commoditization of the Sejong brand is such a good idea : this "Sejong Village" sounds like an annex to Sejongno, not a place with its own identity.

Since the whole area grew along the branches of the soon to be reborn stream, why not stick to Seochon ?

Seoul Village 2011

see other Seochon related posts, including "Stop The Hanok Genocide... And Stop Revival As Reenactment" and "Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It"