Bukchon Hanok Village

Bukchon Hanok Village is a neighbourhood of traditional houses on the hill between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces and Jongmyo Shrine in Jongno District, Seoul. Tiled roofs step up the slopes of Gahoe-dong, Samcheong-dong, Wonseo-dong, Jae-dong and Gye-dong, with downtown towers at the end of the lanes. Above all, it is a village where people still live, so the way to enjoy it is to walk quietly.

History: from noble quarter to modern hanok estate

"Bukchon" means "north village", north of the Cheonggyecheon stream and Jongno. Lying on south-facing slopes between two palaces, it was home to high officials and nobles throughout the Joseon period; of the 10,241 residents (1,932 households) in a 1906 register, 43.6% were nobles or officials. With so many historic sites and folk heritage items it is sometimes called a "museum in the city". Reformers such as Pak Yeong-hyo and Kim Ok-gyun also lived here.

Many of the surviving hanok were built during the Japanese colonial period. At a time when Japanese settlers were buying up land, developer Jeong Se-gwon founded Geonyangsa, the first modern Korean-owned property company, split large plots and built small and medium-sized modernised hanok. With glass windows and electricity, these houses let Koreans of many backgrounds move into Bukchon. He used his profits to support the Korean Language Society and suffered for it after the society was targeted in 1942. From the 1970s schools moved south of the river and apartment blocks went up, and many hanok disappeared, but clusters still stand around Gahoe-dong 11, 31 and 33.

What to see

• Gahoe-dong hanok lanes: uphill lanes where roofs rise like steps; from the top you see the city beyond the tiles.
• Jeongdok Library: the site of Kyunggi High School, founded in 1900, which became a library in 1977 after the school moved. It has a 1930s Western-style school building, a garden with cherry blossoms in spring, and good views over Bukchon from the hilltop. The garden is laid out in four neat sections around a fountain, and the site is said to have been the home of one of the scholars who helped create Hangeul.
• Baek In-je House: a modern hanok built in 1913 that mixes a traditional house with a Japanese-style corridor, tatami rooms, red brick and glass. It opened as a historic house museum in November 2015. It was built by Han Sang-ryong, a nephew of Lee Wan-yong, using black pine from the Yalu River, then a new material, and is named after its last owner, Baek In-je, founder of Seoul Paik Hospital. Unlike ordinary hanok, the men's and women's quarters are linked by a corridor, so you can move between them without going outside.
• Samcheong-dong-gil: the street on the Gyeongbokgung side, lined with galleries and cafés.

Efforts to save the hanok

When development south of the river began in the late 1960s, people and schools moved south in large numbers. Kyunggi High School left in 1976 and its site became Jeongdok Library; after Whimoon High School moved in 1978, a 15-storey office tower went up on its site in 1983; and when Changdeok Girls' High School left in 1989, the Constitutional Court took its place. These large buildings changed Bukchon's skyline.

Seoul began protecting hanok in 1983 by designating Bukchon a scenic district, but the rules were imposed without real consultation with residents and caused a lot of conflict. Policies have changed several times since, and the hanok village you see today is the result.

Many of Bukchon's hanok now also serve as shops and workshops. In 2014 there were about 920 commercial hanok, including traditional craft studios such as Kum Bak Yeon, which applies gold leaf to clothing. Holders of traditional skills and artists live in Wonseo-dong. Galleries line Samcheong-dong-gil opposite Gyeongbokgung, and the area around Hwa-dong-gil has plenty of food and cafés.

Did you know

• In 2024 Bukchon received about 6.4 million visitors, while only about 6,100 people live there. The population has been falling since 2012, when it was 8,719.
• This is why Jongno District made Bukchon a special management area and began limiting visiting hours in the busiest red zone.

Tripto tips

• Visiting hours: in the red zone around Bukchon-ro 11-gil (about 34,000 m²) tourists may only walk around 10:00–17:00. A trial began on 1 November 2024, and since 1 March 2025 breaking the rule can lead to a fine. Guests staying in local accommodation are exempt.
• Etiquette: do not peer through gates or knock on doors, and keep your voice down. Take your rubbish with you and keep groups to fewer than 10 people.
• Getting there: walk up from Anguk Station on Line 3. The Bukchon Village Information Center on the way to Jeongdok Library has local information.
• Time needed: 1–2 hours for the lanes. It combines well with Gyeongbokgung or Changdeokgung in one day.
• When to go: just after 10:00 is relatively quiet. Spring and autumn are the nicest seasons for walking.