Defining ‘hanok' right opens up possibilities
Seoul City hanok director proposes 'K-living' in hanok to rival apartment life
Roh Kyung-rae, director of the Hanok Heritage Preservation Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, speaks during an interview with The Korea Herald on May 1. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)
Koreans have long taken pride in the traditional Korean house, the 'hanok,' for its embrace of a lifestyle seeking harmony with nature. However, what truly makes hanok the kind of house that embodies such ideals is still debated — a discussion now in need of a conclusion, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's director of hanok preservation.
'Hanok has survived generations, meaning its adaptations today are varied, catering to the needs of many contemporary architects and homeowners,' said Roh Kyung-rae, director of the Hanok Heritage Preservation Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The priority for the city government, Roh added, is to come up with an agreement or a framework laying out characteristics that define hanok.
A hanok classroom at Seoul Jungsu Elementary School in Seongbuk-gu (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
'To make hanok universally appreciated, we need that coherency more than ever. That way we could start building on numerous talents — domestic and foreign — looking to see their different hanok interpretations materialize,' Roh said, noting hanok now is a theme picked up by not only local architects but those with a global presence.
This year an annual hanok symposium organized by the city in October will bring together hanok practitioners worldwide and their proposals to deepen discussion over crafting the hanok identity.
According to Roh, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is best positioned to work to that end, drawing on its vast resources compiled and expertise honed over the last 25 years.
'Our hanok preservation project took off in 2000 and has been evolving over decades,' Roh said, referring to how that first step has had a global impact with the emergence of Bukchon Hanok Village. One of the must-see travel destinations adjacent to Seoul's signature palace, Gyeongbokgung, in Jongno-gu, Bukchon Hanok Village was visited by some 6.6 million tourists last year.
About 70 percent of the visitors were foreign arrivals, according to the Jongno-gu Office.
Hanok: 'K-living'
The Seoul Metropolitan Government could not stay complacent because, according to Roh, 'a hanok isn't something to be looked at from afar like objects on exhibition.'
Such concerns led the city government to adopt a new hanok policy in 2023, when Roh's office was tasked with rendering hanok 'fit to live in.'
'That's where the future of hanok lies,' Roh said, suggesting his new mission could ride waves of the momentum increasingly putting the country in the spotlight. Korean cultural exports from K-pop to films and television shows have recently emerged as a new sources of revenue, prompting dedicated policies at the highest level.
'Next in line would be K-living,' Roh said of an umbrella term encompassing everything associated with building hanok.
The public reception to the latest city push is more than encouraging, Roh added, referring to a survey by the state-run AURI National Hanok Center in 2021.
The latest data found 68 percent of 1,200 Koreans aged between 30 and 65 willing to live in a hanok residence, an 11 percent jump from 2013. Eighty-four percent held a favorable view of hanok.
Sirijae in Jongno-gu, Seoul (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
The respondents cited 'open spaces, eco-friendly and therapeutic nature and an air of emotional stability' of hanok, the survey noted.
The target audience for hanok living, Roh said, can be much wider.
'We plan to reach out to Gen Z and the silver generation as well,' Roh said of a cohort born after 1995 and those aged 60 and above, respectively.
According to an internal study by Roh's team in 2023, the favorable view of hanok is on the rise, especially among the two age groups. The study interviewed residents living in some 8,900 hanok units in the capital.
Taking on apartments?
The biggest threat the study flagged was the higher cost of building a hanok residence compared to buying a similarly sized apartment unit, a popular residential option for Koreans, according to Roh. His office is aggressively addressing the issue, he said.
'If need be, I'm not against multistory hanok buildings. They look unconventional, unorthodox and hanok traditionalists used to belittle them as unwarranted tweaks. Times have changed,' Roh said.
Eunpyeong Hanok Village in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul (Eunpyeong-gu Office)
The hanok director was emphatic that hanok buildings should take advantage of a full range of technological advances available to render hanok residences as readily accessible and enjoyable as possible.
Roh believes such a shift in the way Koreans live could, in the long term, help the country map out a future where hanok housing is an option worth a thought before blindly settling on an apartment unit.
Yueojae in Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
'Is hanok an alternative to that? I think it definitely could be. We can't just keep building apartments to the point they flood the entire country,' Roh said.
For hanok to count as a viable option for potential residents and hanok practitioners eager to preserve the Korean-style housing, defining hanok and its intrinsic elements is a priority, Roh noted.
'We have to keep the definitive hanok spirit along the way,' Roh said.
Roh Kyung-rae, director of the Hanok Heritage Preservation Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, poses for a photo before an interview with The Korea Herald on May 1. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)
Renewed interest in 'hanok,' or traditional Korean houses, is palpable today, demonstrated by the growing number of hanok cultural facilities, cafes, accommodations and homes. While some new hanok architecture espouses the traditional form dating from the Joseon era, hanok buildings that have been adapted to contemporary conditions and lifestyles are also gaining ground. In this series, entitled 'Evolving Hanok,' The Korea Herald explores how hanok continue to evolve to stay relevant to current milieus. — Ed. siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com
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