SeMA's saemaeuldeul

SeMA's latest branch was inaugurated on March 12 in Siheung-dong, Geumcheon-gu. Between an elementary school, big apateu blocks, the huge district office and its namesake subway station, this long, low rise structure designed by KIM Chan-joong sits in a small park and dons a headband reflecting light like a screen, probably an echo to its dedication to new media art.

The new ship is docked to its neighborhood through an anchor outdoor installation (Yaloo's Shininho Landing), and an inaugural exhibition ('Mneme topos') honoring its own construction. Nothing revolutionary or pretentious; visitors are even entertained with fun signage from the parking lot to various outdoor spots. The idea seems to make families and newbies comfortable, contemporary art accessible to everyone. 

Seo-Seoul Museum of Art fills a cultural gap in southwest Seoul, and somehow combines Siheung-dong's nature dimension with Doksan-dong's industrial culture. Going to Geumnarae Central Park with the kids or to the district office for some administrative stuff? You can seize the opportunity and take a short cultural break. 

#SeoSeoulMuseumofArt in #Geumcheongu, #Seoul.#culture #architecture pic.twitter.com/DsmrQsiSbu

— Seoul Village 🇺🇦 (@theseoulvillage) April 24, 2026

Previously, SeMA only had one site south of the Hangang, in Gwanak-gu: the Nam-Seoul Museum of Art inaugurated in September 2004 in the former Belgian Consulate building relocated to Namhyeon-dong 21 years earlier.

Before Seo-Seoul, SeMA's last inauguration (in May 2025) was at the diagonal opposite in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu. A sliced dark cube - or should I say a camera obscura? - The Photography Seoul Museum of Art is a more daunting beast, with an edgier inaugural program featuring familiar names, but also experimental artists I'd never knew graced the Park Chung-hee era.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stephane MOT (@stephanemot)

As it opens, step by step, new Seoul villages to art, SeMA welcomes as always visitors for free. In case you missed any, here are the other venues:

• Seosomun Main Building: SeMA's Main Branch is located in Seosomun-dong, Jung-gu, in the original Supreme Court (built in 1928). Inaugurated in 1988, it moved in 2002 from Sinmunno-2-ga, Jongno-gu, within Gyeonghuigung grounds (now the site of the Seoul Museum of History).
  
  
• Buk-Seoul Museum of Art: inaugurated in September 2013 in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu, SeMA's second biggest branch filled a regional void and often proposes interesting exhibitions
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Also:
• Archives, Seoul Museum of Art (inaugurated in April 2023 on the main axis of Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu).
•  SeMA Storage (inaugurated in 2016 in the former Innovation Park in Nokbeon-dong, Eunpyeong-gu )
• SeMA Bunker (inaugurated in October 2017 under the Yeouido park and former runway - in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu)
• Nanji Residency SeMA  (in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu)
• Paik Ground (formerly Nam Jun Paik memorial house, inaugurated on March 10, 2017 in Changsin-dong, Jeongno-gu)

Seoul Village 2026
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, Substack, and X/Twitter, follow me on Instagram.
Download 'Seoul VillageS', the free ebook.

Gangbuk LRT - Naebu v. Seobu, or PARK v. OH?

Out of the blue, Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled a brand new, 24.8 km, 15-station subway line joining Mok-dong (Yangcheon-gu) to Cheongnyangni (Dongdaemun-gu) along the Naebu Expressway, that disgraceful overpass scarring countless Seoul neighborhoods*.

Construction would start as early as 2021, for a project that was not even part of the 10 LRT projects announced for 2025 in 2015 ("Seoul subway to gain 89 km by 2025"). Yet, it would connect the dots between two of them: the Mok-dong Line to the West (Sinwol-dong - Mok-dong), and the Myeonmok Line to the East (Cheongnyangni - Sinnae).

"서울 내부순환로 땅 밑으로 '강북횡단 경전철' 건설 추진 출처" (Chosun Ilbo 20190212)

*

As you well know, I'm all for new railway lines, but all this seems a bit hasty, if not suspicious:

• such projects usually take years and years to study, and 2021 seems a very aggressive target for starting the construction
• the route doesn't seem optimized for transportation needs, but happens to be on land mostly owned by the city, which may speed up the process
• as we've seen before, subway projects are highly political in Seoul, and countless railway projects announced before key elections have been dumped afterwards. Yet as soon as a project actually starts, land value immediately jumps
• the only date given is the start of the project, and 2021 happens to be the year preceding the next presidential elections
• this Gangbuk LRT / Naebu Line / Naebuseon could cannibalize, and maybe even kill a major project the city and many partners have been working on for a long while: the Seobu Line / Seobuseon, confirmed as a priority by the city not so long ago ("Seobu Line confirmed as Seoul's LRT top priority")
• Seobuseon was initiated under former mayor OH Se-hoon who, like his successor PARK Won-soon, hasn't given up his presidential ambitions, even if, for the moment, both are lagging behind in the polls**
• this new project is supposed to be part of Seoul's third urban railways plan, to be announced later (that's a 10-year plan, last one was for 2015-2025, maybe the plan will be revealed in 2020, but this can't wait because of the elections)
• ...

This may sound a tad cynical but again, announcements related to subways have always been heavily political (whatever the party in charge), because there's so much at stake at the real estate level, and you know how much that counts in Seoul.

*

Now, let's have a closer look at this new line. We don't have the details yet, particularly the list of stations, or how the Han River or Bugaksan shall be crossed (doubling Seongsan Bridge and the Bugak Tunnel? under the Hangang?), but we can get a more than general idea.

Comparing the new map (above) to the one featuring the previous 10 projects (see ""Seoul LRT Projects Update (Part 1/2)", "Seoul LRT Projects Update (Part 2/2)"), and of course the Naebu Expressway, here's my best guess, going from West to East:

• 'Gangbuk LRT' seems to start from the potential Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital station of the Mok-dong Line (west of Anyangcheon, and Dangsan Station). 
• it then seems to intersect with Line 9 at Sinmok-dong Station before crossing the river on Seongsan Bridge
• on the other side of the river, it would certainly meet Line 6 at Mapo-gu Office
• after that, it probably connects with Gyeongui Jungang Line / Gyeongui Line at Gajwa Station, and Line 3 at Hongje Station, with a couple stations in-between (at least one at the intersection of Jeungga-ro and Hongjecheon, between Yeonhui-dong and Namgajwa-dong, and one at Seodaemun-gu Office)
• we know that the new line joins the Ui-Sinseol LRT line at Jeongneung Station (Seongbuk-gu), but it would be utterly stupid to spend millions just crossing the mountain like the Naebu Expressway, and leaving Jongno-gu's Pyeongchang-dong valley completely off Seoul's railway grid. I would rather follow the road (Segeomjeong-ro / Pyeongchangmunhwa-ro), and add one station right before Inwangsan (in Hongeun-dong), and a couple in the valley itself, for example***: 
• one at the feet of Sangmyung University Seoul (Hongji-dong at Jahamun-ro), or at the Sinyeong-dong Samgeori (Segumjung Elementary School at Jinheung-ro)
• one or two at the intersection with the roads leading uphill (e.g. at Pyeongchang 20-gil)
• so far, between Mok-dong and Jeongneung, we have listed 9 to 11 stations, which leaves us 4 to 6 until the end. Judging by the map, I could add up to 5 existing stations: on Line 4 (Gireum Station), Line 6 (Wolgok Station, Korea University Station), and Line 1 (Jegi-dong Station, Cheongnyangni).

The main advantages would be to cover two big holes in Seoul's subway map: central Seodaemun-gu, and Pyeongchang-dong, and to add horizontality where it could make sense. But the Seobu Line is far better designed for the needs of Western Seoul, doubling the Naebu Expressway would demand disproportionate investments, and there are probably far smarter horizontals to build.

Of course, the fact that many cars use an urban highway doesn't mean that many citizens would take the same route by subway. Fundamentally, this top-down project doesn't seem fully thought through. I hope Seoul has a more serious and comprehensive plan to not only fix these two holes, but also pave more cleverly the (rail)way for the removal of the city's embarrassing elevated expressways.

*

Anyway, even if this project fails, and even if Mayor PARK fails in 2022, he still can run another marathon: Seoul has just been confirmed as Pyongyang's sister city in the bid for the 2032 Olympic Games (little suspense there, Busan didn't make much geographical sense):

Seoul Village 2019
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* most dramatically in the charming Hongjecheon valley (see "Along Hongjecheon, my way or the highway")
** in a mirror fashion, Prime Minister LEE Nak-yon leads against Seoul Mayor PARK while former PM HWANG Kyo-ahn leads against former Seoul Mayor OH (including in the race for LKP leadership later this month, with a vote expected during Trump-Kim Summit II in Hanoi):

2022 poll (JoongAng Ilbo): liberals LEE Nak-yon, RHYU Si-min, PARK Won-soon, conservatives HWANG Kyo-ahn, OH Se-hoon, HONG Joon-pyo (20190103 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1080637278605570048)

*** that's what I had in mind in the 'second circular line' project mentioned in my comment dated "August 20, 2013 at 6:00 PM"

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...).

Seoul Village 2014
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

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

If you ain't broke, fix it: Seoul, Welfare and Railways Deficits

I wanted to say a thing or two* about welfare and railway projects in Seoul following these two articles in Monday's Korea Herald:

• In "[Editorial] Seoul’s rail project" (subtitled "Debacles in other cities should serve as lesson"), the editors accuse PARK Won-soon of pushing a pharaonic and ill-financed program of 10 new light railway lines in the capital (including new tributaries to the ones listed earlier this month, see "Seoul Light Rapid Transit Back On Tracks"), which would cost KRW 3.5 tn to a city already KRW 26 tn in the red (the government would foot 1.1 tn of the bill, leaving 3.9 tn to private investors), not counting yearly compensations for the operators. The Seoul Mayor is also suspected of outrageously flip-flopping on the issue in order to boost his ratings ahead of next year's elections: he cancelled 6 of the 7 lines initiated by his predecessor OH Se-hoon, and now he's pushing even further.

• In "Seoul City may halt free child care", we learn how Seoul Metropolitan City criticizes PARK Geun-hye's government for promoting a non-sustainable free child care program for all kids under 5. PARK Won-soon asks the government to raise its subsidies from 20 to 40% because unlike more demographically challenged regions, his financially challenged city has to cope with 408,000 of these little citizens. If he mentions the fact that 42% of them are raised in wealthy households (top 30% bracket), PARK Won-soon doesn't go all the way and say that 42% of these kids may not necessarily need a $180 check every month, because he himself was elected on a non-sustainable free meal program that contributes to the said deficit (reminder: ironically, OH Se-hoon was the one proposing the "leftist" model where the rich would pay for the poor - see "Welfare in Korea: the debate (or lack of)" 2012 and "Seoul free school lunch referendum (continued)" 2011).

But there's an awful lot to say about Seoul's new railway projects. We're Thursday and, as I just wrote this morning*, I haven't finished yet. So I'll post today the part about the big picture, and the one about the 10 Light Rail Transit projects will follow as soon as I can.

But first, my two cents about welfare.

*

1) On welfare:


Of course, that's just politics as usual. The Saenuri Party wants to claim back Seoul, and this free child care for all almost sounds like an ironic joke ("so you fancy universal freebies, uh?") at the expense of a man who could also become a serious menace for the 2017 presidential elections: elected as an independent, PARK Won-soon is now running for the DP, and leveraging Korea's most powerful local authority to multiply popular/populist initiatives, leaving his only potential rival to date AHN Cheol-soo very much isolated, with little political machinery around him, and little media coverage.

I already made my point about welfare state, the state of welfare, and the state of the debate on welfare in Korea. Again, PARK Won-soon must give up ideology and populism, embrace pragmatism, and among other things stop offering free meals to the wealthiest. And again, Saenuri and the governement must also give up their own ideology, populism and pharaonic pork-barrel projects, and among other things promote a sound and sustainable welfare system, and carry out the structural reforms needed to revive Korean demography (including in the education system...).

Unfortunately, reason remains most of the time a foreign word in Korean politics nowadays.

Significantly, in its revised Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Master Plan**, the city is using the word "welfare" to qualify new railway projects. That's typical PARK Won-soon "human-centric-on-the-fringe-of-populism" lingua, but I do believe in public service, and in public transports as a fundamental right for metropolitan citizens. Besides, "welfare" and "fare well" are akin.

I'm not for or against anyone. I want Seoul, the region, and Korea as a whole to succeed and to invest wisely when it's still possible. And when I say "Korea as a whole", I mean both Koreas: the frontier is very close, and it won't remain closed forever.

At this moment, just like Korea has a welfare deficit, Seoul has a railway deficit, so if you ain't broke, fix it.

*

2) On the revised Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Master Plan: yes, Seoul needs more railways...


10 years from now, all Seoulites shall live within a 10 min walk from a subway station. Or rather the overwhelming majority of Seoul citizens: the most remote parts of this mountainous city are not solely populated with Steve Austins, Jaime Sommerses, and other Usain Bolts.

The biggest gaping holes in the grid shall be significantly reduced (e.g. Seodaemun-gu, Geumcheon-gu, Northeast)

That's the ambitious target fixed in the revised Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Master Plan** expected (in whose dreams?) to be validated next year by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Seoul will officially submit the plan in September.

Compared to earlier versions, the vision has been a bit simplified at the macro level and complexified at the micro level. I'll get into the details for the suggested improvements to the "broadband" backbone and Light Rail Transit projects, but one thing is sure: Seoul does need more railways.

If I already questioned the economic viability of the new light rail lines, I disagree with those who think that buses will solve everything. Even if the Seoul bus network is very efficient, railways mean high capacity and consistency, and they represent the main backbone for any metropolis, a core element of multimodal transportation systems aiming at reducing the use of cars and promoting public services and greener individual modes (pedestrians, cyclists...).

Clearly, Seoul is still lagging behind key rival capitals. Subways carry only 36% of Seoul passengers (28% take buses / 31% cars or taxis / 5% other), compared to 86% in Tokyo (1 / 11 / 2%), 65% in London (8 / 25 / 2%), and 58% in Paris (9 / 28 / 5%).

By extending its rail network to 441 km, Seoul expects to raise the share of public transport from 64 to 75%. Today, its 327 km-long network is only 15% longer than that of Paris, a city six times smaller:

City	Daily users (M)	Tot. rail netwk (km)	Subway (km)	Light Rail (km)	Street-car (km)	Mono-rail (km)	Netwk per citizen (km / M)
LONDON	3.210	464	402	34	28	-	67
PARIS	4.180	283	218	-	65	-	43
TOKYO	8.500	354	306	16	17	18	40
SEOUL	7.010	327	327	-	-	-	31

3) ... but the big picture could be improved


At the macro level, Seoul wants to beef up its "broadband" backbone, and to strengthten the 'Hanyang-Gangnam-Yeouido' triangle. "Hanyang", that's the original name of Seoul, a more poetic word than "downtown", and a wide area encompassing a significant number stations... except the one supposed to be Seoul's main hub: sorry, but Seoul Station is not located within fortress walls!

Anyway, here's the big picture:

This map shows us the three above mentioned hubs, and four colorful axes:

• The blue axis refers to the future Sinansan Line (Seoul Station-Ansan Jungang): Phase 1 (Yeouido-Gwangmyeong) is expected by 2019, and the rest (Seoul Station-Yeouido + Gwangmyeong-Jungang) by 2022. Seoul city doesn't need to change the program.

• The purple axis refers to the Sinbundang Line, which Seoul would like to extend all the way to the new Samsong District in Goyang via Gwanghwamun, a project that would also alleviate traffic congestion on Subway Line 3 and Tongil-ro. For the moment, only the Gangnam-Yongsan section of the extension is scheduled (Phase 3 - 2018, via Sinnonhyeon, Nonhyeon, Sinsa, Dongbinggo or Seobinggo, and Ichon). Where would they pass by after that? Seoul mentions a 19.7 km extension between Donbinggo and Samsong, and we've seen similar projects before (see for instance "3 subway lines projects revived ?", 2 years ago), but this time Pyeongchang-dong could be in the loop: both sides of Jahamun tunnel seem to be awarded a dot in the above "before-after" map, and the other day I saw banners urging local authorities to keep their promises and to deliver the long expected subway... Anyway, intense lobbying should rage everywhere and at all levels until the elections.

• The pink axis refers to the Suseo High Speed Railway (Suseo-Dongtan KTX - see "New KTX vertical to Gangnam by 2015" - NB: Suseo also in a Korea Train eXpress project to Pyeongtaek). Seoul wants a 30.4 km-long extension between Suseo and Uijeongbu via Cheongnyangni to create a Dongtan-Uijeongbu line. Note that this pink axis doesn't pass by any of the three hubs, which proves that the presentation needs some fixing.

• The green axis refers to the GTX Line B. Expected for September 2016, the Great Train eXpress project consists of 3 lines, each one about 45-50 km-long:
  - GTX Line A is in the general direction of the "purple axis" (Sinbundang): initially from KINTEX (Ilsan/Goyang) to Dongtan New Town (Hwaseong) via Daegok, Yeonsinnae, Seoul Station, Gangnam Station, and Suseo (NB: the Suseo-Dongtan part corresponds to the KTX, stretching the line to 74.8 km overall).
  - GTX Line C is in the general direction of the "pink axis" (KTX): from Geumjeong to Uijeongbu via Gwacheon, Yangjae, Gangnam, Cheongnyangni, and Changdong/Sanggye.
  - Seoul city focuses on the GTX Line B, initially planned from Cheongnyangni to Songdo via Seoul Station, Yongsan, Yeouido, Sindorim, Dangarae, Bupyeong, and Incheon City Hall. But only the Songdo-Dangarae-or-Sindorim section seemed secured. Seoul suggests to change course, and to draw a southern express line across Seoul from Dangarae to Jamsil (30.3 km), via Gangnam of course. Note that GTX is not just 3 times faster than a standard subway, it also has fewer stations, which would shrink a trip from the COEX to Ilsan from 83 to 22 min in case of Line A, or a Songdo-Jamsil from 112 to 39 min according to this newly suggested route.

Frankly, I'd like to see a different presentation. If we want to improve the whole system, we need to understand the situation and the dynamics, the challenges. We need to see several maps of Seoul and its sudogweon region with all existing road and railway networks, all the projects already in the pipe, the ones already in discussion, but also the mountains and valleys, the demographics, the fluxes by transportation modes, the hubs and nodes, the bottlenecks of today and tomorrow (e.g. New Towns)... We need to visualize the present and the future.

Before getting the recos for the rapid transit, we want a big picture of the dynamics, regardless of the transportation networks that enable them. There are too few elements in the document released last month about transports (Vision 2030), and not many maps, let alone relevant ones. If the  previous administration can be blamed for many things, it was much better at communicating a strategic vision and at drawing maps, for instance in this slide from the 2006-2010 plan (Vision 2020):

Of course this map is debatable too. But here, we know much more what's going on, and what the city has in mind. We also know that before thinking Songdo, Dongtan or Uijeongbu, Seoul thinks - as it should - Incheon, Daejeon, Chuncheon, or Pyeongyang (talking about the big picture and tomorrow challenges!). Furthermore, we visualize a much more relevant selection of main hubs: we're neither forgetting Yongsan, nor neglecting the considerable effort around Sangam-Susaek and Cheongnyangni-Wangsimni to boost Northwest and Northwest Seoul and relieve downtown bottlenecks at the same time.

So back to the drawing board. And more maps, please. I love maps.

*

See also the following 2 focus on all LRT projects:
"Seoul LRT Projects Update (Part 1/2)"
(the full list of 7+3+3 projects, the "3-Tailed Dragon")
"Seoul LRT Projects Update (Part 2/2)"
(all other projects)


*

* Well, I already did that Monday on Twitter, but with a constraint of 2x140 characters:



#ParkWonsoon wants fair free child care (same as what #OhSehoon wanted for free meal program ^^!)
(9:55 PM - 29 Jul 13 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/361832451628216321)
#Seoul mayor #ParkWonsoon also flip-flopping regarding #OhSehoon's railway projects, according to @TheKoreaHerald
(9:58 PM - 29 Jul 13 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/361833197744562177)

 

*

Seoul Village 2013
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* if writing "Yonsei-ro the first street in Seoul to ban cars in its transportation mix" contributed to the delay, it also paved some of the way ahead
** see "'서울 어디서나 도시철도 10분' - 철도 중심시대가 열립니다" (seoul.go.kr 20130725)

Along Hongjecheon, my way or the highway

If Hongjecheon has been renovated a couple of years ago, this lovely stream remains disfigured by one of Seoul's most infamous elevated highways, the Naebu Expressway, here clearly visible behind Yujin Sanga and Inwang market:

I'm afraid Naebu won't be removed anytime soon: inaugurated in 1995, this "inner ring" is a vital rapid transit axis for cars across "gangbuk" Seoul (north of the Han river):

In a city sacrificed on the altar of real estate speculation, building over a waterway turned out to be the cheapest and fastest way to solve chronic traffic congestion, but the costliest in terms of environmental and urban impacts. Seoul's projects being on hold for the "U Smartway" underground expressways as well as for new subway lines in the area, we might have to wait for decades before the Cheonggyecheon scenario is reproduced here. And that's a shame, because Hongjecheon is dotted with absolutely charming sites. But to enjoy them, you have to use your imagination, and to mentally photoshop all this concrete out of your sight.

***

First, the big picture: Hongjecheon crosses Jongno-gu, Seodaemun-gu, and Mapo-gu, drawing a NE-SW diagonal (horizontal on this schema) from Bukhansan to the Han River:

1) Jongno-gu (a 4+ km ride along Pyeongchang-dong, Sinyeong-dong, and Hongji-dong):

Here, the young streamlet has been almost completely obliterated, and only short segments emerge on both sides of Segeomjeong-ro, Pyeongchang-dong's main road, at the bottom of the valley between Seodaemun-gu (West) and Songbuk-gu (East).

Right before the Segeomjeong-ro - Jahamun-ro crossroads, Hongjecheon draws an absolutely ravishing curve, with a small village at its tip. Unfortunately, redevelopment has already spoiled an area which would, in any other city, have remained a very picturesque neighborhood.

Gracefully, the stream then circles the hill crowned by Hongjimun, Seoul fortress's northern gate, while nesting at its feet the pavillion that gave its name to the road, Segeomjeong. But all you see is the big crossroads, where Jahamun-ro stops, at the entrance of Sangmyung University. Starting at Gyeongbokgung Station, the road that splits Seochon in its middle was widened when the Jahamun Tunnel was pierced, and prolonged here, where it looks more like the beginning of a highway.

A hundred meters further to the west, you leave Jongno for Seodaemun. 

2) Seodaemun-gu (a 6+km ride along Hongje-dong, Hongeun-dong, Namgajwa-dong, and Yeonhui-dong):

But you have yet to leave the Pyeongchang valley, and for that, Hongjecheon carved a glorious V-shaped gateway between Bukhansan and Inwangsan, and humans added a cute hamlet. But rushing through this natural bottleneck, the new and improved Segeomjeong-ro destroys all harmony at ground level, and Naebu Expressway takes care of the mountain, suddenly springing out of its Hongjimun Tunnel to expose its obscene mass over your head. To add insult to injury, the six "dong" of Yuwon Hana Apartment complex have been erected right on this spot. I wish I took pictures of this place before the concrete hit the fan...

You have now reached the northernmost part of another valley surrounded by a complex mountain system featuring Inwangsan, Bukhansan, Baekryeonsan, Yeonhuisan and Ansan. Here, separating Hongeun-dong and Hongje-dong, Hongjecheon draws another curve, this time much wider and heading north, as if to contemplate the scenery before dashing towards the Han river. If Naebu Expressway mercifully spared this curve (to gain a few costly hectometers), a couple of appartement blocks have been sprayed over the landscape. There used to be more than a few hanoks in the area, but I don't think many survived.

Soon after the loop, Naebu rides Hongjecheon's back again. Worse: the stream is fully covered by an older concrete monster, Yujin Sanga (유진상가). The long shopping arcade - or rather the Inwang Market it also hides - marks a strategic crossroads: here, Segeomjeong-ro becomes Yeonhui-ro and meets Tongil-ro, northeast Seoul's historic backbone.

You're in Hongje Station neighborhood, an urban question mark subject to countless renovation projects. Four years ago, there was a plan to build 50 story towers and a silver center there, and last time I mentioned this spot, it was to wonder about the future of Inwang Market ("Tongin market opens up to art : adaptation or yet another symptom of Seochon's "Bukchonization"?"). Seodaemun-gu just announced 500 residences for students (one site near the subway station, another in front of the Grand Hilton): there are more than a dozen universities nearby, and it could complete a Sinchon-Hongdae-Hongje triangle.

Anyway, I don't hear much about the stream in any renovation project. As if it didn't exist. And it precisely happens to be one of the few historic, cultural, and natural threads planners can leverage in the area.

Hongjecheon becomes more tourist-friendly when it meets Moraenae-ro: a fake waterfall and a promenade have been arranged in the last curve before the straight line to Hangang, and sport facilities regularly dot the usual bike lanes along the banks. It can't get much kitschier, but it works, and it reconciles whole neigborhoods with the old waterway.

Great risks and opportunities rise with Gajwa New Town / Gajaeul New Town growing up on the northern side (Namgajwa-dong / Moraenae-ro), and the smaller redevelopments planned on the southern side (Yeonhui-dong / Hongjecheon-ro). Again, this area "is expecting redeveloppement like Ellen Ripley her baby alien", and I'm not sure such eateries as Moraeae Seollongtang or Yeonhuigol Gumteo will survive.

Let's hope Seodaemun-gu and Seoul Metropolitan Government will not allow towers to be erected along the stream the way it did almost everywhere else, clogging the city even more instead of leveraging some of its most precious assets. To the contrary, it's a unique opportunity to improve urban and daily life harmony, and the pedestrian and cultural experience along Hongjecheon.

As you follow the current, you walk under the bridges of Hongyeongyo (at Yeonhui-ro), Hongyeon2gyo (at Gajwa-ro), and Hongnamgyo (at Jungga-ro), before reaching another major concrete and steel mess around Sacheongyo, where Hongjaecheon and Naebu Ringways cross a major road (Seongsan-ro/Susaek-ro), and a major railway (the Gyeonghui Line*). At this disgraceful frontier between Seodaemun-gu and Mapo-gu, the stream is a victim among others of urbanism gone wrong.

3) Mapo-gu (a 2+km ride along Yeonnam-dong, Seongsan-dong, Sangam-dong, and Mangwon-dong):

The final stretch now. Before merging with the Han River, Hongjecheon flows east-southeastwards in a sunken straight line, even more overwhelmed by road infrastructures. From above, people riding their bikes or using the free exercise machines almost look like inmates in a high security facility.

Between Mapo-gu City Hall and Seoul World Cup Stadium, just a few hundred meters before Hangang, the stream receives a last minute boost from Bulgwancheon, a lucky rival who saw no elevated highway ride piggyback along its path... Which, of course, doesn't mean urban planners will spare it.

Anyway. In a final concrete spaghetti extravaganza, Naebu Ringway and Seongsan-ro also rush towards the river, splitting into thinner elevated tentacles plungeing towards the riveside highways, or even reaching across the Hangang, as Seongsan-ro turns into Seongsan Bridge.

The general impression? Cars and roads everywhere, the negation of a city, the negation of its citizens, the negation of its natural landscape.

***

I would like to show two films in parallel: the journey we've just made along Hongjecheon, then and now, before and after the urban massacre.

My point is not that everything was better in the past (not always true), but that we must work on a better future. Maybe these two films could help trigger a third, animated one: a collaborative effort showing what could be reasonably done to right some of the wrongest wrongs.


Seoul Village 2012
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

* which by the way will be extended all the way to Gongdeok (inauguration by the end of this year).