한국어 번역 - 클릭
July 6th 2005
Dear Mr. President,
Since 1987, my wife and I have made our Korean home in Kahoi Dong, one of the last districts in Seoul where you could still find streets lined with traditional hanok. We made this choice the day I saw my first hanok. It was love at first sight, and we have enjoyed the pleasures of wood, paper, stone, and the ondol ever since. We have also enjoyed adapting a traditional hanok for modern life while preserving the peace and charm of its essential Korean character.
In 1990, as a journalist, I had the opportunity to write about our own hanok and Kahoi-Dong for “Wingspan,” a magazine published by All Nippon Airways. This was one of the first articles in English about hanok to reach a wide audience. More recently, in 2004, filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk selected our house for filming scenes for his movie “Bin Jip” – he wanted a hanok that reflected traditional Korean values in contrast with other, newer, homes that appear in the film. Kim Ki-Duk later won the Silver Lion for best director at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 for “Bin Jip. This year, on June 27th, the Joong Ang Ilbo published an article about these matters.
Much has changed since 1987. At various times, the government has relaxed or tightened controls on the re-development of Kahoi-Dong. As a result, the once traditional streets now have occasional apartment blocks or other modern-style buildings. However, a few years ago Seoul city government launched plans to preserve the whole of Bukchon as part of the capital’s historical and cultural treasure. The city government offered grants and low interest loans to help residents with restoration work on their own properties.
Yet in our own part of Bukchon, Kahoi-Dong 31, the results are the opposite of what could be hoped. One after another, traditional hanok are being demolished and replaced by modern, two storey buildings. These typically have a first floor of reinforced concrete and steel and a second floor built hanok-style. Such buildings have no place in a district preserving Seoul’s heritage. Even more sadly, the demolished buildings would all have benefited from careful restoration work and repair.
One of the new buildings, Kahoi-Dong 31-96, apparently received government funding and was granted a business license for a wine bar and other commercial activities.
The new buildings exploit construction laws and planning regulations to betray the spirit of the original plan. The new buildings offer immense profit to the speculative construction company that erects them.
We have contacted and met officials of the Chongroguchung many times since June 7th 2004 and submitted many complaints to them about how these new works have damaged our own house. At every encounter, officials told us that we were powerless since all the new works were officially approved. We were told to go away, to move out, and to give up. Last year, I also wrote to Seoul City Mayor Lee Myung-Bak and, more recently, met Chongro-gu Mayor Kim Choong-Yong to protest what is happening. All this has been to no avail. At a recent meeting in Mayor Kim’s office, we were told “that we were too late, that nothing could be done.”
Last year, we applied for a grant to do more restoration and repair work on our own house. Plans were submitted by a professional architect but rejected because “we would be destroying some authentic Chosun features.” The features cited were alterations we made in 1990’s, yet photographic evidence of this was rejected, and the bulldozers continued to obliterate all the features of neighbouring buildings. It appears the Chongroguchung is only willing to grant money for preservation work that involves total demolition by a favoured construction company.
My concern is a simple one. I have spent 18 years of my life preserving and restoring one single hanok to which I feel greatly attached. I do not wish to see all this work wasted. Considering the history of the last century – the depredations of the Japanese, the ravages of the Korean War, the iron rule of military dictators – it is amazing that much of Korea’s traditional culture has survived. When I reflect on how public officials neglect and betray their duties to help preserve what has survived, it truly brings tears to my eyes.
Mr. President, I feel there are two questions that require attention:
1. How to preserve what little remains of the authentic Bukchon
2. The nature of the relationship between construction companies and
public officials concerned with new building in Kahoi Dong 31. Who benefits
and how from these developments?
Most Respectfully,
David & Jade Kilburn
see also: Letter to Lee Myung Bak when he was Mayor Seoul. Today he is a presidential candidate
