Birth Home of President Park Chung-hee

On 14 November 1917, a boy was born in a small thatched farmhouse in Sangmo-dong, Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. He was Park Chung-hee, who would serve as South Korea's president from 1963 to 1979. He lived here while attending primary school in Gumi, until he graduated from Daegu Normal School in 1937. Today, memorial and exhibition halls surround the house, letting you see where one of the most divisive figures in modern Korean history began.

The youngest child of a poor farming family

Park was the youngest of seven children, five sons and two daughters, born to Park Seong-bin and Baek Nam-ui. Sources disagree on when the house was built: around 1900 or in 1916. Originally it consisted of a main house and a smaller men's quarters (sarangchae), both with walls of mud mixed with straw and branches and roofs of thatch, with a small yard and a well between them. The room in the sarangchae where he was born measures about 2 m × 2.3 m, and its ceiling is said to have been so low that even Park, who was short, had to stoop to stand up.

The main house was destroyed during the Korean War and replaced in 1964 by the brick building you see now. Opinions differ on whether the sarangchae is truly original. The birthplace was designated a North Gyeongsang Provincial Monument in February 1993 and is now looked after jointly by the family and Gumi City.

A contested legacy

Park seized power in the military coup of 16 May 1961 and went on to become president. He is credited with leading rapid, export-driven economic growth, but he is also criticised as a dictator who used the 1972 Yusin Constitution to entrench his rule and suppressed opposition. His rule ended when he was assassinated by one of his closest aides on 26 October 1979. Even the construction of a memorial hall here was delayed for years amid heated debate. It helps to visit knowing that people come here with very different views. The exhibitions are presented from a commemorative point of view, so reading other perspectives on modern Korean history alongside them gives a more balanced picture.

What to see

• Thatched sarangchae and well: See the small room where he was born and studied, and the well with its hand pump.
• Memorial shrine: Portraits of Park and his wife Yuk Young-soo are displayed here, and visitors can offer incense and pay their respects.
• Minjok Jungheung Hall: An exhibition building beside the house with three galleries and a dome cinema.
• Borit-gogae hall: A small hall recalling the 'barley hump', the lean spring months when food ran short before the barley harvest; barley cakes are sometimes sold here.
• President Park Chung-hee History Archive: Opened in October 2021, it displays 5,649 of the president's personal belongings entrusted to Gumi City, along with 895 items on Korea's modern industrial development.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: 09:00–18:00, closed on Mondays. Holiday arrangements can change, so check before you go.
• Time needed: Allow an hour to an hour and a half for the house and the exhibition halls.
• Getting there: The address is 107 Parkchunghee-ro, Gumi. It is about 5 km south-east of Gumi Station, so take a city bus or a taxi. There is a car park.
• Combine with: Geumosan, Gumi's landmark mountain, is only about 15 minutes away by car, so a morning hike and an afternoon visit here fit well together.
• Information: +82-54-461-8600.