Millennium Hilton Seoul disappears into history

The Christmas charity train runs through the miniature "Hilton Town" installed in the Millennium Hilton Seoul's lobby, Dec. 24. The hotel has displayed an annual charity train every December since 1995 to celebrate year-end festivities and donate the proceeds to welfare facilities. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Epitome of Korean modern architecture that hosted heads of state to close at year-end

By Lee Hae-rin

Seoul as a sprawling metropolis is used to buildings going up and coming down ― it's a city built on rapid growth and development. But when towering landmarks close down, there undoubtedly will be memories, at both the personal and national levels, that continue to remain despite the buildings fading into history.

Such a situation may well be the case for the Millennium Hilton Seoul, a luxury hotel that was accessible not only to heads of state but also to the rising Korean middle class.

On Oct. 14, the Christmas charity trains at the Millennium Hilton Seoul started running several weeks earlier than usual. In previous years, the sprawling train set was usually set up only in December. That's because this Christmas marked the hotel's last ― along with its 39th year-end holidays ― before closing.

Since 1995, the hotel has kept the annual tradition of decorating its lobby with a miniature "Hilton Village" running trains on train tracks every December. This year it includes a miniature Millennium Seoul Hilton, built on the slope of a miniature Mount Nam sporting its own N Seoul Tower. The tradition of the charity train, from which proceeds have gone to various welfare facilities, has spread from here to other Hilton-affiliated hotels in Shanghai, Nagoya and other cities globally over the decades.

The origin of that tradition will disappear into history as the five-star hotel will close on Dec. 31.

The Millennium Hilton Seoul is seen from Mount Nam in central Seoul / Courtesy of Hilton

Located at the foot of Mount Nam and across the street from Seoul Station, the 22-story building featuring 640 rooms has itself been a microcosm of modern Korea, from its opening to its closing. It has a reputation for being the country's first luxury hotel built by a Korean architect, as well as having welcomed political leaders along with foreign and domestic travelers.

Witness to historic moments

Since its opening in December 1983, the five-star hotel has hosted and witnessed many of the country's historic moments during its era of rapid economic growth.

Former President Chun Doo-hwan and his wife, Lee Soon-ja, center, flanked by former presidents Yun Po-sun, left, and Choi Kyu-hah, right, proposes a toast to participants of a farewell dinner given in honor of the presidential couple at the Millennium Hilton Seoul, Feb. 24, 1988. Korea Times file

Former President Chun Doo-hwan, known to have enjoyed dinners there during his lifetime, held a valedictory ceremony there to end his seven-year presidential term on Feb. 24, 1988. The event took place on the eve of the inauguration of then-incoming President Roh Tae-woo, who had also been nominated as the Democratic Justice Party's presidential candidate the year before at the hotel.

Chun's banquet was attended by 1,000 domestic and foreign dignitaries, including Cabinet members, political leaders and foreign delegations. Chun declared that "There should be no more political chaos (in Korea)," in the grand ballroom.

Former President Roh Tae-woo, left, greets former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev at the Millennium Hilton Seoul, March 27, 1994. Korea Times file

In 1997, the hotel hosted secret negotiations between then-presidential candidates Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil, leading to the "DJP alliance." The former Kim who ran for the New Democratic Party was elected president that year and the latter served as his prime minister from 1998 to 2000.

That same year, a memorandum of understanding for a $35-billion bailout fund for Korea was signed at the hotel while then International Monetary Fund (lMF) Managing Director Michel Camdessus stayed here.

The hotel hosted several other important political and diplomatic events. North Korean envoys sent to pay condolences after former President Kim Dae-jung's death in 2009 checked in during their visit to Seoul and former President Roh Moo-hyun visited the hotel for a one-year anniversary commemoration of the inter-Korean summit in October 2008.

The hotel's ownership, in the meantime, has been unstable.

After its original owner, Daewoo Group, dissolved following the Asian financial crisis in 2000, the property was sold to CDL Hotel Korea, operated under Singapore's Hong Leong Group. Then the hotel was sold again for 1.1 trillion won ($864 million) to IGIS Asset Management in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic reduced its profitability.

The hotel's latest owner, IGIS, now plans to demolish the building and build a 260,000-meter-square complex on the spot by 2027. The planned property will feature offices, hotel suites, commercial facilities and an urban air mobility (UAM) takeoff and landing area on its rooftop, the group said.

Several scholars have expressed regret over the loss of the landmark building, which is considered by many as a Korean modernist architect's masterpiece as well as a pioneering multistory building of Korea of the era. Demolishing the Millennium Hilton Seoul and constructing a new building on its site is like "melting down a historic Buddhist bell from the Silla Dynasty to make an iron pot," according to Kim Seung-hoy, a professor of architecture at Seoul National University.

The hotel was designed and built by veteran architect Kim Jong-soung, now 87, from 1979 to 1983.

Kim, who decided to become an architect to help rebuild the capital, which had been destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean War, studied modern architecture at Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and became a pupil of famous German American modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), known as one of the most influential architects of the 20th century.

Kim Woo-choong (1936-2019), the founder and chairman of Daewoo Group, requested the Korean architect to build the five-star hotel, which was rare at the time, when Japanese architects were building most high-end accommodations here.

The architect envisioned the hotel more as an "open space that many people can come visit and enjoy" rather than a luxury just for a few. So he built an expansive lobby with a ceiling 18 meters high by connecting two basement floors and the ground floor with a large skylight.

The atrium lobby of the Millennium Seoul Hilton, published in The Korea Times Dec. 10, 1983. Korea Times Archive

The building was unprecedentedly made with the finest materials and craftsmanship of the time. The bronze used in the pillars and stairs was supplied by munitions company Poongsan Metal Corp., while the marble imported from the Alps and Italy was used in its walls and stairs, and the wood used in the walls came from oak trees in Kentucky.

Built to "face Mount Nam, as if having a face-to-face conversation" in Kim's words in his memoir, the hotel stands like a folding screen around the mountain and offers exceptional views of the seasonal changes, from cherry blossoms in spring to autumn foliage.

The Korean Institute of Architects held a symposium in April with architecture and city ecology experts to discuss the future of the hotel. While all members shared the consensus that they felt regret over the predetermined demolition of the property, some argued for the cultural and historical value of such monuments and called for preservation policies, while others questioned the government's place in preserving commercial facilities.

The hotel's original architect, Kim, remarked during the symposium that "a building's lifespan may be as long as 400 years, but its use and functions could and should change over time." He suggested what he called a "win-win strategy," where the additional construction of supplementary buildings in the surrounding area could bring profits to the owner while preserving the existing property.

He cited New York City's Landmarks Law enacted in 1965 to avoid destroying or altering the city's architecturally, historically and culturally significant buildings. The Seagram Building by his teacher, Mies, a famous skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, was designated a major landmark and is still well preserved, he explained.

However, the Millennium Hotel here in Seoul faces demise as these proposals have not been accepted.

Employees bid farewell to lifelong workplace

Among those who are most sorry for the hotel's closure are its 380 employees, most of whom have spent their entire careers working here.

According to a hotel employee who wished to remain anonymous, the hotel's decades-old reputation should largely be credited to its experienced and dedicated employees. They worked with pride and dedication, considering themselves as responsible for giving foreign travelers their first impression of the country and pioneers of Korea's top hospitality industry, she said.

"Kindness and hospitality come naturally to them (the hotel's experienced employees), from their decades of experience. I believe the quality and skillfulness of their service are incomparable," she said, explaining that while most of her colleagues are middle-aged, most other hotels in the country are usually run by a younger labor force in their late 20s or 30s.

A Millennium Seoul Hilton doorman, published in The Korea Times Dec. 10, 1983 / Korea Times Archive

Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel has gone through financial difficulties.

Despite the pandemic-driven travel restrictions, employees have tried several initiatives to bring back guests and rejuvenate the hotel, she said, such as kids-friendly promotions targeting young families. It was also the first five-star hotel in the country to allow for the entry of companion animals with its "Very Important Pet (VIP)" package.

There were concerns that these initiatives could downgrade the facility's housekeeping. However, the employees thought their hotel "could wait no longer because it was time for a change" and the experienced staff's service know-how made the initiatives work.

Regardless, they have been told their work will come to an end and 80 percent of the employees have decided to retire. She said the hotel shutting its doors reminds her of the recent closure of Eulji Myeonok, a historic Pyongyang cold noodle restaurant that operated for 37 years in downtown Seoul's Euljiro area that was demolished this year as part of a redevelopment plan.

The Millennium Hilton Seoul will be open until Dec. 31.