[Reportage] Seoul hanok village suffering from tourism fatigue

Posted on : 2018-07-15 13:04 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Residents picketing against daily inconveniences caused by tourists
A sign along one of the most popular streets of Bukchon Village reads
A sign along one of the most popular streets of Bukchon Village reads

The neighborhood of Gahoe is home to around one-quarter of all the traditional hanok houses in Seoul’s Jongno district. Every Saturday since April, residents have staged rallies at Donmi Pharmacy, located on the entrance to Bukchon-ro 11-gil Road. At one of the rallies on July 23, a resident surnamed Kim was holding a sign in English reading “We are just money-maker for Seoul city!”

“[The city of Seoul] brings huge numbers of tourists to Seoul by advertising the hanok houses in Bukchon, but it’s too noisy for residents to live here,” Kim said.

 “The city of Seoul is the master
“The city of Seoul is the master

Residents livid over loss of residential environment

A message written along a wall on one of the neighborhood’s side streets read, “The city of Seoul is the master, Bukchon residents are slaves.” On another street slightly farther down, a banner in English reads, “Our village is suffering from tourists!” A prime destination for hanok tourism averaging 10,000 visitors a day, the neighborhood is now suffering from tourism fatigue. Seventy percent of the visitors are foreign, and 10 percent of all tourists arrive in the early hours before 6 am.

“Having to deal with tourists taking pictures at all times of day and peaking over the gates has turned me into an ‘angry resident,’” declared a 57-year-old resident surnamed Oh.

“As more and more of our neighbors clear out their homes and leave, it’s turning into something like a folk village where no one actually lives,” Oh said.

 Bukchon residents are slaves.” Tourists flood the street as usual on June 23. (by Kim Hyun-dae
Bukchon residents are slaves.” Tourists flood the street as usual on June 23. (by Kim Hyun-dae

According to Oh, Bukchon is losing its original identity as a “residential tourism area.”

“I got yelled at all the time by tourists for driving my car onto the narrow street where my home is. Finally, I just left my car at my home in the country,” Oh said, adding, “I’ve been spending more and more time at the cottage.”

Figures from the city of Seoul provide clear evidence of “touristification” as Bukchon residents are increasingly driven out by tourists. Over the five-year period between 2012 and 2017, the Bukchon population in the Samcheon and Gahoe neighborhoods fell by 16.3 percent from 9,005 to 7,537. Residents said the actual number of departures is even higher if the numbers of people abandoning their homes without actually relocating their addresses is accounted for.

 senior staff writer)
senior staff writer)

Facing a chilly welcome from residents, tourists themselves have been inconvenienced by demands for “quiet journeys.”

“Once we get into the hanok streets, I start off by telling people, ‘Don’t make any loud noises or look into people’s houses,” said a guide who has shown tourists around the neighborhood.

“The tourists all whisper, but when there are a lot of them, it still ends up sounding loud,” the guide explained.

At the July 23 rally, Kim Tae-seong, an 80-year-old resident of Gye-dong in Bukchon Village, held an unusual hand-written sign reading, “Koreans should stop coming to Bukchon.”

“I’ve seen a lot of people do business in Bukchon, only to end up going under and leaving,” he said.

Of his sign, he explained, “I was expressing that maybe the neighborhood will be quieter and housing prices will fluctuate less if Koreans don’t come here anymore.”

A sign made by a Bukchon resident laments at how the city of Seoul has converted the neighborhood into a tourist attracting that provides no benefits to the people who live there.
A sign made by a Bukchon resident laments at how the city of Seoul has converted the neighborhood into a tourist attracting that provides no benefits to the people who live there.
Bukchon producing US$1.77 billion in tourism?

“Tourism has serious negative effects. Do you know how much the rent is for the convenience store across the street from the rally site? It was 2.5 million won (US$2,200) before, and it went up to 7.5 million won (US$6,600) overnight. But the tourists who come here are ordinary people. They don’t really spend money. The coffee place next to Jaedong Stationery finally left after blowing through 250 million won (US$221,300) in two years and six months. Over and over, I see young people investing in equipment and opening a business in the hopes of making big money, only to end up closing down and leaving because of the expensive rent.”

Indeed, three empty stores could be seen side-by-side along the road just down from Donmi Pharmacy – vacated by owners who “spent 100 million to 200 million won (US$88,500–17,700) doing business.”

A day before the rally on June 22, residents could be heard shouting denunciations of the city at a resident panel discussion organized by the Seoul government. The occasion was intended by the city as an opportunity to explain and hear opinions on recently announced measures to reduce inconveniences for Bukchon Hanok Village residents. The city had been reported in the press as announcing eight measures, including restricting tourism on Bukchon’s side streets from 10 am to 5 pm on weekdays and Saturdays as of July. Sunday would be set as a “rest day” for the streets, with tourists barred for traveling through them.

The residents’ complaints boiled down to the question of whether Bukchon was “a tourism destination or a residential environment.”

“Can’t we open up the Poongmoon Girls’ High School athletic field as a parking lot?” asked a resident surnamed Kim. “Village buses can’t even safely travel in front of Donmi Pharmacy because of the tourist buses.”

“How can they be so good to the tourists while we’re suffering? I find myself wondering, ‘Why did you come here?’” Kim vented.

“It’s been nothing but trouble for me not being able to do what I want with my own home. If you don’t have the capability to tend to Bukchon properly as a residential area, you should get rid of the Bukchon district unit plan regulating the hanok buildings.”

Another resident lamented, “It’s turning into a slum as more and more of the hanok houses are vacated.”

“The sounds of the tourists alone are enough to drive you crazy,” the resident shouted.

Jongno District Council member Yoon Jong-bok asked, “What do the residents have to show for the 2 trillion won (US$1.77 billion) in purported effects from Bukchon visitors in 2014?”

Yoon suggested an alternative plan along the lines of the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, where visitors are charged admission fees that are used for residents.

Talking at their home on Bukchon-ro 11-gil Road, a resident surnamed Kim said, “I’d like to make my house nice to show tourists as a luxury hanok building, holding small recitals and film screenings.”

“Instead of abandoning it as a cheap tourist area the way they’re doing now, the city of Seoul needs to pave the way for residents to do things like that on their own,” Kim suggested.

Chinese tourists flood the entrance to Bukchon-ro 11-gil Road
Chinese tourists flood the entrance to Bukchon-ro 11-gil Road

Tourism quality over quantity

Korea Tourist Guide Association Secretary General Kim Gang-yeol pointed to low-cost trips for Chinese tourists as a problem area.

“Travel agencies attract Chinese tour groups through cheap ‘dumping tactics,’ taking them to the duty-free shop to make up for the losses and then setting the tourists loose the last day in Bukchon Village, which doesn’t cost anything,” Kim explained.

Han Beom-su, a Kyonggi University professor of tourism sciences, said, “We’re now in a time when tourism quality is more important that quantity, and tourists can only be happy when residents are happy.”

“Since 2016, the city of Seoul has been working with tourism experts to look back on its current tourism policies and seek out new measures,” Han observed.

Bukchon Association secretary Choi Ho-jin suggested concrete plans to make up for “the central government and city of Seoul focusing exclusively on publicizing Bukchon without any preparations for the actual tourists.”

“Rather than operating the hanok houses the city acquires as workshops the way they’re doing now, it may be a good idea to adopt the advanced countries’ model of operating them as cafes or bakeries to serve as ‘neighborhood communities,’ or renting them out as residences that people can occupy and live in,” Choi said.

 one of Bukchon’s most popular streets among visitors
one of Bukchon’s most popular streets among visitors

 on May 22
on May 22

By Kim Hyun-dae, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories