Bukchon: Seoul's Destruction of Heritage

Gahoe-dong — “the place where beauty gathers” — was the last district in Seoul with whole streets of wood-and-tile houses, preserving the ambiance of the city a century ago. But after six hundred years at the heart of Korean cultural and social life, it has been relentlessly destroyed. Gahoe-dong is part of Bukchon, a small area between two major historic sites: the Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung. The latter was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1997. Seoul city officials describe Buk