Seoul mayor tours Bukchon hanok sites, says city will expand hanok hubs
Version 2: A fuller daily report added policy background, named all five sites visited and reported the mayor's plan to expand hanok hubs to areas such as Jegi-dong's Gyeongdong hanok village.
In short
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited five public hanok buildings in the Bukchon area on 4 October, during the 2026 fourth Seoul Hanok Week, to inspect their preservation and use, Yonhap, Newsis and the Seoul Economic Daily reported. He joined a Hanok Management Academy session and tried traditional plastering, and toured a hanok house for newlyweds. Newsis and the Seoul Economic Daily quoted him saying the city will expand hanok hubs, with the daily naming Jegi-dong's Gyeongdong hanok village as an example.
Read the full story 2 min read
Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, visited five public hanok buildings in the city's Bukchon area on 4 October, during the 2026 fourth Seoul Hanok Week, Yonhap, Newsis and the Seoul Economic Daily reported. Yonhap and the Seoul Economic Daily said the sites included the Bukchon Culture Center, the Hanok Support Center and Bukchon Binkwan, and that the visit was an inspection of the buildings' preservation and use. The Seoul Economic Daily named Baeryeom House among the five stops. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
At the Hanok Support Center the mayor took part in a Hanok Management Academy session and tried traditional plastering, Newsis and the Seoul Economic Daily reported. He also toured Hanok Mirinae House, a hanok house for newlyweds, looking at its interior structure and facilities, and, according to the Seoul Economic Daily, viewed hanok and living displays and a Korean flower-arrangement exhibition. [ 2 , 3 ]
Bukchon is where the mayor's hanok policy began, the Seoul Economic Daily reported: in 2008, during his first term, he announced the “Seoul Hanok Declaration” at the Bukchon Culture Center and extended preservation and support measures beyond Bukchon to the whole city, framing hanok as historical and cultural assets that residents live in and use rather than only as objects of preservation. In 2023 the city set out “Seoul Hanok 4.0” to widen the policy to contemporary use and international promotion, the newspaper said. [ 3 ]
“The future I drew at this Bukchon Culture Center 18 years ago, when I announced the Seoul Hanok Declaration, was a Seoul where hanok continue to be used and loved in citizens' lives,” the Seoul Economic Daily quoted the mayor as saying, adding that the hanok he toured now serve as cultural spaces for exhibitions and performances, as lodging for travellers and as homes for residents. Newsis and the Seoul Economic Daily quoted him saying the city will expand hanok hubs, with the daily naming Jegi-dong's Gyeongdong hanok village as an example. [ 2 , 3 ]
The Seoul Economic Daily said the mayor had also, in a video for the YouTube programme “Ilta Sijang” released the previous day, walked from the Yulgok-ro palace wall path through Donhwamun-ro and Seosunra-gil to the street tables in Jongno 3-ga, describing plans to put Yulgok-ro underground, create a hanok cultural facility in front of Changdeokgung and improve Seosunra-gil. The paper reported that Jongno 3-ga had recently ranked first on Time Out's list of the world's coolest neighbourhoods for 2026. [ 3 ]
Seoul Hanok Week runs until 11 October at public and private hanok in Bukchon, Seochon and Eunpyeong, with 82 programmes including special openings of hanok usually closed to visitors, exhibitions, tours, experiences and performances, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The visit connects a routine municipal schedule item to a hanok policy the mayor began in 2008 and has since widened, and his remarks point to further hanok sites planned across Seoul. Seoul Hanok Week, running to 11 October with 82 programmes, is the city's main showcase for that policy. The documents give no cost, budget or timing for the expansion, so its practical effect is not yet defined.
Key facts
- Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited five public hanok buildings in the Bukchon area on 4 October during the 2026 fourth Seoul Hanok Week. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Yonhap and the Seoul Economic Daily said the sites included the Bukchon Culture Center, the Hanok Support Center and Bukchon Binkwan; the daily also named Baeryeom House. [ 1 , 3 ]
- At the Hanok Support Center he took part in a Hanok Management Academy session and tried traditional plastering, Newsis and the Seoul Economic Daily reported. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He visited Hanok Mirinae House, a hanok house for newlyweds, and looked at its interior structure and facilities. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He said the city will expand hanok hubs in Seoul, with the Seoul Economic Daily naming Jegi-dong's Gyeongdong hanok village as an example. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The Seoul Economic Daily said he announced the “Seoul Hanok Declaration” at the Bukchon Culture Center in 2008 and that the city set out “Seoul Hanok 4.0” in 2023. [ 3 ]
- Seoul Hanok Week runs until 11 October at public and private hanok in Bukchon, Seochon and Eunpyeong with 82 programmes, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, visited public hanok sites in the Bukchon area on 4 October during the 2026 fourth Seoul Hanok Week. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- He visited five public hanok buildings, including the Bukchon Culture Center, the Hanok Support Center and Bukchon Binkwan. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The visit was described as an inspection of the hanok buildings' preservation and use. [ 1 , 3 ]
- At the Hanok Support Center he took part in a Hanok Management Academy session and tried traditional plastering. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He visited Hanok Mirinae House, a hanok house for newlyweds, and looked at its interior structure and facilities. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He said the city will expand hanok hubs in Seoul. [ 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Details of the plan to expand hanok hubs, beyond the mayor's remarks The documents give no cost, budget, schedule or full list of sites, and none reports a formal decision; only Jegi-dong's Gyeongdong hanok village is named as an example.
- Jongno 3-ga's first place on Time Out's 2026 list of the world's coolest neighbourhoods The ranking appears only in the Seoul Economic Daily report, which is also the source for the mayor's comments about the area; no other document mentions it.
- Whether anything beyond the mayor's remarks was announced at the visit The documents describe remarks and site inspections only, and none names other participants or any formal announcement.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap publishes a short report that Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited five public hanoks in Bukchon to inspect preservation and use. [ 1 ]
- Newsis publishes its report on the visit, quoting the mayor as saying the city will expand hanok hubs in Seoul. [ 2 ]
- Newsis updates its article. [ 2 ]
- The Seoul Economic Daily publishes a fuller account the next morning, adding the 2008 Seoul Hanok Declaration background, the plan to expand hanok hubs and details of Seoul Hanok Week. [ 3 ]