A unique hanok stay in central Seoul
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Steve Sung-jung Woo, right, and his wife, Cho Sun-mi pose in front of their hanok stay that opened in July and is called Pungkyung in Jongno, Seoul. The Korean word pungkyung means scenery or landscape. / Korea Times photos by Choi Won-suk
By Kim Ji-soo
Before towering modern apartments took over Seoul, people lived in small, cozy houses — some in the traditional Korean hanok style.
Many of them are gone, while some remain scattered in clusters around Seoul. One is Pungkyung, a traditional Korean-style house near Sungkyunkwan University that Steve Woo and his wife Cho Sun-mi acquired last year.
“We wanted people who step in here to feel they want to take off their shoes and lie on this low wooden bench and have a slice of watermelon,” Woo said of the four-bedroom hanok in Jongno District, Seoul. “Similar to a tranquil templestay-like ambience, but right in the city.”
The hanok is snugly situated among modern buildings but more strategically, it is located right across the street from Sungkyunkwan, which was the foremost educational institution during the Goryeo (918-1392) and Joseon (1392-1910) Kingdoms. The old academy stands at the south end of the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus of the modern-day Sungkyunkwan University, holding lectures on Confucian thoughts and ceremonial rites to Confucius.
Inside Pungkyung’s non-bed room that can accommodate around three to four people.
“The (old) Sungkyunkwan with its heritage of the Daeseongjeon shrine, the Myeongnyundang academic hall and the dormitories are a must-see for our visitors,” said Woo. Also, the five major palaces of Seoul are all nearby, the nearest being Changgyeong Palace.
“Then for nature, visitors can cut through Sungkyunkwan University to Waryong Park or go to Dongdaemun,” he said. From Waryong Park, a visitor can take another turn to enjoy the Mt. Bukhan trail as well.
The hanok is about 60 years old and more petite than one might expect. But there is a certain snug and cozy feel about the place. It reminds this reporter of a compact concrete Western house back in the late 1970s quaint, small but brimming with sunshine and memories. Woo said that it was the home of a former mine owner that happened to go on the market after the owner’s death.
After purchasing the house in 2015, Woo and Cho set about fixing the largely wooden edifice themselves with visits to Dongdaemun Market and Cheonggyecheon for furniture and other interior items.
A painting of a pine tree marks the walls of the hanok-stay “Pungkyung”
As a result, their hanok stay, named “Pungkyung” (scenery or landscape) opened in July. There are four bedrooms — two are traditional Korean style where people roll out puffed-up sheets to sleep. The other two are fitted with single beds. For a traditional building its size, the kitchen is spacious and equipped with cooking ware and utensils. There is a communal shower and bathroom. Because Pungkyung is a “hanok experience” facility, it means that each bedroom should not have a bathroom; in old Korea, there was no such notion.
The theme for Pungkyung is naturally about scenery that encompasses the culture and the environment of Seoul and having people rest and heal through them.
Woo, who worked for the former LG Semiconductors, now known as SK hynix, from 1986 through 1999, drew from his five years of working in Dusseldorf, Germany.
“When we traveled through Europe, I noticed that natural or cultural settings within the city were picturesque in that they were not overly commercialized. They were romantic and a place people could rest and heal,” said Woo. “And that’s what we are aiming for with our hanok stay,” he said. After LG, Woo ran his own business for 15 years and also worked at a medium-sized company before retiring in 2015. In a way, the traditional Korean house accommodation service is the beginning of a new chapter for the couple.
Currently, Pungkyung has registered with online travel sites such as Airbnb, Agoda and a Korean online site that specializes in hanok stays, Kozaza.
The rate for one single-bed room is around 60,000 to 70,000 won ($54-$63). The ondol-style rooms that can accommodate three to four people are priced at 120,000 to 150,000 won per night.
Pungkyung — where 10 people can stay per night — can be rented out for 200,000 won on weekdays and 250,000 won for the weekend. The hanok is also open for parties as well.
Woo realizes that the competition for accommodation has grown steeply in the past three years or so. Just a month after opening, he wished he had prepared more thoroughly in terms of marketing his new business.
“But this place is for people who can come to enjoy and relax in this scenery dotted with culture, history and nature,” Woo said.
Pungkyung is located at Sungkyunkwanro 32-6, Jongno, Seoul, right across from Sungkyunkwan. For more, call 010-7103-6993 or contact smilewoo@yahoo.co.kr.