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With three foreigners who love Korea
Join the Bukchon Hanok village tour!
From experiencing the niche of the calamity in a city
To exploring Korean traditional culture!
Time traveling back to the past in the middle of Seoul
Join us now!

A morning of November with a chilly autumn breeze

Hello guys! I am Mizuki from Japan.
I initially came to Korea to study,
and I fell in love with this country so I decided to settle here.

Hi, I am Brandon from the US.
I’ve lived in Korea for seven years.
But my Korean is still not so great!
No, he's actually very fluent.

Hello, everyone!
I’ve lived here for four years.
Though I look like a typical German,
I am a genuine Korean deep inside.
Nice to meet you, I'm Florian!

Welcome!

PD: Do you know where we are?

We are in the Bukchon Hanok Village.
Bukchon Hanok Village: A Hanok (traditional Korean house) conservation site between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeoggung Palace, where houses of royal members and nobles of the Joseon dynasty are preserved.

PD: In order to explore this village more in-depth,
we’ve invited a professional tour guide.


Hi!
- Hello!

Hello. I am Lee Hye-kyeong who will be introducing the nuts and bolts of Bukchon Hanok Village.
Bukchon Hanok Village preserves about 1,500 Hanoks.
Here is a very special place where you can meet both the past and the present of Seoul.

When was the village built?

These Hanoks were built around the 1920s, with the addition of Western architectural features.

Oh, they're combined!

That’s why we call them “Modern Hanok”.

Then, can you distinguish Hanoks here from their more traditional counterparts?

What do you think the differences are?

Bricks, perhaps?
Wait, I believe traditional Hanoks are
built with timbers only, not bricks.

Correct, they are timber-framed.

But look at the window there!
They used glass, not paper.
Also, the rafters are shorter
compared to more traditional houses,
which resemble Western tin roof.

By the way, besides ourselves,
I can see many foreigners here.

That's right.

Actually, this street is one of the most beautiful parts
that represent Bukchon Hanok Village.
And as it’s one of the three most popular places for foreign visitors, this place is always crowded with tourists.

On top of that, as we explore the village together, you would understand why this village is so popular.

Shall we?
- Why not?

The next destination for the Bukchon Hanok Village tour is?
The second destination ablaze with scarlet leaves greets us

Where are we exactly?

We're at Unhyeongung Palace where the Bukchon tour begins.

Unhyeongung Palace: A historic place renowned as the base of Heungseon Daewongun's political activities and where Gojong, the 26th king of the Joseon dynasty, was born and spent his childhood.

Named after Unhyeon, which refers to a hill with clouds passing by One can experience the royal residence where the king once lived Emperor Gojong, the 26th King of the Joseon dynasty was born and raised here.
When he was enthroned,

it formally became a palace under the name Unhyeongung Palace.

The structure of the palace looks very different from the ones we have seen earlier.

Yeah, this palace is the traditional Hanok.

The colors of the building definitely make a different impression.

You’re right. This palace is more traditional than the modern Hanoks.

By the way, why is this place so crowded today?

Oh, because there’s a festival here today!

What kind of festival?

A traditional royal food festival!

You can cook and taste traditional Korean cuisine.

Can we join the festival too?
- Sure thing!

I’ve been waiting for such opportunity!
- Then shall we have a look?

Let's go enjoy the festival
What a lucky day with the perfect timing~

Royal food festival: Visitors can experience the lifestyles of the king and nobles as they can cook rice cakes and snacks and make traditional artifacts as well

From an exhibition of royal foods to cooking lessons for visitors!

They are rolling and putting red bean paste into the rice batter

Completed making beautiful rice cakes

They have successfully enjoyed the festivals!

The next spot is Noandang, a Sarangchae of Unhyeongung Palace.

What does Sarangchae mean?

Sarangchae is the living quarter of the man of the family.

This place named Noandang served Heungseon Daewongun, the father of king Gojong.

Heungseon Daewongun named the place himself

So this was his residential area.

And you can see Numaru over there, where he greeted the visitors.

What a spacious house!

Did he occupy this whole place alone?

Yes, all for himself.

Well, king Gojojng was enthroned at the age of 12.

He was just a kid then!

Yes, that’s precisely why Heungseon Daewongun exerted trusteeship for his young son and practically was in charge of ruling the country.

So, under his rule, this place was essentially the center of politics back then.

There are two places for the female head of the family at the rear.

Shall we go to Norakdang and Irodang?

Sounds nice!
- Let's go!

What does Norakdang mean?

Well, this is where Heungseon Daewongun’s wife resided.



This is also where King Gojong and Empress Myeong-sung had their Garyesik.

Garyesik?
- Do you know what Garyesik means?

No idea, no.

It means wedding ceremony.

Garyesik = Wedding ceremony

After the wedding, this place hosted important national events.

Oh, like a banquet hall.

This place also received important guests like a royal reception hall.
So, it could no longer be used as the residential area.

Then, where did they...

That’s why there's another building right behind this one.

Oh, another one!

Flexing on buildings

So, another residential area called Irodang was built right behind this one.

Shall we head over to Irodang?
- Yeah, sounds good!

We're curious!

So, we are at Irodang, which replaced Norakdang and became a new residential quarter.

I notice there are some stones in the yard.

Yes! They are called Susuk.

People with high status back then liked stones

since they symbolized strong will.

Stones also symbolize 'yin' in their nature, which carries negative forces.

So in order to strike a balance between yin and yang,

they planted trees nearby, which have more positive characteristics or yang.

We had no clue it had such an implication.

So, this is the end of our Unhyeongung Palace tour!

We had so much fun!

Thank you.

Coming across the next destination as you walk along the Unhyeongung Palace

This is Bukchon Traditional Culture Centre, established as a part of the Hanok Village preservation project.

The mission of this center is to publicize the beauty of Hanoks.
It's very important.

Bukchon Traditional Culture Centre: It was Built in 1921, and it both functions as a local residents’ community and an information center for visitors]

Here, you can see the exhibition of the history and value of Bukchon Village

As well as the traditional Hanok of the 1920s, called the “House of Lady Gyedong”

Here, you learn and practice traditional Korean culture.

Can we participate as well?

Of course, you can.

You can experience various cultural activities here, such as making a paper puppet, folk painting, and dyeing with natural ingredients.

I should visit here again with my friends!

I thought the same!
- I strongly recommend so!

And this is Sarangbang, which is the place where residents hold meetings.
-Oh, people actually hold meetings here?

Yes, or sometimes just take a rest.

Then perhaps we can take a rest here as well?

Sounds good!
- Yeah, we can talk while seated.

That would be great!

It's as if I am in K-drama.

Exactly!

Speaking of that, a drama was actually filmed here.

Seriously?
- Whereabout?

If you go all the way up there, there is a high school called Choong Ang High School.

They filmed "Winter Sonata" there.

Oh, I know that drama!

Starring Yonsama, right?

I also heard that the school was a base camp for the independence movement back in the 20th century.

You're right.

That's what makes this high school a very meaningful place.

During the independence movement, the Proclamation of Korean Independence was written and printed here.
Choong Ang High School: The place originally hosted male nobles

Although entry is restricted on weekdays since students are there,

the school is open to visitors on weekends.

We must visit here on the weekends then!

At the center of the school, there is a magnificent main building.

A must-visit place: the main building

Now, it's time to head over to our last destination.

Wait, it's the last destination already?

The place is called Baek In-Je House Museum, which was a movie film location.

A movie was filmed there as well.

Which film are we talking about?

You’re intrigued, aren’t you?
- Yes!

Well, I’ll tell you when we get there.

The last destination of Bukchon Hanok Village Tour

Baek In-Je House Museum

This is our last tour location of Bukchon Hanok village.

The last one? That’s too bad.
- Time really flies, no?

We are finally at the Baek In-Je House Museum!

What is this place for?

Well, have you guys watched the movie "Assassination"?

Yes! I have.
- I haven’t yet.

The film is super amazing.

Yeah, it was filmed here, at the Baek In-Je House Museum,

which is by far the most elegant modern Hanok.

Baek In-Je House Museum: Preserving the architectural styles of modern Han-ok, this place represents the entire Bukchon Hanok Village in terms of its size and historical value.

Here you can taste the beauty of Korean traditional Hanok and Western and Japanese architectures back then

The most recent owner of this house was Baek In-Je, the first Korean physician.

After purchasing this house, he stayed here for a long period of time.

So if you come over here, you can see a reception hall.

The timber frame is definitely that of traditional Hanok.

But the materials used and the interior decoration are those of Western styles.

If you look at the structure, the hall is also connected to the residential area by hallways, which largely resembles Japanese house.

The garden is massive!
- Yes, it is indeed massive.

There are twelve Hanoks altogether.

So, yeah, this is a spacious place.
Can't you already notice this building is a bit different?

It’s a two-story building!

I’ve never seen a two-story Hanok!

This modern Hanok combined with Western style and…

Japanese style as well!
- Correct! You can also find similar structures in Japan.

So three styles in one building!
- Yeah, different styles are combined here in a harmonious way.

What is this place for?

Can you take a guess?

Me!

Since this is called Byeoldang,

people must have gazed at stars here.
(Byeol means stars in Korean)

Am I right?
- That was a great guess!
but here, ‘Byeol’ refers to ‘separate’, meaning separate from the main building.

So this one was built on high ground, which gives a vantage point over the entire Hanok village

when you overlook inside this house.

Can we see the view?

Unfortunately, this place is too fragile that entry is restricted for the sake of conservation.

You may enter if you reserve an exhibition tour in advance

Wait, is the tour really over now?

Yeah, it was the last course of our Bukchon Hanok Village tour!

How was the tour?

It was so wonderful to explore such many places

given that we only had limited time.

Since my mom loves Korea, when she visits next time,

I really want to come here again with her wearing Hanbok!

Though I have previously come here several times,

my perspective on Hanok really changed today.
- Really?

We could see both the traditional Hanok style and the Western-influenced modern style.

Now, I could spot the difference.

I really want to visit here again with my family and girlfriend.

So guys! Please take advantage of this Bukchon Hanok Village tour

provided by Seoul Guided Walking Tour!
Thank you!