The demolition of hanoks at Kahoi-dong 31-93 and 31-94

March 2010, updated June 2011, September 2011

한국어 번역 - 클릭

Map showing Kahoi-dong 31-93 and 31-94 (pink shading in lower left corner).
Kahoi-dong 31-93 & 31-94, (looking North) 17 August 2010	Kahoi-dong 31-93 & 31-94, (looking South) 17 August 2010
Kahoi-dong 31-93 and 31-94 on March 24th 2010
Kahoi-dong 31-93 and 31-94 on May 29th 2010
Kahoi-dong 31-93 & 31-94, (looking North) 17 August 2010	Kahoi-dong 31-93 & 31-94, (looking South) 17 August 2010
21 June 2011 - a new 3? 4? storey building	21 June 2011 - a new 3? 4? storey building
September 2011

Photographs by David Kilburn ©, 2006, 2010, 2011

I wrote to Oh Se-Hoon, Mayor of Seoul, about these demolitions on August 14th 2010

Dear Mayor Oh,

At the end of last year, you were widely quoted in the media as saying that you vowed to preserve Seoul's remaining old hanoks. I wonder what practical steps you are taking to do this? My question is prompted by the recent demolition of the hanoks at Gahoe-dong 31-93 and 31-94. I wonder why this happened and who approved the demolitions? I have lived in Gahoe-dong 31-79 since 1988. In recent years, I have witnessed the demolition of neighbouring hanoks at Gahoe-dong 31-96, 31-95, 31-34, 31-37, 31-38 and others, all with the apparent approval of city authorities. Is is not time for this destruction to end? Every demolition makes achieving your goal a little more difficult.

Yours sincerely

David Kilburn

When there was no reply, we hand-delivered a copy of the letter to City Hall and obtained a receipt for it. This time a reply soon followed. The reply stated that the demolition was perfectly legal. (PDF, HTML)

http://www.kahoidong.com
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