Business as usual

As usual in Seoul, real estate and urbanism are never far from the headlines, but let's skip topical stuff and limit to mere footnotes recent controversies (this Seoul city erection in front of Jongmyo*? that measure from the national government**?).

Let's talk shop. 

You see in with those 'for rent' signs, you measure it with the speed at which new stores tend to close: small businesses are really feeling the pinch***. Part of it is conjunctural - the Korean economy as a whole is struggling, and demographics don't bode well for the future. Part of it is structural - more than COVID, the labor reforms that preceded changed fundamentally the street experience for Seoulites: used to a city that never slept, they're now coping with last orders at 9 pm or restaurants closing for dinner altogether.

And of course, more and more Koreans are now ordering everything online. Not just these GenZ who don't cook and limit their IRL shopping experiences to retailtainment or browsing Seongsu-dong's pop-up streets like their parents did with fashion magazines. Yes, Seoul's last mile equation is not sustainable (and as much as I appreciate last minute, early morning, ultra fresh deliveries, I'm glad their social costs are being investigated), but the trend is global, and all cities have to adapt.

It's harder to adapt when the urban hardware is obsolete. 

You're less inclined to contribute to your neighborhood's vitality when 'proximity' shops and services are not so close and in Seoul, apartment blocks tend to cut citizens from their city.

In the old gen 'apateu' blocks, a building devoted to businesses was generally included near the main entrance, sometimes in secondary entrances. This 'open ring' was seldom complete, but everybody walked or drove by these shops every day, particularly since few parking spaces were underground. These businesses belonged to the community.

Some housing complexes are more blended with their surroundings, their edges consisting of mixed use buildings. Even if there's less often greenery to compensate****, pedestrians enjoy (functionally speaking) a better street experience from the outside (urban continuity, diversity...). On the other hand, the inside may seem more exclusive. 

By nature mixed use buildings, officetels usually include shops and services. But when those take too big a share residents can easily feel overwhelmed. Many exclusive, high rise projects with only a couple of buildings have a mall on the lower floors, a 'vertical buffer' that's de facto a separate building with a devoted parking to preserve the residents' quality of life. But then, since it takes anyway 10 mn to leave your luxurious apartment and reach an entrance that's far from everything, many prefer to take their car and shop elsewhere, and this vertical city can turn into a tale of two cities. 

Another tricky model is what I call the 'captive cluster'; very common in greenfield 'new towns' across the capital region and around major cities. In the middle (in best cases) or at the edge (too often) of a group of apateu blocks that can involve different developer brands, urban planners insert a low rise block of mixed use buildings with all the shops and services on the ground floor. Some can be relatively well done, making the best of what's left of a natural landscape (e.g. waterways), and you can almost enjoy a village atmosphere that changes from the dull tombstone collections around, particularly since each lot owner build their own. But too often these clusters fail because there are not enough candidates to open shop*****, or because they've been poorly designed. 

Instead of an open grid, some of these clusters (particularly recent ones) propose only one or two car entrances and force visitors into a full round along a conveyor belt before exiting. On purpose, like a journey in an Ikea store makes you browse the whole catalogue. Except people move by car because these new towns are humongous, and the streets and parking spaces are seldom as entertaining, well drawn, and planned. Sometimes, these clusters are even split into two independent halves that don't communicate directly. And this 'captiveness' is actually a sales argument to recruit new businesses... Needless to say, not very sustainable.

 

If Seoul's 'MOA Town' concept signaled an evolution from massive tabula rasa to partial redevelopment, allowing more diverse cityscapes and ecosystems (see "From Human Town to Gather Town"), the market remains dominated by big projects, New Towns that obliterate real cities. 

It's not its big blocks but its remaining villages that make Seoul special. If we neuter them, if we destroy diversity, city centers will die. If we do nothing they'll die out, even if a few local markets miraculously manage to thrive and warm up whole neighborhoods.

I've been advocating pragmatic approaches to revive decaying city centers. They all involve bringing back inhabitants, even if that means designing exceptions to the rules, for example by allowing mixed uses in low rise business areas, or small scale revamps that involve shared facilities or obligations (e.g. elevators, parking spaces). Some may be implemented, stay tuned.

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* ICYMI Seoul city decided to replace Sewoon Sangga with a park between Jongmyo and Namsan, but also to 'compensate' by allowing much taller buildings in the vicinity, which of course doesn't fit preservation or UNESCO Heritage guidelines:

 

Adieu #SewoonSangga. #Seoul to replace #KimSwoogeun landmark with a park between #Jongmyo & #Namsan. But bdg heights raised to 71.9m on #Jongro (+16.9) & 141.9m on #Cheonggyecheon (+43.2). Will #UNESCO accept? #세운상가 #urbanism (20251104 SeoulVillage on X)

** ICYMI the government extended Seoul's speculative zone from the 3 usual districts (Gangnam, Songpa, Seocho) to the whole city, which resulted in a freeze in transactions (except in the 3 districts that became relatively more attractive), and a hike in rental costs. Like previous reforms, the aim seems to be crushing further the middle class and making first purchases impossible (the guy in charge of the reforms was driven by his idea that first time homeowners tended to vote more conservative)....

*** Big players are not spared, but if HomePlus will yet again change hands (Carrefour, HomeEver, Tesco... WhatEver?), its financial trouble have a lot to do with MBK Partners' disastrous management.

**** Wangsimni New Town's Majang-ro 19-gil sets a better example with dense trees on both sides,  

***** yes, these new towns also include new schools, so it's not just dwellings that are in oversupply nationwide
 

Don't miss Le Corbusier in Seoul... The artist, not the urban planner!

Voluptuous sculptures, delicate aquarels, explosions of forms and colors...

... frankly, these are not the first things that come to mind when you think Le Corbusier and Seoul. For me, the association rather suggests that radical 1925 Plan Voisin for Paris, where he imagined the destruction of two square miles at the center of the capital to make room for what now looks like your classic Seoul New Town:

This model for Corbu's Plan Voisin (1925) looks like most 2016 mock ups in Seoul new town model houses. And Jeanneret would turn in his grave if he saw how his pilotis are used and abused across the Korean capital...

But mercifully, the not-to-be-missed exhibition at Seoul Arts Center doesn't venture into that particular dimension of Le Corbusier's amazingly prolific mind.

Le Corbusier Special Exhibition
Hangaram Design Museum (sac.or.kr)
2016.12.06(TUE) - 2017.03.26(SUN) - 11:00-19:00 (MAR 11:00-20:00)

Corbu time. Inauguration of Le Corbusier expo at Seoul Arts Center (With Antoine Picon - 20161206 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/806049947996950528)

If I braced for something big, I certainly didn't expect anything that overwhelming. This isn't an exhibition, but a full art museum devoted to a bulimic absorber of cultural influences, encompassing almost all forms of art, architecture being almost reduced to a pleasant background music, flowing naturally as the artist's lightest composition.

Many works have never been exhibited, and this prefigures an actual Le Corbusier museum in a much wider way than say last year's retrospective in Paris... even if the poster looks familiar (and even if, somehow, that one also struck a musical chord):

The weird music of architecture: these days you can play Le Corbusier on a Renzo Piano - Centre Pompidou, Paris (20150707 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/618311100606644224)

Flanking commissioner and Ronchamp expert Daniele Pauly, Ambassadors Linus von Castelmur (Switzerland) and Fabien Penone (France). Special mention to the former for elegantly mentioning in his opening speech even the most controversial sides of Corbu, as all nations and the UNESCO celebrate his cultural impact*

Many of Corbu artworks echo great artists (Picasso, Braque, Schiele..), but I have a weakness for this almost childish 'Paysage parisien imaginaire' (1917) - a dream-nightmare-ish view of Paname blended with Istanbul, with a contrast between colorful life and dark death (hanged man, war plane, constrained ships...)

Significantly, the artist is most celebrated as a great architect in a colorless, side space, under the eyes of Tadao Ando.

C for Corbu - Le Corbusier in Seoul (20161206 - instagram.com/p/BNrA2gzDfX4)

Anyway, don't you dare miss this major event. And if you happen to pass by Paris, don't miss his appartement-atelier, which literally speaks volume about the man*.
    
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* via La Fondation Le Corbusier's website - fondationlecorbusier.fr

Japan taking a stand against ABEIGNomics?

At long last, the Japanese people seems to be starting to realize where Shinzo Abe wants to lead their nation, and to grow uncomfortable with that prospect. The days of Abe's government are not yet counted, and Japan's political system is far from purging itself from Nippon Kaigi and its likes, but this nascent debate on core democratic issues is more than welcome.

Japanese moderates waking up! The Abe / Nippon Kaigi anti-democratic agenda exposed!

The best news is of course the fact that moderate voices are making themselves heard in the peninsula. 


Consider this: just weeks ago (see "Under Coverage"), only Shigeaki Koga dared stand up for press freedom, and now the pressure is on the ones who pledged to destroy it. The LDP even had to distance itself from the extremists who said out loud what was behind Abe's controversial state secrets laws. Their profiles speak volumes and typically, Minoru Kihara, who lost his job at the youth section, openly supports Nippon Kaigi, while Hideo Onishi, who got slammed for saying "we must punish some of the media organizations that are reporting about the security legislation and baselessly saying it would lead to war"*, openly supports the fundamentalist shinto lobby Sinseiren.

At last, people are starting to worry more about a success of ABEIGNomics than about a failure of ABEnomics. The support of post-war Japan's peaceful constitution has regained momentum: pro-peace demonstrations are drawing bigger crowds and wider media coverage, and recent polls show that two out of three refuse Abe's project of revising Article 9.

Before reviewing the constitution, the most revisionist Prime Minister may have to review his own copy.

Even as the Shinzo Abe fatigue grows, still no responsible leadership emerging home or abroad

If Abe remains relatively popular for a Japanese PM, he just received for the first time in his mandate more negative than positive opinions in a poll (Mainichi, by a close 43 to 42% margin). And if his ruling party LDP remains unlikely to lose national elections in any foreseeable future, criticisms are growing within its ranks. Abe himself is not always directly targeted, but more members of his extremist entourage are feeling more pressure every day.

Abe keeps playing the usual Abe game, focusing on his lifetime priority: the destruction of postwar Japan. But as he tries to convince an increasingly doubtful public to adopt his ironically dubbed "Legislation for Peace and Security", he's risking to lose support from his hardcore base. 

In order to get its controversial** industrial sites on UNESCO World Heritage List, Japan had to issue a statement mentioning the existence of forced labor, a concession very hard to swallow for Nippon Kaigi, but also for Abe and Aso themselves, both members of families directly involved in these human rights abuses. 

Of course, whether Japan will fulfill these promises remains to be seen, and South Korea and China will be watching closely. 

I wish they were more constructive, supportive of the peaceful Japan Abe and Nippon Kaigi pledged to destroy. We can't count on the self-proclaimed champion of democracy to help Japan proclaim its independence from Imperial Japan, since the US decided, suicidally, to unconditionally support Abe's revision of Article 9 (see ""History is harsh" and other sick jokes"). 


Hold your horses

Overall, I'm cautiously more optimistic than last year on the chances of seeing the Japanese people take a stand for their democracy, and/or the LDP starting to seek a sustainable future, with sounder leaders, and fewer rotten branches.  

And we could still ask the same questions as before last year's elections (see "It's the democracy, stupid"):
- are Abenomics at last meeting reality?
- can Abe's pseudo-diplomatic offensive pay?
- with or without Abe as PM, will Nippon Kaigi be confirmed as the de facto ruler of Japan?

And time keeps running short. 

Yesterday, Choi Geum-seon halmoni passed away. After Kim Youn-hee halmoni and the others who preceded her over the past few months. Now South Korea counts only 48 survivors of Imperial Japan sex slavery system. Again, standing for them is also standing not against Japan, but for its future ("'Comfort Women': No Resolution Without Resoluteness. From Everyone, Please.").

Sad to see our dear halmoni #KimYounhee die without closure from #Japan about #ImperialJapan #sexslavery http://youtu.be/9a3nF82i1Gw (20150625 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/613912171907395584)

We must also stand for Japan's youth, bombarded with ultranationalist and xenophobic propaganda, following familiar patterns from history's most murderous century. 

Abe and co. fuel mutual hatred because they need tensions to justify their agenda. And it works. Outrageously violent pamphlets multiply across Japanese bookstores. They won't cause the kind of massacres that followed the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, but they certainly don't bode well for the future of Japan and the region.

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* "Disciplined LDP lawmaker once again calls for punishing media" (Asahi Shimbun - 20150701)
** a long story, see for example "Hashima, Yawata Steel: enshrining slave labor in UNESCO World Heritage List?" (2013)

Gwanghwamun, Donhwamun, and the Tale of two Royal Roads

Seoul is about to renovate the two streets leading to its main royal gates: Sejong-daero (Gwanghwamun, Gyeongbokgung's gate) and Donhwamun-ro (Donhwamun, Changdeokgung's gate). Needless to say, these are key locations, and authorities have to make sure that they do it right, and that to start with, there is a consistent and sustainable vision for Seoul's future.

*

In the case of Sejong-daero, the idea is to attach Gwanghwamun Square to the Western side, which somehow means a return to the initial plan of a wider area in front of the Sejong Cultural Center. The main motivation seems to be money: the massive foot traffic on the square would generate much more revenue there. Why not indeed? Let's see what it means when you consider the two most likely scenarii:

• If the plaza is extended westwards: 6 lanes of traffic will disappear, and I'm perfectly okay with that, but only if all impacts are taken into account, and I'm not sure that's the case. To be consistent, Seoul authorities must have a clear strategy to reduce car traffic downtown - like most major cities. Unfortunately, several projects (e.g. from Jahamun to the Yulgok Tunnel) seem bound to generate more bottlenecks in a near future.

• If a new plaza is built to the west instead of the central one: we are back to square(!) one and a huge highway in the middle of the city - 12 lanes of traffic! It would destroy not only Seoul's most valuable perspective (Sejongdaero-Gwanghwamun-Gyeongbokgung-Bugaksan-Bukhansan), but also Seoul's most vital pedestrian connector downtown (see links at the end of this post).

(addendum 20141025) Rendering of the project where the Gwanghwamun Plaza is moved westwards, recreating the central highway that used to ruin downtown Seoul (source "광화문광장, 세종문화회관 쪽으로 이전 추진" (Hankyoreh 20140930). A total urban disaster, but maybe the actual aim of the game is to prevent demonstrations, the only case where it would make sense (much easier to close the area with much fewer troops).

I'm against the plan to move Gwanghwamun Plaza next to Sejong Center: makes more money, but destroys royal perspective + cars rule again - 20141011 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520781390309126144

*

In the case of Donhwamun-ro, the idea is to boost tourism in a major but under-exploited historic neighborhood. A couple of years ago, I applauded the planned destruction of the two gas stations that faced the gate, but also shared concerns about the impacts of the Yulgok Tunnel on area. In this case, I'm at the same time glad that, at long last, the Changdeokgung-Jongmyo axis is considered as a key asset, and very much worried about how the whole project could backfire if handled carelessly: this is typically one of these time capsules you want to deal with carefully. How to revive the area without 'bukchonizing' it, without creating an artificial touristic hotspot and worse, a short-lived speculation heaven?

This area has already significantly evolved over the past decade. Here are the neighborhoods directly concerned:

• At the center, covering Donhwamun-ro itself: Waryong-dong and Myo-dong (the former also includes large sections of the palace, and even a part of Jongmyo - otherwise mostly in the Hunjeong-dong sphere). 
• To the north: Wonseo-dong and the Palace
• To the west, towards Unhyeongung and Insa-dong: Unni-dong, Nagwon-dong, Donui-dong, and the already endangered Ikseon-dong.
• To the east, towards Jongmyo: Gwonnon-dong, Bongik-dong
• To the south: Jongno-3-ga and Cheonggyecheon

Let's see this new project* in details:

• Where the gas stations used to be, an exhibition hall for traditional culture and a Gugak Arts Center will be constructed, creating a hanokish triangle with the gate. How to feed these cultural venues without depriving existing structures remains to be seen, but it's clearly a much more UNESCO-friendly scenery than the love motels behind.
  
• The 600 m stretch between Donhwamun and Cheonggyecheon will be "reconstructed", and I'm afraid this street could lose its vintage charm. This is a perfectly proportioned street lined with old trees, so please don't try to 'reconstruct' it. You wouldn't want to ruin everything the Jogyesa-way (its streetside now a sanitized disneyland), or even the Jeongdong-gil-way (see the "Jeongdong-kill" asphalt mess). On the positive side, Donhwamun-ro could become pedestrian, like Yonsei-ro**. 

Seoul should remember that it put the restoration of its fortress on hold because the UNESCO didn't think that it hadn't been done properly until then... the priority here is to secure the area from speculative alterations.

Joseon Seoul: in today's KJD, more on the restoraion of Donhwamun Royal Road - 20141023 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/525086786767179776

Bonus: it would be nice to avoid the usual touristic fakes. I'm shivering just thinking about yet another embarrassing costumed reenactment. You know, after the changing of the guards at Deoksugung or Gyeongbokgung, something like 'watch the King perform his royal walk along the royal road'?

That's okay if you want to entertain duty-free shoppers on Incheon Airport's Airstar Avenue, but don't you think Changdeokgung and Jongmyo deserve something better?

*

See also:

• All posts related to Gwanghwamun, Donhwamun, or Yulgok-ro
• "Yulgokno Tunnel" (2012)
• "Gwanghwamun inauguration" (2010)
• "Changdeokgung : from station to station to ashes to ashes" (2010)
• "Jongno-gu renovation (continued)" (2010)
• "Gwanghwamun Plaza - The Aftermath" (2009)
• "Inwangsan's Great Wall and Seoul's Royal "T" Time" (2009)
• "Gwanghwamun Square" (2008)
• ...

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* "Royal road in Seoul will be restored" (Korea JoongAng Daily 2014/10/23)
** see "Yonsei-ro the first street in Seoul to ban cars in its transportation mix"

---UPDATE 20141025---
I added an illustration of the future Gwanghwamun Plaza, which clearly shows the return to a central highway.

Dokdo, Senkaku, Ieodo, Kuril,... Hashima?

Some day, Hasbro will make a fortune by releasing a Far East Islands Edition of its popular Risk board game. That would require anamorphic maps where islets no bigger than shrimp farts would outsize mainland China, so that each player could place all his armies and nuclear warheads.

Impossible to list all the hotspots, but they must involve at least two nations. To name some of the biggest stars
- Dokdo (Korean, claimed by Japan)*
- Senkaku (claimed by Japan and China)**
- Ieodo (claimed by Korea and China)***
- Kuril (claimed by Russia and Japan)
- Taiwan (claimed by China and... Taiwan)
- Gushiddink-do (claimed by the Netherlands and Korea... Gus kiddin'. Well barely, actually)
- ...

No one has lived on Hashima since the mid seventies, but no one contests the fact that this speck belongs to Japan. It's just that Korea has something to say about its submission to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.


"Do you remember?"
A poster similar to this ad
(published in the NYT last may) has just
been installed on Times Square. Koreans
ask Japanese politicians to officially
apologise, like Chancelor Willy Brandt
did when he knelt in front of the Warsaw
memorial for victims of the Holocaust

Hashima is truly an amazing and spectacular site. Mitsubishi used to own this island very rich in coal: the company built industrial facilities and dwellings over the mine, closed them in 1974, and eventually ceded everything to Nagasaki Prefecture ten years ago. I remember a beautifully scary documentary, a long time ago, about this islet fully covered with abandoned concrete structures on the verge of collapse.

On Thursday****, the Korean government announced that it refused to see Hashima join the UNESCO list in 2015, because that's a place where 800 Koreans were forced into dangerous and inhumane labor, sometimes tortured, or killed. It happened during WWII, and the lucky ones who survived the ordeal were sent to Nagasaki to help clean the mess after the nuclear bombing, adding radiation to insult and injury.

The claim is not new, but new research has been delivered by a governmental agency created in 2005, the Commission on Verification and Support for Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism, which already revealed last summer that, of the 7.8 million Koreans mobilized under Japanese rule (1910-1945), over 226,000 have been registered as victims.

Lately, Korean authorities have been toying with Godwin's law, and the parallel between atrocities committed across Asia under Imperial Japanese rule, and the Holocaust perpetrated by their Nazi friends in Germany. Like that "Do you remember?" campaign in the US demanding official apologies for sex slavery / "Comfort Women". In the same vein, a UNESCO listing of Hashima as a simple "industrial site" would be equivalent to the listing of Auschwitz-Birkenau under the same category.

Outrageous? Yes, because the Shoah cannot be commoditized. But certainly less outrageous than the parallel between the victims of WWII bombings in Okinawa and the victims of the Pol Pot regime*****.

And certainly less outrageous than the revisionism institutionalized within Japan's political system. Again, Japan's failure to address its duty to remember lies at the root of too many problems. And again, the longer the task is postponed, the higher the risks of fueling anger across the region (particularly since that's the very aim of the game).

I suggest Hashima be listed only if it's with a clear and full mention of all sides of the coin. Visitors should not come out marvelling about the engineering wonder, but thinking about how deep humans can dig themselves into.

I'm not sure Mistubishi will support the motion.


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* see all posts related to Dokdo,
** see the recent focus "Japan politics? No to Comfort women, yes to Political whoring"
*** see "Ieodo: I smell a fish" and other posts related to Ieodo
****  see Korean press, including "Hashima ― forgotten island of tragedy" (Korea Herald 20121004)
** see "Ad Nauseam: about Dark Tourism, the Blind Spots of Memory, and Free Thrashing Agreements"

---
UPDATE - typo title

Gyeonggi Business & Culture Networking Day

Following the success of Seoul Global Business Support Center networking events*, KBC (Korea Business Central) organizes with Gyeonggi Province, and the GAFIC (Gyeonggi Association of Foreign Invested Companies) the first Gyeonggi Business & Culture Networking Day.

It was only a matter of when and where for Steven S. Bammel : KBC's founder is an FDI Advisor to Gyeonggi-do and a consultant to GAFIC :
- the when ? Saturday, October 8, 2011, starting at 2 PM for the cultural experience.
- the where ? The prestigious Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site surrounding the old city of Suwon.

A very impressive venue, and a great opportunity to meet with key members of the province's thriving business ecosystem.

For all details and online registration (only KRW 10,000 for early birds !), connect to KBC's website. Also :
- Gyeonggi Province : gg.go.kr
- KBC : KoreaBusinessCentral.com
- GAFIC : gafic.or.kr

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* see "SGBSC + KBC : small business & big party", "Seoul Global Business Networking Event 2011"

Seoul Fortress Walls (re)completed by 2014

Seoul confirmed that the restoration of its 18.6 km fortress (see "Donuimun Restoration and Sadaemun Resurrection") would be finished in 2014, and that it would keep pushing for the inscription of this most defining cultural asset on the UNESCO Heritage list.

Of course, the monument itself cannot be fully rebuilt since whole sections are now occupied by roads or (often private) buildings. The idea is to fake seamlessness for pedestrians by building overpasses mimicking the walls, where possible. That's what I expected for Donuimun, but it is now planned around Sungnyemun / Namdaemun and Heunginjimun / Dongdaemun, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another overpass at Hyehwamun. In other sections, the walls shall be more symbolically materialized on the ground.

Let's hope these overpasses will be delicately built... and not serve as alibis to remove pedestrian crossings in key traffic hubs.

Jongno-gu officials have recently started promoting full circle hikes along the wall, and here's their estimation of the distances for pedestrians between each monument. I'll follow their order to drop a few updates about the fortress, starting from Dongdaemun* :

- Heunginjimun (Dongdaemun) to Jangchung Gymnasium (장충체육관, near Dongguk University Station) via Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Gwanghuimun : 1.695 km / 1 hour. Three sections of the wall are missing : on both sides of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza Park, and after the Gwanghuimun Park.

- Jangchung Gymnasium to Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) via Namsan, N Seoul Tower : 4.617 km / 3 hours. Most of Namsan is covered but three sections are missing, the longest in the final stretch, the small hill hosting the Namsan Public Library. Both sides of Sungnyemun are also disconnected from the wall.

- Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) to Donuimun (Seodaemun), or rather Samsung Gangbuk Hospital : 1.4 km / 50 mn. This is the most damaged section : only a short stretch of wall remains along Sogongno (Sogong-dong). Donuimun itself must be completely rebuilt.

- Donuimun (Seodaemun) to Jongno Culture and Sports Center (Gwanghwamun Art Hall) : 800 m / 25 mn. The wall has been partly restored at the top of the hill separating Gyeonghuigung from what will become Gyeonam New Town (now known as Donhuimun New Town). There, near Hong Nan-pa's house (now a small cute museum), a public garden was inaugurated. And as we saw earlier, the triangle of hanok restaurants between the hospital and Gyeonghuigung will be replaced by another public garden, and the wall shall be prolonged with an overpass to the gate, the key missing gate but not for long anymore. At the other end, a group of "villas" prevents the connection with the main section of the wall, which starts above Sajik Tunnel and goes all the way to Seongbuk-dong.

- Jongno Culture and Sports Center (Gwanghwamun Art Hall) to Changuimun (Buksomun, better known as Jahamun) : 3.1 km / 2 hours. This Inwangsan stretch may be my favorite one : I sat countless times on a rock to enjoy one of the best views over Seoul (see the 2009 focus "Inwangsan's Great Wall and Seoul's Royal "T" Time"), and not only after a stop at the center's swimming pool !

- Changuimun (Buksomun / Jahamun) to Sukjeongmun (Bukdaemun) : 2 km / 90 mn. This Buam-dong / Seongbuk-dong section includes a Bukhansan summit (344.2 m).

- Sukjeongmun (Bukdaemun) to Waryong Park : 1.5 km / 25 mn. Jongno-gu suggests to reach Samcheonggak from Bukdaemun (400m Northwards / 15 mn), or Samcheong Park from Malbawi Information Center (600 m Southwards / 20 mn, the center being on the way, 200 m after Bukdaemun, on the other side of Samcheong Tunnel).

- Waryong Park to Hyehwamun (Dongsomun) : 1.215 km / 30 mn. The final Heyhwa-dong stretch of the wall doesn't exist anymore. Only a few meters subsist before the Hyehwa Gate, which towers over Dongsomunno and could be typically linked to the next section, just across the street, with an overpass.

- Hyehwamun (Dongsomun) to Heunginjimun (Dongdaemun) : 2.3 km / 1 hour. Another pleasant journey along Naksan. We now know that the new park at the Dongdaemun end of this mountain will be connected to the gate.


Seoul Village 2011

* about the names of the gates (daemun and somun), see the focus "Donuimun Restoration and Sadaemun Resurrection"

Oegyujanggak books returned

They're back. Or at least 75 of them. The rest of the 297 Oegyujanggak volumes will arrive by the end of May 2011.

This is a major mediatic event (and not only for Asiana Airlines, who sponsored beyond the shipment the mugs of experts interviewed on the TV) : in 1866, following the massacre of French missionaries, French troops brought back home (or looted, if you prefer) royal books from the Joseon dynasty and the Oegyunjanggak library and Korean authorities have been asking for their return ever since they discovered that the treasure was still held in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

About twenty years ago, President Francois Mitterrand brought one volume on a permanent lease during his salesman trip to Korea (said Korea ended up with the TGV but not the rest of the books), and last year, Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to finish the job after the Seoul G20 Summit. This time, the lease is automatically renewable, and required a vote at the French national assembly (the transfer got many museums nervous).

The most valuable Korean book kept in France remains Jikji, recognized by the UNESCO as the world's first metal type (1377, decades before Gutenberg's Bible).

Seoul Village 2011

Hahoe Village now a UNESCO World Heritage site

Back from Gyeongsangbuk-do, the first thing I saw this morning on the newspaper was the picture of the very place I stayed in : Hahoe Village in Andong city has just been added to the prestigious World Heritage List*, along with Yangdong Village in Gyeongju city**.

Hahoe Maeul definitely deserves the honour for its exceptional site and cultural value, both well preserved.

The comparison with Naganeupseong, another Korean "folk village" I love***, tells a lot about Korean culture :

- Naganeupseong (낙안읍성) is a folk village located in Jeollanam-do, a region blessed for agriculture but always dominated politically by Southeastern Korea. Mostly inhabited by farmers working in the fields around the village and sometimes within it, the village is protected by fortified walls and castle gates (thus the "eupseong" name), and all houses are thatch-roofed and have the brown-orangish color of clay earth. It's a lovely site and a great place to stay overnight if you want to experience the traditional country life.

- Hahoe Maeul is more a "noble" (yangban) than a "folk" village. Its protections are natural : it almost looks like the bulging half of a yin-yang symbol wrapped with Hwacheon stream, with cliffs and mountains at a close distance. Founded by Yu Seong-ryong (Ryu Seong-ryong, 1542–1607), a prestigious Prime Minister and Confucian scholar, Hahoe belongs to its clan : the Pungsan Ryu, or the Yu / 유 family from Pungsan-myeon, this part of Andong city, the heart of Korea's politically dominant region, and an area lined with estates (jongtaek / 종택) still now owned by descendants of clan founders****. Hahoe Folk Village boasts many rich tiled-roof hanoks with white-painted walls, some with two-storey buildings, and in the very elegant local architecture. There are also fields and farms, but even the thatched-roof homes are bigger and less humble than in Nagan. The atmosphere is different, but people are also very kind for such a touristic area. In Hahoe, you can experience either the "noble" or the "commoner" stay for a relatively moderate price, except for the most exclusive residences. More upscale but previously derelict sites are under renovation, and the UNESCO label could change the price tags next year... but I hope people won't change too much.

Also of significance : Hahoe is the place Queen Elisabeth II chose to visit back in 1999. She wouldn't pick the charming Naganeupseong but Andong, the symbol of Korean nobility. What the Queen could meditate is the fact that in Korea, you don't inherit nobility titles : they are awarded to people who deserved them for what they have done and the way they behaved, and I guess that's all nobility should be about.

Which leads us to Confucius, because Gyeongsangbuk-do also happens to be the center of Korean neo-Confucianism, and the region is full of "seowon" or Confucian Schools from the Joseon era.

Unsurprisingly, Byeongsan Seowon (병산서원) is included in the UNESCO list as part of the Hanoe cluster : founded after Yu Seong-ryong, the academy is located on the same side of the river, but on the other side of a small hill now covered with a forest. Likewise, the Yangdong cluster includes two seowon : Oksan Seowon (옥산서원) and Donggang Seowon (동강서원).

Sponsored by the state, the best Gyeongbuk seowon produced country's elite and during the Joseon dynasty, politics and Confucianism fed each other in the region, relegating Buddhism to the background. Yet, temple lovers have many places to visit or to stay in, like Bongjeongsa.

The mix of Confucianism with politics is symbolized by Yi Hwang (1501-1570) : a key figure in both fields and an advisor to Korean kings, he served the country in troubled times and never accepted a political position higher than the local level his mother advised him never to surpass if he wanted to keep both feet on the ground. After Yi's death, his Confucian academy became Dosan Seowon, Gyeongbuk's most famous seowon, in what is now the Dosan-myeon part of Andong city. With its dozen buildings, the complex has elegant proportions and faces a small pavillion on the top of a round hill rising from a vast valley. A perfect place to learn and to read, even if no books are to be seen on the wooden shelves of the old publishing building.

In case you never set foot outside of Seoul, Yi's face and school appear on KRW 1,000 bank notes and his pen name, Toegye, might ring a bell : Toegyero (the road parallel to Jongro, Cheonggyecheon, and Uljiro) is named after him.

On an even more trivial note : on the way to Dosan Seowon, I had a great time at the yearly gut festival of Waryong-myeon. Nothing to do with food (that's "gut" as in 굿, the shamanic ritual, not the entrails), but the local administration offered the meal to anyone attending... and I'm afraid the local broadcasters caught me among the joyful crowd of old farmers, wolfing down delicious naengmyeon, bossam, and pumpkin after watching masked comedians playing a farce in Gyeongbuk dialect.

Even if Gyeongbuk is less famous than Jeolla for food, I put on an additional kilo every day. Local delicacies, and of course, once more, Andong Jjimdalk, were to blame. I could have stayed much longer : if not Confucian wisdom, I surely would have reached Buddha's shape in no time.

I also liked breakfast at Jirye Art Village, a nice spot if you're looking for a hanok stay in a very remote area. The other day, summer flowers and butterflies made the trip even more enjoyable on the winding way to the village - even if, to paraphrase Tom Waits, I did notice that the road needed a haircut, kudzu sometimes pointing its greedy fingers towards the opposite side. The village owner, a poet, grew up in buildings that, as cultural assets, were later moved up from the valley when the Imha dam was erected. I stayed in the cute house with a view on the lake.

There are so many places to visit in Gyeongsangbuk-do, one of Korea's most popular touristic destinations. Check the region's official website (gbtour.net) for updates. I, lazy me, just jotted down some of the places mentioned here on Seoul Village map :
=> Dosan Seowon (도산서원) : 680 Togye-ri, Dosan-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
=> Hahoe Folk Village (하회마을) : Hahoe-ri, Pungcheon-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
=> Yangdong Village (양동마을) : Yangdong-ri, Gangdong-myeon, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk- do
=> Jirye Artists' Colony (지례예술촌 - Jirye.com) : 769 Bakgok-ri, Imdong-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
=> Bongjongsa (봉정사, temple) : 901, Taejang-ri, Seohu-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do


Seoul Village 2010


* see on UNESCO's website : "World Heritage Committee inscribes seven cultural sites on World Heritage List" and the page "Historic Villages of Korea : Hahoe and Yangdong".
** I passed by several yangban villages in Gyeongbuk (like Sanun Village in Uiseong-gun), but didn't visit that one, much closer to Pohang.
*** see "Return to Naganeupseong"
**** it's not rare to hear two people sharing the same surname compare their origins when they first meet, to know which clan they belong to, for example I'm a Uiseong Kim, how about you ? Always this habit of checking if you're part of a common circle (ie university, church...).

Changdeokgung : from station to station to ashes to ashes

The other day*, I was not fully convinced by the final project of tunnel between Jongmyo and Changdeokgung : once more, priority was given to cars over public transports, pedestrians and bicycles. And instead of bringing two areas closer, it's as if a new mountain were erected to pull them further apart...

But yesterday, I was pleased to learn that, on the Western side of the tunnel, both gas stations facing Donhwamun (Changdeok Palace main gate) would be removed : until then, only one of the two (I didn't know which one - in Gwanhun-dong / West) or Unni-dong / East) was planned for destruction.

I already voiced my outrage to see the main entrance to a UNESCO World Heritage, Changdeokgung, be disgraced by those gas stations, but I was confident change would come : Jongno-gu intends to extend Insadong tourist area towards Jongmyo, reviving Donhwamun-gil and Sulla-gil on the way. And indeed, the place has dramatically evolved over the past few years, not always for the better : anticipating conservation laws, many Hanok owners replaced their traditional houses with modern structures more fit (to their eyes only of course) for business, ruining the atmosphere.

So it's decided now : the two gas stations will be destroyed in 2012, and the following year two new buildings will be inaugurated : a Royal Life History Digital Gallery (궁중생활사 디지털전시관), and a Traditional Art Hall (돈화문 국악예술당), likely to lure many tourists this side of Yulgokno. I hope the architecture will be more responsible and sustainable than recent tourist traps but anyway, it'll beat oil spills.

Seoul Village 2010

* see "Jongno-gu renovation - continued"

International Archival Culture Exhibition

I almost missed this poorly advertised exhibition but luckily enough passed by the COEX today and saw the billboards : "International Archival Culture Exhibition" with the UNESCO label, that sounded interesting.

Yet I didn't expect to see a genuine Gutenberg bible from Germany, Nelson Mendela's arrest warrant from South Africa, Chopin manuscripts from Poland, Tripitaka Koreana plaques or pages from Joseonwangjosillok, Seungjeongwon Ilgi, Donguibogam or Uigwe from Korea... and many other items listed in UNESCO Memory of the World. The exhibition also includes presentations of national archives from 19 countries, and a comprehensive Korean hall mixing history with popular culture (music, movies, TV, comic books, political posters...).

A small BtoB sub-expo features international specialists representing the usual archiving industries (scanning, filing, storage...), the National Library of Korea and its "Dibrary", but also Kyobo and its ambitions in the ebook ecosystem, and even a booth devoted to the Millennial Anniversary of one of Korea's most outstanding cultural assets, the Tripitaka Koreana (1011-2011)**. The ultimate Buddhist tripitaka will be celebrated for 45 days*** through a festival organized by its host temple Haeinsa and regional administrations (Gyeongsangnam-do, Hapcheon-gun).

I guess the main virtue of the event / party will be to raise awareness in Korea and abroad. Once more : surrounded by beautiful Gayasan, Haein temple and its Janggyeong Panjeon are definitely worth the visit, but check ahead if the treasure has been reopened to the public**.


Seoul Village 2010

* IACE 2010 (COEX - June 1-6th, 2010)
** see "Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon"
*** between 09.23 and 11.06, 2011 - website : tripitaka2011.com

UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education in Seoul, 7 more candidates for the World Heritage List

You've seen the banners downtown, and on the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism : between May 25 and 28, 2010, Seoul hosts the 2nd World Conference on Arts Education*. UNESCO Director-General Irina Georgieva arrived ahead of the conference, right after the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, to discuss all fields of cooperation between her organization and Korea, beyond the topics raised this week by experts from 190 countries and the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures.

The occasion, maybe, to talk about recent submissions on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage. We've seen how active Korea is in that field, and in 2010, the country submitted no fewer than 7 new properties :

=> 2 submissions for ancient mountain fortresses ("sanseong") :

. Namhansanseong in Gwangju (Gyeonggi-do)

. Chungcheongbuk-do Ancient Mountain Fortresses : Samnyeonsanseong (Boeun-gun), Sangdangsanseong (Cheongju), Chungjusanseong (Chungju), Deokjusanseong (Jecheon), Ondalsanseong (Danyang), Jangmisanseong (Chungju), and Mireuksanseong (Geosan).

=> 2 submissions in favor of the Baekje heritage, encompassing city-level clusters, very much like Gyeongju (and once more honoring Korea's great funeral tradition) :

. Gongju and Buyeo Historic Sites : Baekje heritage in Gongju-si and Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do.

. Iksan Historic Areas : remains and royal tombs of an old Baekje capital in the Wanggung-myeon and Ungpo-myeon area.

=> 1 'prehistoric' submission :

. Bangudae Petroglyphs (Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs) in Daegok-ri, Ulsan. Entering the prestigious list could accelerate the process of protection for these priceless prehistoric relics, whose very existence is threatened by a dam. Korea managed to put its dolmens in the list, but is still waiting for its fossilized dinosaurs.

=> 2 'nature / environment' submissions :

. Southwestern Coast Tidal Flats : probably ignited by the 2008 RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands held in Korea, and the realization that Korean coastal wetlands and their habitats are endangered, this submission focuses on Jeolla-do sites (Gochang-gun and Buan-gun in Jeollabuk-do, Suncheon, Boseong-gun, Muan-gun, Sinan-gun in Jeollanam-do). The Louisiana oil spill tragedy may help the cause. And the listing would be a perfect answer to the Saemangum / Ariul mess.

. Jeollanam-do Salterns in Yeonggwang-gun (I guess the group of salters at the end of Yeomsam-myeon peninsula), and Sinan-gun (there's a big cluster on the islands of Bigeumdo and Dochodo). Beyond the sites, the submission focuses on the local techniques.

5 other sites remain on South Korea's tentative list, to which 6 North Korean candidates could be added, all submitted in 2000 (Goguryo Tombs remain NK's only assets listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List).


Seoul Village 2010

* see UNESCO website and the Korean website (artsedu2010.kr)